Everyday life with the Art Deco movement encouraged a materialistic trend that exists to this day. Architecture and science (aerodynamic studies of the time) defined daily life as well as movies which defined people's fantasies. The design of consumer products is then defined by this newfound demand. What's popular is seen in products rather than in structures. Cars and products made of converging geometric shapes with rounded corners reflect the speed of industry and innovation. Much like computers dictate what and how we lead our lives today cars were a driving force for what is designed and where it will go. The popularity of industry went to the point of popularizing the workplace or the workplace being the center of this industrial design. From Behren's AEG turbine facility we see how industrial buildings are made by architects and from this more formal and traditional buildings are made in this architectural style. The Bauhaus represents this movement to very pronounced block forms and rhythmic facets.
The notion of structures being made out of iron and steel relates back to the ancient Grecians who built structures out of stone to immortalize themselves. However this ideal is not immortalizing as machines must always be maintained and they are always cast aside for newer designs. The current consumer attitude can be traced to this past of emerging industrialism. A nice LCD TV bought today will be outdated in terms of innovation and design in six months. How will the design styles past the reflections unit be defined when they are so short lived due to the turnover rate of machines and technology? Forgotten machines and their turnover rate relates to the "mcmansions" we mass-produce today. Because consumers change their place of residence so frequently there is little demand for well-made structures. The mcmansions are built for the "here and now" rather than for the future and progression of innovation. Consumers are also more willing to pay high money for a nice car or ipod rather than for a nice house or even a nice roof that will save them money in the long run. The theatre of everyday life is about exploring new functions of the everyday life rather than maintaining the functions of everyday life.
Citations:
decopix.com
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