Rise of the Decorator

Frances Elkins was a very influential woman designer. She has been referred to as "the first greatest California decorator." She created the famous Loop Chair. Elkins also decorated a number of public spaces in the Bay Area, including the Yerba Buena Club at the Golden Gate International Exposition, the 1939 fair staged on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. The interiors of the club were arresting. She chose yellow for the luxurious velvet curtains and the wall draperies that billowed from the lofty ceiling in the members' dining room. Window blinds—vertically patterned in a bold blue-and-white stripe —provided contrast to the dining room's dramatic design, which was dominated by Frank-style chairs and Giacomettistyle standing lamps. Although Elkins was highly regarded in San Francisco before the fair opened, her triumph at the Yerba Buena Club solidified her reputation in the Bay Area.

Elkins Famous Loop Chair

Contemporary take on the famous Loop Chair

                                               

Frances Elkins was best known in California. However, along with her prolific achievements in and around Chicago, she also decorated houses on the East Coast, where her revolutionary style defied tradition. In 1950 Van Day Truex, at the suggestion of Albert Hadley, invited Elkins to judge the senior student presentation of interior design assignments at the Parsons School of Design. Elkins, no doubt, with her great taste, innate ability and inestimable influence on the field of interior design, contributed invaluable insight to the occasion.

Link to a video on Frances Elkins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLL09zbxlG0

Peer Reviews:

Megan: I liked the photos she shared to show Clodagh's design. The designs are very interesting and I loved the picture of the second interior because of the lights that are shown.

Marisa: I enjoyed your take on Francis Elkins. Since we wrote on the same person it is interesting to see the different view points. I liked how you dove into her personal life. 

Art Deco

Art Deco came to life in France in the 1920's and reached other European countries and the US at the beginning of World War 2. The style was  fashion oriented and followed along with the current fashion trends in a way that had both of the design worlds meeting. Art Deco, although very much its own entity was influenced by Art Nouveau. It was a reaction against the strict rules of modernism, because of this Art Deco was heavily decorated and not necessarily focused on function.

Original Art Deco Interior 

Art Deco was also inspired by skyscrapers and the emerging technology of the time. This led to interesting furniture with geometric shapes that were stepped to suggest the architecture of skyscrapers, chevron  and zig zags inspired by the electric technology around them. The materials of the time were also arguing against the strict modern materials of glass and metals. Art Deco's materials were rich, the more exotic the better. Art Deco used Ebony, polished metals, mirrors, glass, leather, tortoise-shell, and zebrawood with inlays of ivory. The style is one that appreciates all things glamorous.

Modern Application of the Art Deco Style

Here is a link to an interesting website I found that celebrates the art deco style, you can check out their upcoming events and much more.
http://artdeco.org/ 




Eileen Gray was a designer during the Art Deco period, she was a very influential designer and not just because of her designs but also because at the time being a woman designer was not common. It was more common for women to help men with their designs, but this woman was making a name for herself as an independent designer. She focused on luxury through her designs and her                                                                                        furniture pieces were mass produced.

Modern day application of the Bibendum arm chair

One of her furniture pieces: the Bibendum arm chair (1925)

Peer reviews: 

Kendra: I loved all of the old photos she used, they really 

showcased the style as it was in its prime. I also found the

video that you shared on how the style first came about 

very helpful and interesting. 

Savannah: Your blog was unique in the fact that you showed 

some of the materials that were used and really helped explain

how the materials were an integral part of the style.