Art Deco and Architecture Influenced desk clocks

The Architectural Inspiration
The Metropolis Clock design was inspired by the elegant, curved skyscraper, located at 333 Wacker Drive in Chicago. Graceful, postmodern lines are the heritage of both artworks. The name "Metropolis" is reminiscent of the futuristic 1926 cinematic masterpiece by Fritz Lang (which supposedly takes place in the year 2000).

This post-modern skyscraper is one of the inspirations of the Metropolis Clock. The building is located on the Chicago River, in front of the Loop. It reflects the surrounding skyline at 333 Wacker Drive, Chicago.	Both sculptured clocks reflect the richness of the surrounding light. The "living" character of the Natural Bronze shows many discreet highlights. The Platinum Bronze version reflects the ambient illumination with a smoother transition between light and shadow. It's the most "Art-Deco looking" of the two.
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An Explanation of "Architecturally-inspired design" and Art Deco Influence. In France, in the 1920's, the "Decorative Arts" movement was all the rage. It had evolved in Europe just before the first World War. The movement was influenced by many artistic styles from the past, including art from Egypt, the Orient, tribal Africa, and architecture from the Pre-Columbian Americas. The look replaced Art Nouveau's flowing lines, flowery vines and organic shapes. Overlapping squares, flat geometric patterns, chevrons, faceted surfaces, and repeated linear patterns mimicked the influence of the newly-embraced machine age. It was a time when surfaces of stone and terracotta were replaced with materials like metal and glass. They could be engineered and formed in quantity with new precision. For the first time, straight lines were being combined with arcs and curves and seen as a source of beauty. In Europe, artists were designing stainless steel tea services, glass and chrome lamps, and brushed aluminum furniture. Popular cast-bronze sculpture featured stylized nymphs with zigzag tresses, and the collision of geometric forms and graceful arcs. American interpretation of the Decorative Arts took place in the early 20's when the skyscraper boom began. Architects borrowed from that style and began building with steel, to construct buildings with ziggurat forms, setbacks and facades with contrasting materials. Skyscrapers became our most recognizable architectural model. Straight lines, angular forms, and stepped vertical decoration that accentuate heights define what is now referred to as the "Modernist Movement" (as if ziggurats and pyramids were modern). These elements, offset by the sheen of reflective metal surfaces, are seen in buildings in Chicago, New York, Kansas City, and throughout the U.S. They define "architecturally- inspired design" in today's art. The newly-coined (as of the late 1960's) "Art Deco" style will continue to influence designers and art lovers who appreciate the union of the ancient past and our modern times.
More Designs and Models to Come We already have six more architecturally-inspired, post modern designs almost ready to build. The next one is a cast bronze clock reminiscent of an ancient Mayan design. Click here to sign-up for our e-mail list, and also you'll know what's happening next.