Artist of the Day, January 29, 2021: Norman Bel Geddes, an American theatrical and industrial designer (#1194)

Norman Bel Geddes (1893 – 1958) was an American theatrical and industrial designer.

Bel Geddes was born Norman Melancton Geddes in Adrian, Michigan, and raised in New Philadelphia, Ohio. When he married Helen Belle Schneider in 1916, they combined their names to Bel Geddes. Their daughters were actress Barbara Bel Geddes and writer Joan Ulanov.

Bel Geddes began his career with set designs for Aline Barnsdall's Los Angeles Little Theater in the 1916–17 season, then in 1918 as the scene designer for the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He designed and directed various theatrical works, from Arabesque and The Five O'Clock Girl on Broadway to an ice show, It Happened on Ice, produced by Sonja Henie. He also created set designs for the film Feet of Clay (1924), directed by Cecil B. DeMille, designed costumes for Max Reinhardt, and created the sets for the Broadway production of Sidney Kingsley's Dead End (1935).

Bel Geddes opened an industrial-design studio in 1927, and designed a wide range of commercial products, from cocktail shakers to commemorative medallions to radio cabinets. His designs extended to unrealized futuristic concepts: a teardrop-shaped automobile, and an Art Deco House of Tomorrow. In 1929, he designed "Airliner Number 4," a 9-deck amphibian airliner that incorporated areas for deck-games, an orchestra, a gymnasium, a solarium, and two airplane hangars.

His book Horizons (1932) had a significant impact: "By popularizing streamlining when only a few engineers were considering its functional use, he made possible the design style of the thirties." He wrote forward-looking articles for popular American periodicals.

In the classic science fiction film of H. G. Wells' Things to Come (1936), he assisted production designer William Cameron Menzies on the look of the world of tomorrow.

Bel Geddes designed the General Motors Pavilion, known as Futurama, for the 1939 New York World's Fair. For that famous and enormously influential installation, Bel Geddes exploited his earlier work in the same vein: he had designed a "Metropolis City of 1960" in 1936.

Bel Geddes's book Magic Motorways (1940) promoted advances in highway design and transportation, foreshadowing the Interstate Highway System, along with aspects of driver assist and autonomous driving.

The case for the Mark I computer was designed by Norman Bel Geddes. IBM's Thomas Watson presented it to Harvard. At the time, some saw it as a waste of resources, since computing power was in high demand during this part of World War II and those funds could have been used to build additional equipment.[citation needed]

Bel Geddes autobiography, Miracle in the Evening, was published posthumously in 1960.

Bel Geddes is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame, a distinction he shares with his daughter, actress Barbara Bel Geddes. The United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp honoring Bel Geddes as a "Pioneer Of American Industrial Design".

The archive of Norman Bel Geddes is held by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. This large collection includes models, drafts, watercolor designs, research notes, project proposals, and correspondence. The Ransom Center also holds the papers of Bel Geddes' wife, the noted costume designer and producer Edith Lutyens Bel Geddes

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Mr. Norman Bel Geddes

1920, Art Deco Mirror

1920, Px BelGeddes Car

1920, Px BelGeddes Car

1920, Px BelGeddes Car sketch

1920-49, Cobra Desk Lamp

1921, Theatre No. 14

1929, Model of Aerial Restaurant

1929-32, Airliner #4

1931, House of tomorrow

1931, House of tomorrow

1932, Ocean Liner

1932, Ocean Liner

1932, Whale Ocean Liner

1933, General Motors 25th anniversary medal

1933, General Motors 25th anniversary medal

1935-40, Bureau
Edition Simmon's

1937, Cocktail Set

1939, Designed Dresser

Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair

Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair

Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair

Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair

Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair

Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair

1940, Art Deco Dresser in Sage Green

1940, Model 400-3 "Patriot"

1940, Model 400-3 "Patriot"

Armchairs in birch wood & original wool fabric

Art Deco Bakelite chrome magazine rack

Art Deco Bedroom Set

CHASE Chrome Cocktail Pitcher Bakelite Handle

1939, Designed Dresser

Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs

Norman Bel Geddes Candleholders

Patent for an ocean liner
US2141180