Art deco's linear symmetry was a distinct departure from the flowing asymmetrical organic curves of its predecessor style art nouveau. Art deco experienced a decline in popularity during the late 1930s and early 1940s when it began to be derided as presenting a false image of luxury, eventually the style was ended by the austerities of World War II.
Modern Furniture:
Born from the Bauhaus and Art Deco streamline styles came the post WWII Modern style using materials developed during the war including laminated plywood, plastics and fiberglass. In modern furniture the dark gilded, carved wood and richly patterned fabrics gave way to the glittering simplicity and geometry of polished metal. The forms of modern furniture sought newness, originality, technical innovation, and ultimately conveyed the present and the future, rather than what had gone before it as revival styles had done. This interest in new and innovative materials and methods produced a certain blending of the disciplines of technology and art. The use of new materials, such as steel in its many forms; moulded plywood and plastics, were formative in the creation of these new designs. They were considered pioneering, even shocking at the time especially in contrast to what came before.