Art Deco

Have you ever seen a building that looks like it’s wearing a sparkly crown. Or maybe one that seems to zoom right up into the clouds with sharp, straight lines. I love to make things feel fast, new, and super fancy. I decorate the world with patterns that look like lightning bolts zigzagging across the sky, or golden sunbursts shining with bright rays of light. I make buildings look like they belong to a superhero, and I make movie theaters feel like glamorous palaces where anything exciting can happen. Before I came along, many things looked different, but I wanted to show everyone a future full of sparkle and speed, a world where even a toaster could look like a tiny, shiny skyscraper.

Hello there. My name is Art Deco. I am a style, which is a special way of making things look and feel. I was born in a time of great change, during the 1920s, when the world was excited about new inventions like cars and radios. People wanted everything to look as modern and wonderful as the future felt. I got my big chance to shine in the year 1925. There was a huge fair in the beautiful city of Paris, France. Its name was very long: the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts. Phew. At this fair, designers from all over the world showed off their amazing new ideas, and my style was the star of the show. It was from that long name that I later got my own name, Art Deco. People loved my bold shapes. I used chevrons that look like arrows pointing up, fans that spread out gracefully, and those energetic zig-zags. Soon, I was everywhere. I was on the tallest buildings, the fastest trains, the fanciest jewelry, and even on radios that played the new, jazzy music of the time.

Even though I am about one hundred years old, you can still find me all over the world. I helped give big cities their famous skylines. If you ever visit New York City, look up. You can see me in the gleaming, pointed top of the Chrysler Building and the powerful height of the Empire State Building. I am very proud of them. I was the look of the ‘Jazz Age,’ a time full of lively music, dancing, and big dreams for a better world. I wanted to make people feel hopeful and inspired. And I am still here today to remind you of that feeling. I hope that when you see my shiny lines and bold shapes, you remember to be brave, to look toward the future, and to build beautiful, strong things that make the world a more exciting place to be.