Art Deco style has been universally popular and very often Shangri-La gets the credit for popularizing the style. It is complimented regularly on its unique and sublime architecture as the art deco mansion. But if you look closely, you will see that Los Angeles as a city has worked as a launch pad for the popular style and contributed to its growth. The Title Guarantee & Trust Building, built in 1930 is an example of Art Deco beauty. Los Angeles City Hall (1928) & Bullocks Wilshire (1929) which was the first Los Angeles based luxury department store, were all designed by John & Donald Parkinson and true representatives of Art Deco beauty. In fact the style moved into art as we see examples of Art deco statuette. Now you can also see it in Louis Vuitton art deco design handbags.
The Baltimore Hotel, built in 1923 also has strong influences of Art Deco and has blended well with Beaux-arts. Schultze & Weaver had just been founded as an architecture firm and in fact the hotel was the first project they had taken up. The hotel helped them build a reputation and they went on to create some grand hotels like the Pierre and Waldorf Astoria. Claud Beelman was another architect who contributed to the Art Deco movement. He designed the absolutely stunning Eastern Columbia Building in 1930. The four sided clock tower and the building’s alcoves and recessed spandrels create an unmatched visual impact.
Long horizontal lines and curving forms became the signature style of later Art Deco movement. Robert V. Derrah’s Coca-Cola Company Bottling headquarters (1936) is a stunning expression of this evolved style. The May Co. Building, now LACMA West and the Georgian Hotel took the movement forward. All these beautiful buildings in Los Angeles must have influenced William Foster to design the Shangri-La Hotel that has been overlooking the Pacific since 1939. The building not only represents the elegance of Art Deco but a true amalgam of Hollywood glamour, culture and sensuality.
Via: huffingtonpost
