Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Art Deco: Centered, symmetrical composition
- Type
- Set in Art Deco's manner (Tall, narrow geometric display type), and let Beaux-Arts's lettering (Roman capitals carved deep into the band of the entablature) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Art Deco's material (Black, gold, ivory; repeated hairlines); bring in exactly one thing from Beaux-Arts (An iron frame inside a stone skin, interiors of marble and sculpture).
- Colour
- Build on #17140f, #c8a65b, #f0e6cf and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Historical Styles, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
- Roughly 90 years apart. Keep one of them recognisably period rather than letting both drift into the middle.
Caution
- Art Deco Too much ornament turns theme-park. Let white space carry the dignity.
- Beaux-Arts Spreading classical parts evenly over every surface with no axis and no hierarchy, so nobody can tell which room is the important one.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Art Deco (Style, 1920s–1930s) and its accent from Beaux-Arts (Style, 1830s–1920s). Structural cues: Symmetry; Radiating lines; Stepped motifs; Gold and black. Accent cues, used sparingly: Grand axes and staircases; Synthesized classical orders; Sculptural ornament; Stone over iron structure. Composition: Centered, symmetrical composition. Type and lettering: Tall, narrow geometric display type. Let one material quality come from the second style: An iron frame inside a stone skin, interiors of marble and sculpture. Mood: Luxury, Exhilaration, Trust. Color: build on #17140f, #c8a65b, #f0e6cf with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Art Deco 1920s–1930s / Style / Historical Styles
Stages urban luxury with repeating geometry and a metallic sheen.
- Beaux-Arts 1830s–1920s / Style / Historical Styles
The academic synthesis of the classical taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Grand axes, sculptural ornament and a hierarchy of formality were laid over the new technologies of iron and glass, giving the modern city its public face in stations, museums and banks.
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