DONALD DESKEY

23 November 1894 – 29 April 1989

Who is Donald Deskey?

Deskey en double

 Artist, interior and graphic designer, and pioneer in the field of

Industrial Design
 1925 Paris, Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et
Industriels Modernes.
 Created window displays for Franklin Simon Dept Store
(NYC1926). In the 1930s, won the competition to design Radio
City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall.
 In 1928 Donald Deskey was a co-founder of the American Union
of Decorative Artists and Craftsmen
 1940 started graphic design firm Donald Deskey Associates and
made some of the most recognizable icons of the day.
 Established his firm Deskey-Vollmer which specialized in furniture
and textile design.
Interior Design
 In HIS WORK he adapts new materials to his needs, and unravels the
inherent beauty the common ones.
 Aluminum / Chromium / Cork
Molded, laminated, strengthened, adapted, colored, made durable.
 One of the first American designers to use Bakelite, Formica, brushed
aluminum and chromium-plated brass, in combination with other
industrial materials.
 Interior Design
Radio City Music Hall
 The Progress of Man
 Impress customers with sheer
elegance, Not overwhelming
ornamentation
 Use of exotic materials and bold

space planning
 Art Deco
 Art Deco
 celebrates the Machine Age through explicit use of
man-made materials, particularly glass and stainless
steel.
 Symmetry and Geometry
 Repetition, modified by Asian influences such as the use
of silks and designs.
 Influenced by Aviation, Electric lighting, radio,
skyscrapers.
 Materials: aluminum, stainless steel, lacquer, inlaid
wood, exotic sharkskin, zebra, sunbust motif
Richard Mandel House, designed by Edward Durell
Stone and Donald Deskey1934 - Bedford Hills, NY
From Art Deco to Streamline Moderne

 Common characteristics
 Horizontal orientation
 Rounded edges, corner windows, and glass block walls

 Glass block

 Porthole windows

 Chrome hardware

 Horizontal grooves or lines in walls

Mostly influenced by Aerodynamic, nautical and

ballistic design
References
 Magazine:
 The New York Times
 Books:
 Donald Deskey : decorative designs and interiors
 David A. Hanks Jeffrey L. Meikle 1949-; Jennifer Toher
 Arte Deco
 The Deco World Eva Weber
 The Radio City Music Hall
 an affectionate history of the world's greatest theater ; Charles
Francisco
 Web
 www.archnewsnow.com