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Donald Deskey: Art Deco Pioneer

Donald Deskey was an American artist and pioneer of industrial design active in the 1920s-1940s. He is known for his Art Deco designs, including interior designs for Radio City Music Hall. Deskey was one of the first American designers to incorporate new industrial materials like aluminum, Bakelite, and Formica into his work. He helped establish the field of industrial design and founded his own graphic design firm that created many iconic designs of the era.

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Diksha Gupta
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119 views12 pages

Donald Deskey: Art Deco Pioneer

Donald Deskey was an American artist and pioneer of industrial design active in the 1920s-1940s. He is known for his Art Deco designs, including interior designs for Radio City Music Hall. Deskey was one of the first American designers to incorporate new industrial materials like aluminum, Bakelite, and Formica into his work. He helped establish the field of industrial design and founded his own graphic design firm that created many iconic designs of the era.

Uploaded by

Diksha Gupta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

DONALD DESKEY

23 November 1894 – 29 April 1989


Who is Donald Deskey?
Deskey en double

 Artist, interior and graphic designer, and pioneer in the field of Industrial
Design
 1925 Paris, Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels
Modernes.
 Created window displays for Franklin Simon Dept Store (NYC1926). In
the 1930s, won the competition to design Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall.
 In 1928 Donald Deskey was a co-founder of the American Union of
Decorative Artists and Craftsmen
 1940 started graphic design firm Donald Deskey Associates and made
some of the most recognizable icons of the day.
 Established his firm Deskey-Vollmer which specialized in furniture and
textile design.
Interior Design
 In HIS WORK he adapts new materials to his needs, and unravels the
inherent beauty the common ones.
 Aluminum / Chromium / Cork

Molded, laminated, strengthened, adapted, colored, made durable.


 One of the first American designers to use Bakelite, Formica, brushed
aluminum and chromium-plated brass, in combination with other
industrial materials.
Interior Design
Radio City Music Hall
 The Progress of Man
 Impress customers with sheer

elegance, Not overwhelming


ornamentation
 Use of exotic materials and bold

space planning
Art Deco
 Art Deco
 celebrates the Machine Age through explicit use of man-
made materials, particularly glass and stainless steel.
 Symmetry and Geometry
 Repetition, modified by Asian influences such as the use
of silks and designs.
 Influenced by Aviation, Electric lighting, radio,
skyscrapers.
 Materials: aluminum, stainless steel, lacquer, inlaid
wood, exotic sharkskin, zebra, sunbust motif
Richard Mandel House, designed by Edward Durell
Stone and Donald Deskey1934 - Bedford Hills, NY
From Art Deco to Streamline Moderne

 Common characteristics
 Horizontal orientation
 Rounded edges, corner windows, and glass block walls
 Glass block
 Porthole windows
 Chrome hardware
 Horizontal grooves or lines in walls
Mostly influenced by Aerodynamic, nautical and
ballistic design
References
 Magazine:
 The New York Times
 Books:
 Donald Deskey : decorative designs and interiors
 David A. Hanks Jeffrey L. Meikle 1949-; Jennifer Toher
 Arte Deco
 The Deco World Eva Weber
 The Radio City Music Hall
 an affectionate history of the world's greatest theater ; Charles Francisco
 Web
 www.archnewsnow.com

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