The American edition of The Guardian has proclaimed Amsterdam one of the best European cities for art deco design.
Art deco’s straight lines and bold shapes were an expression of early-20th-century belief in technology and progress. The Guardian designed 10 cities around Europe that best showcase this exuberance.
Art deco in the US and in Europe
The Guardian reminds us what art deco is:
“Art deco began in France during the first world war and went on to accompany the age of jazz, Josephine Baker, cocktails, convertibles and talking pictures. While art nouveau had been curvy and nature-inspired, art deco was symmetrical, layered, topped with pyramids, stepped forms and zigzag lines. It was celebrated at Paris’s Exposition International des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925.
Unable to compete with the extravagant, steel-framed skyscrapers being constructed in the US, European cities developed their own style of streamlined building, with exotic facades combining art-deco geometry with national motifs. Art deco was fun, sophisticated, technological and modern. Inspired by cubism, futurism and the craze for all things ancient Egyptian that followed the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922, it lent a colourful, dynamic look to urban architecture.”
The 10 best European cities for art deco
According to the Guardian:
- Paris
- Kaunas, Lithuania
- Valencia
- Lisbon
- London
- Moscow
- Amsterdam
- Bucharest
- Berlin
- Nice.
Amsterdam in the top 10 of best European cities for art deco
The cinema Tuschinski is the best showcase of the Art deco exuberance, the newspaper reported. “The building has an opulent lobby in autumnal colors, with matching carpet and special lighting effects.”
The Tuschinski cinema. Photograph: Alamy
Other art deco-rich sites and buildings in the capital are, according to The Guardian, the Pijp district, the Olympic Stadium and the Convention Center De Bazel.
[Sources: The Guardian, Nu.nl]
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