A resilient style

One hundred years ago, a sprawling international exhibition was staged in Paris. It was intended to dazzle visitors with all that was new in architecture and design and to establish France as the unassailable arbiter of taste in the Western world.

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But the style that emerged from L’Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs spread far beyond the Western world. Broadly termed as ‘Art Deco’, this style is defined by bold geometry, rich colours, and lavish ornamentation — much of this was a reaction to the grimness of the First World War, which had just ended. Blending influences from Cubism, Futurism, Bauhaus, and ancient Egyptian, Aztec, and African art, Art Deco exuded aesthetics through sleek symmetry made possible by the emergence of machines.