Introduction

This project began with a simple assignment to explore the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb, Illinois and to answer questions about the history of the building. Assigned questions ask why anyone would build an Art Deco theatre in DeKalb and whether the theatre did anything to transform the town. These are good questions, and I will attempt to answer them. But as a novice to the history and theories of 20th century architecture, I find other questions far more pressing. What is Art Deco? How does the Art Deco style relate to architectural theories of the time? What makes this theatre an Art Deco structure? Is it a good example of the Art Deco style?

What is Art Deco?

Before doing this research, the term Art Deco generated a vague mental image of monumental and surprisingly sculptural skyscrapers such as the Chrysler Building or the Empire State Building mixed with long-hood, short-deck motorcars and fast monoplanes flying against a backdrop of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Ignorance. For this project, I gathered several lavishly illustrated books and viewed as many samples of Art Deco art and architecture as possible. I also surveyed the text from each source and replaced my ignorance with their knowledge.

The term Art Deco is culled from the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, but it only entered our vocabulary in the 1960s. Patricia Bayer reports the phrase emerged soon after the 1966 Paris Exhibition, ‘Les Annes "25" Art Déco/Bauhaus/Stijl/Esprit Nouveau,’ (Bayer, 1998, p. 12) while Alastair Duncan states Bevis Hillier coined the term in 1968 as the title of a book on the decorative arts of the 1920s and 30s. (Duncan, 1986, p. 7) Either way, people did not use the phrase the Art Deco during the 1920s and 30s. At the time, the style we call Art Deco was simply known as Moderne, Art Moderne, or Modernistic. (Duncan, 1986, p. 7)

Art Deco is based on two movements. One was a logical, geometric, German and Austrian Modernism movement that followed the Jugendstil. The other was a French extension of Art Nouveau immediately following World War I. (Duncan, 1986, p. 7-8) It is best known as an urban style applied to skyscrapers. Art Deco buildings featured a mixture of materials and decorations, but the Modernistic architects were not innovators. The steel cage structures and reinforced concrete elements that facilitated the construction of these "cathedrals of commerce" were common by the 1930s, and even the attractive, terraced silhouettes were the result of legal zoning requirements dating back to 1916. (Bayer, 1998, p. 8)

Art Deco was a commercial, decorative, design style. For a building to be an Art Deco building, the architect had to incorporate streamlined, stylized, geometric Art Deco decorations into its design. But even that is deceptive, as Art Deco included a staggering array of influences, styles and motifs. In my cursory search, I found evidence of classical (Greek and Roman), Aztec, Mayan, Pueblo, Chinese, Islamic, Egyptian, and distinctly Modern decorative and design motifs. Also, Art Deco was applied to all sorts of buildings, including (but not limited to) skyscrapers, department stores, churches, factories, theatres, and cinemas. The many books written about Art Deco attest to its depth, breadth, and influence.

Art Deco and Architectural Theories

Art Deco did not emerge from a vacuum. If one accepts Wölfflin’s notion of temporality, that not all thoughts are possible at all times, then it is clear that the successful emergence of a trend or movement is appropriate for its time. This means, regardless of individual thoughts or criticisms, the people with influence over the social and political structures of the 1920s and 30s created a climate where the architects and designers could use the available technology to produce the body of work we associate with Art Deco. Yet, it is beneficial to analyze the attitudes of influential thinkers and to see how Art Deco fit with architectural theories of the time. I will limit this discussion to consideration of tall buildings and focus attention on Louis Sullivan and the inimitable LeCorbusier.

Sullivan set the blueprint for the modern skyscraper. His 1896 article, The Tall Office building Artistically Considered, set forth a standard for design that can still be seen in any major city today. His architectural designs based on the classical column proved his ideas were both practical and stylish. He could not foresee the zoning ordinances that would force architects to design buildings with terraced structures. Such a structure seems less efficient than his ideal structure with its square base and vertical, rectangular silhouette, but I think he would have recognized the need for change. When he wrote his article, 16 stories constituted a tall building. The Empire State Building stands 102 stories tall. (Bayer, 1998, p. 92) Such a structure ought to impress anyone.But LeCorbusier was not just anyone. According to Doordan, LeCorbusier was an accomplished painter (Doordan, 2001, p. 63) and "one of the most influential architects and architectural writers of the twentieth century." (Doordan, 2001, p. 11) LeCorbusier’s book, Toward a New Architecture, reveals that the author saw himself as a social reformer with a keen interest in the sleek functionality of modern machinery. This is balanced with an equally powerful devotion to the simplicity of much older architectural forms.

LeCorbusier claimed, "Architecture is the [...] play of masses brought together in light." (LeCorbusier, 1931/1986, p. 29) He advocated the use of primary forms such as cubes, cones, cylinders, and pyramids as seen in Egyptian, Greek, and Roman architecture. (LeCorbusier (LC), 1931/1986, p. 29) He exclaimed, "There is no such thing as primitive man; there are primitive resources." (LC, 1931/1986, p. 70) He made plans for a City of Towers. (LC, 1931/1986, pp. 54-64)LeCorbusier should have revelled in the form and structure of Art Deco architecture. Complex constructions made of simpler, primary forms such as the Rockefeller Center and proposed buildings seen in Hugh Ferriss drawings, published in 1929 as The Metropolis of Tomorrow, (figure 1) should have excited a designer such as LeCorbusier, especially the "Fourth Stage" in the "Evolution of the Set-Back Building." (Bayer, 1992, pp. 108-9). (figure 2) But Art Deco was more about the decorative design than the form or structure of the buildings, and that is a problem.

Sullivan used decoration in his work. I find his Guaranty building more attractive than the earlier Wainwright Building, but he understood that tasteful decoration could enhance the appearance of a building. That is why he stressed unity of design and railed against the temptation to load a building with a different architectural style for each floor. (Sullivan, 1896/1988, p. 110) I cannot say as much for LeCorbusier. One would think that an artist and designer with a deep and abiding interest in ancient architecture would recognize that people have always decorated their buildings. But it is clear from LeCorbusier’s ouevre, if not from his rhetoric, that he despised decorative surface treatments. He worshipped austerity to the point of sterility. Thus, we further illuminate the problem with Art Deco.

As successful as Art Deco architecture may have been, it was frequently a study in decorative excess. I see this as a result of the Art Nouveau influence. Art Nouveau projected the excesses of the Baroque and Rococo. Any surface that could be decorated was decorated with little regard for the overall result. LeCorbusier had good cause to react against all that. Carla Breeze notes the economist Thorstein Veblen proposed a moral mandate in his 1902 publication, Theory of the Leisure Class. Veblen thought that the conspicuous consumption manifested in excessive decoration found in apartments and houses indicated "architectural distress" and "expensive discomfort." (Breeze, 2003, 43) This seems related to LeCorbusier’s rejection of decoration.

Bley & Lyman’s remarkable Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation building (1932) (figure 3) is an example of everything that was right and wrong with Art Deco. The forms are sculptural and impressive, and the many vertical elements work to offset the horizontal orientation of the building. The winged figure is visually striking, but the surface decoration is overdone. (figure 4) It seems most every surface is fluted, embossed, or somehow embellished. The architects could have done more with less, placing all the emphasis on the figure, similar to Ralph T. Walker’s emphasis on the outstanding four-winged signal tower for the Genesee Valley Trust building (1930). (figure 5)

The Egyptian Theatre

Finally, it is time to address the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb. Compared to the loftier structures in New York, a discussion of this little theatre seems like a joke. Yet, Doordan assures us that the cinema was an important component of Modernity, (Doordan, 2001, p. 39) and it seems that theatres were popular and important structures during the 1920s and 30s. Art Deco’s bright colors and lavish decorations are appropriate for buildings designed to entertain crowds. The Egyptian Theatre was neither the first nor last theater built in DeKalb. Jacob Haish established the "Opera House Block" in 1876. The Bijou opened in 1906, the Star arrived in 1907, and the Princess Theater opened in 1913. The Armory Theater on Locust Street opened some time after that, and the DeKalb Theater opened in 1923. Both the Egyptian and Fargo theaters opened in 1929, and the DeVal Drive-In-Theater arrived in 1948. (Centennial, 1956, pp. 53-4) Many of those theaters are gone, including the Fargo.

Now, the Egyptian Theatre is more important as a landmark than as a theatre, but it is a curious building. The theater is obviously a fine example of Art Deco architecture. Its time of construction, form, and decor all fit within the envelope of Art Deco design. Opening in December, 1929, and constructed at a cost of $300,000, the 1500 seat theater was built to accommodate both live plays and motion picture presentations. (New Egyptian Theatre Opens, 1929, pp. 1, 10) The theater has a tall, rectangular, two-story facade flanked by a pair of pharaoh figures and decorated with an elaborate, stained-glass window built around the image of a scarab. Despite the excitement over the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922, the architect, Elmer F. Behrns, based the decor for the Egyptian Theatre on Ramses II. (New Egyptian Theatre Opens, 1929, p. 10)

The present facade is surprisingly restrained and tasteful. File photos indicate the facade was originally about two feet taller and displayed a row of smaller pharaoh heads. The original construction also included a large, garish, vertical, neon sign declaring the word Egyptian. These are gone, and good riddance. This is an apparent contradiction in Art Deco design: The decor is decidedly streamlined out of admiration for the designs of cars, airplanes, and transatlantic liners, but designers frequently applied so much decoration that the result was overwhelming. The original design may have been true to the spirit of Art Deco, but the current configuration looks better.

The exorbitant cost of the theater makes one wonder why anyone would construct such a lavish building in DeKalb. The builders and operators must have thought they could turn a profit, but at 50 cents for adult admission and 15 cents for children, (Kummerfeldt, 1987, p. 10) and calculating based on half adults and half children with the theater 80% full, each performance might take in $390. With one performance a day, it would take two to three years earn $300,000. But I have accounted for neither operating expenses such as electrical service and payroll nor revenue from concession sales. The theater’s financial history is beyond my reach, but the venture must have paid off. The Egyptian stayed open until November 1977. (Kummerfeldt, 1987, p. 10)

I cannot assess whether the Egyptian Theatre transformed DeKalb. It is remarkable that the theatre still exists, but DeKalb did not suddenly grow into a major metropolis because of the theatre. Art Deco style, despite its flaws, enhanced the look and image of major cities and small towns all over America. The style gained popularity despite the objections of thinkers such as LeCorbusier and Veblen. It is a flashy style that celebrated the best of technological innovation and urban civilization while paying homage to the past. To that end, the Egyptian Theatre brought a touch of big-city style and entertainment to a small town located in the middle of nowhere. Now, as the area grows and develops, the theater supplies a glimpse of the grace and majesty of a style from days gone by.