Streamlining

Kem Webber chair - 1934

Streamlining is the name of a style, One which was born out of Art Deco and dominated the scene in america. Streamlining was a dynamic style with many of art deco’s characteristics being simplified. Streamlining had a very large commercial gathering and really opened it’s doors to commercialising products and consumerism. Its was a fuel to the fire which was the consumer revolution in 1950’s. It also became a sort of visual icon for modern America. Industrial design was just starting out at this time and this style of design was used to feed American corporate Capitalism.

The word streamlining means the changing of an objects form in order for it to move faster or easier against resistance encountered such as the elements air or water. Below is an image illustrated by Norman Bel Geddes in 1932 which depicts streamlining and how it works in a diagram.

The best shape for streamlining is the tear drop it allows for the least air resistance, this is because the air move over it easily and does not linger for longer than it needs to. The teardrop will the the most prominent shape in this style being prominent in car design at the time.

Chrysler Corporation was the leader in the aerodynamic car design industry. The first car to be born out of these times and the first car to go into commercial production was the ‘’Chrysler Airflow’’ in 1934. The car took its title from its main feature which was its streamlines body which allowed air to flow over it freely. This car was designed by Carl Breer who was not a designer but an engineer. An important factor is that the streamlining of the vehicle was a functional feature primarily but later went on to being purely aesthetic in some other designs such as vacuum cleaner, radios and fans.

Chrysler Airflow

When looking at streamlined products one realises how the form follows function rule is not applicable to this style, It is more about how the form hides the objects function  The smooth lines and curves were often used to cover working or mechanical parts and whole housing were made of plastics and chrome linings really and truely making an object much more desirable than it truly was.

Although streamlining set out to be a functional step forward in design it really a truely ended up becoming purely aesthetic and fed the need for mass production and consumerism. A phase which we are still going through till today.

Referencing:

 JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie. 2015. JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1573060?sid=21105735805703&uid=2129&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3738632&uid=2. [Accessed 29 January 2015].

"From Art Deco to Streamlining: The Search for an American Aesthetic" | Dr. Nicolas P Maffei - Academia.edu. 2015. "From Art Deco to Streamlining: The Search for an American Aesthetic" | Dr. Nicolas P Maffei - Academia.edu. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.academia.edu/715508/_From_Art_Deco_to_Streamlining_The_Search_for_an_American_Aesthetic_. [Accessed 29 January 2015].

 Industrial Designers and Streamliners . Streamliners: America's Lost Trains . WGBH American Experience | PBS. 2015. Industrial Designers and Streamliners . Streamliners: America's Lost Trains . WGBH American Experience | PBS. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/streamliners-designers/. [Accessed 29 January 2015].