Art Deco

Hans Ulrich Obrist

Memphis Group

The Memphis Group was a short-lived but decisive intervention: a collective rejection of Modernist austerity, built on accessible materials, shared drawing, and irreverent references. Its durability lies not in longevity but in how precisely it named the limits of ‘good taste’ — then stepped past them.

Art Deco

Art Nouveau

Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Building is a 1,046-foot-tall steel-framed brick skyscraper in New York City, designed by William Van Alen in the Art Deco style and completed in 1930. Van Alen used Nirosta stainless steel—the first such use in an American project—as an integral design element. He secretly built a 125-foot spire inside the frame and assembled it in 90 minutes on October 23, 1929. The building served as a real-world test site for stainless steel durability, with formal inspections every five years from 1929 to 1960. It became the world’s tallest building for 11 months and remains the tallest steel-framed brick building in the world. Critics responded with mixed reactions—including praise for Van Alen personally and criticism of the building as superficial and lacking serious design significance.

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-storey Art Deco skyscraper in New York City. It was the first building over 100 stories tall. It held the title of world’s tallest building from 1931 until 1970.

Streamline Moderne