2025 is the centenary of the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris – the event whose name much later on was used to identify an ‘Art Deco’ style in the inter-war era. In Scotland, Art Deco made a substantial impact upon the built environment and in visual and material culture.
This project, which builds upon earlier work by Bruce Peter on architecture and design of the inter-war era, takes the form of a 120,000-word book published by Historic Environment Scotland.
By the 1920s French influence was already strong in Scottish architectural training, much thanks to Eugene Bourdon’s teaching at the Glasgow School of Architecture (the joint programme run by GSA and the Royal College of Science and Technology) – but it was also due to the force of American popular culture, in particular Hollywood movies and jazz music, that Art Deco and ‘moderne’ styles often came to be selected by Scottish business entrepreneurs and their architects as their preferred approach.
The manuscript is thematically organised with a general introduction explaining the origins of Art Deco and its revival since Bevis Hillier’s identification of the style in 1968. It will contextualise the Scottish responses in architecture, design and the crafts to the emergent aesthetics of the 1920s and 30s. Subsequent chapters address housing, transport, public building, the Empire Exhibition of 1938, commerce in the high street, entertainment, industry and ocean liner interiors. There is comprehensive referencing and a bibliography.