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Identifying feature

Streamlined curves

Rounded building corners, smooth wall surfaces and horizontal bands or grooves running along the walls. They are the main features of Streamline Moderne buildings of the 1930s and 1940s.

a sign of these styles

Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria: an example of Blob Architecture Blob Architecture c. 1995–present Bulbous, amoeba-like buildings wrapped in one continuous skin of curved panels. Einstein Tower, Potsdam, Germany: an example of Expressionism Expressionism c. 1910–1930 Sculptural brick and concrete buildings with curved or faceted masses, rounded corners, and tall prow-shaped or stepped tops. Theme Building, Los Angeles: an example of Googie Googie c. 1945–1970 Space-age roadside optimism: upswept roofs, boomerang angles, starburst signs, and neon. Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Miami Beach, Florida: an example of Miami Modern (MiMo) Miami Modern (MiMo) c. 1945–1970 Flat-roofed Florida resort hotels with curved plans, perforated breeze-block screens, large glass areas and rooftop signs. TWA Flight Center, New York: an example of Neo-Futurism Neo-Futurism c. 1990–present Sculptural techno-optimism: sweeping white shells, skeletal ribs, and winglike canopies. Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan: an example of Parametricism Parametricism c. 2000–present Computer-generated fluidity: continuous curved surfaces and patterns that no hand would draw. Coca-Cola Building, Los Angeles: an example of Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne c. 1930–1945 Aerodynamic buildings: smooth white curves, corner and porthole windows, and horizontal speed lines.

often seen with

Cantilever A beam, floor or part of a building that projects beyond its support and is anchored at only one end. Flat roof A roof that is level or nearly level, often edged by a low wall called a parapet. Curtain wall An outer wall of glass and metal panels hung on a building's steel or concrete frame, carrying only its own… Exposed structure A building's frame, beams, trusses (triangles of linked beams), pipes or ducts left visible instead of… Modular repetition A facade built from one identical unit, such as a window and its frame, repeated in a regular grid. Piloti Columns, called pilotis, that raise a building one floor above the ground and leave the ground level open. Corner window A window that wraps around a building's corner with no post at the corner. Geometric ornament Decoration made of zigzags, chevrons (V shapes), stepped forms and other repeated geometric shapes instead…