Zigzag Moderne

Zigzag Moderne is a substyle of architectural Art Deco that flourished during the 1920s before giving way to Streamline Moderne in the following decade. It drew on the work of architects such as Bertram G. Goodhue and Eliel Saarinen, on the International Style, and on the 1925 Paris Exposition, where the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright were also an influence. Buildings in the style favor massive forms with smooth surfaces and inset window panels, flat roofs free of classical or Gothic ornament, stepped central towers, and decorative motifs including zigzags, chevrons, sunbursts, spirals and stylized plant and animal forms. Los Angeles produced prominent examples, including the Richfield Tower, the Eastern Columbia Building and the Bullock's Wilshire department store, all completed in 1929, and New York's Chrysler Building of 1930 and Empire State Building of 1931 are often classified as Zigzag Moderne as well, though some scholars group these skyscrapers separately under the term skyscraper style.