HOW was the Jazz Age, the flapper girl, streamlined radio sets and the Nazi regime connected? They were all part of the global social milieu which was influenced by a decorative trend in furniture, architecture and industrial design called “streamline moderne,” “jazz moderne” and “industrial moderne,” subsequently referred to as the Art Deco style by scholars in the mid-1960s.

I never delved deeply into Philippine architectural history although it has always interested me from the time I began reading Paolo Alcazaren’s long-running column “City Sense” when I was in high school. So, I have a sense of how Art Deco looks and can identify buildings in that style, but I never fully understood it.

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