Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the significant North American contributions of designers trained at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. It focuses on the creation of a residence by one of the architects—the Canadian architect and engineer Ernest Cormier’s design of his own house. The book describes the especially important role of Central European designers to American design culture in California and New York and the instance of establishing the American Union of Decorative Artists and Craftsmen as a case in point. It looks at the means and some places of Art Deco production and focuses on Oliver Percy Barnard’s dramatic conversion of the basement of the Regent Palace Hotel into a luxurious Art Deco cocktail bar and restaurant in 1934. The book explores a reexamination of the meaning of Art Deco in the context in order to see the political valence of style.