This lecture by Bruce Peter, Professor of Design History at The Glasgow School of Art, will show how Art Deco became a significant phenomenon in architecture and design in Scotland during the inter-war era. It will begin with a brief overview of the development of architecture and the decorative arts in Scotland since the mid-nineteenth century, showing how both continental and American innovations affected their progress. Glasgow in particular had strong trade and cultural links with the USA and the “Chicago School” was highly influential in the latter nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.

The second part of the lecture will focus on the categories of building types and designed objects through which Art Deco was experienced — public buildings, housing, commercial buildings, and transport, including the interiors of ocean liners. The lecture is visually stimulating and richly illustrated.

Art Deco Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age may be ordered from the publisher— stor.scot/collections/books-stationery — or Amazon.com, either the US or UK site depending on where you live.

Bruce Peter (b. 1974) is Professor of Design History at The Glasgow School of Art. He is a graduate of the GSA, The Royal College of Art,and the University of Glasgow. His PhD, entitled “Form Follows Fun: Modernism and Modernity in British Pleasure Architecture 1925–1940” was published by Routledge. Appointed by the GSA in 2002, he is the author of nearly fifty further books on various aspects of modern architecture, design, and transport history. He resides in Edinburgh.