Art deco style reflects the change that was occurring in the world at its 1920s creation. The Roaring Twenties was a decade of change. World War I was finally over and it was thought that the world would never again experience such conflict. Wartime austerity was replaced with an economic boom. Movies flickered motion on the silver screen to millions. Charles Lindberg crossed the Atlantic—by air—in 1927. Automobiles went racing through streets.

The world was on the move at a high speed, blasting into a new, modern age.

You might trace the origins of the art nouveau movement to a 1925 art exposition at Le Mussee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. While American architects didn’t exhibit, members of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Institute of Architecture attended, ultimately helping to create the American version of art deco.

If you take the concept of speed and apply it to art and architecture, you might end up thinking in terms of strength, movement and force. These were parts of the core of art deco.

The discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 started an Egyptian craze that resulted in the use of ancient Egyptian motifs when art deco décor became fashionable. Motifs also included as ancient Greek and Roman decorations. Sunbursts and chevrons, a “V” shaped form, are also popular in art deco. In addition, while the curves popular in art nouveau movement didn’t completely disappear from art deco styles, art deco curves were harder, sleeker and stronger than the sensual art nouveau curves.

This was also the age of modern machinery and equipment. People could buy more goods for less money. You might see machine parts and cars as part of art deco designs because they were viewed as reasons to celebrate modern life.

In 1929, the stock market crashed and the United States entered the Depression. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration started offering work to the unemployed. Some of these projects, such as the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho and the Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, New Jersey, were built in the art deco style.

By the end of World War II, art deco had largely fallen out of favor in the United States. Fortunately, we can still enjoy the art and architecture of art deco that remains today.