Light and architecture

It is quite natural for new schools of thought in design, decoration, and architecture to originate in continental Europe. The atmosphere, background, and tradition of the larger cities are all conducive to this end. Within the last half century, or even since the beginning of the 20th century, our very habits of living have undergone remarkable changes. The mechanical element in the production of all sorts of objects has come to the foreground. Speed of transportation has greatly increased. With mass production, things formerly considered luxuries have become necessities and the spirit of the age such as to make a new school of architecture and decoration come into being. The recent war, demanding practically all the thought and energy of the entire world, made it impossible for even the artist to sit back and dream of his problems. After the close of the war there was a brief period of reconstruction, but by about 1924, clever minds began to evolve a new school of decoration. For want of a better name, this has been termed “art moderne.”