Futurist Architecture in Abayad

Futurism is a style of visual arts, architecture, and design that appeared in Abayad after the founding of the republic in 1866, first coming to prominence in the early 20th century. Futurism in Abayad has influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars, movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios. It took its name from the name of the Futurist philosophical movement, which was one of the defining movements of pre-revolutionary Abayad and contributed many of the republic’s founding ideas.

Futurist architecture, in particular, is characterized by strong chromaticism, long dynamic lines, suggesting speed, motion, urgency and lyricism. The introduction of new materials, including chrome plating, stainless steel, and plastic, made new visions in architecture possible. Futurism is divided historically into two primary eras: Nationalist and New-Wave Futurism.

Nationalist Futurism
The emergence of Nationalist Futurism was closely connected with the rise in status of decorative artists, who had managed to organize better than members of other professions during the reign of the Merchant Families under the Abayadi Confederation. This meant that they were uniquely positioned for success as artists as a class with the creation of the republic. Many of these artists adopted the new school as futurism to further symbolize the break with the old order, designing massive and elaborate structures to be proposed for Abayad’s new government.

An emphasis on industrialism and machinery and even glorification of it were among the themes of the early Futurists. Designers felt challenged by the increasing tariffs on some foreign industrial goods, requiring them to buy domestically to contribute to domestic manufacturing. Abayd's department stores and fashion designers also played an important part in the rise of Futurism. Established enterprises such as silverware firm Alburtuqu, glass designer Itar Rida, and the jewelers Milka Hamed and Illia Abad, who all began designing products in more modern styles. Beginning in 1880, department stores began recruiting decorative artists to work in their design studios to produce new, modern products.

New materials and technologies, especially reinforced concrete, were key to the development and appearance of Futurism. The first concrete house in Abayad was built in 1853 in Qabl, commissioned by the Fakhi family prior to the revolution. In 1877 Youseff Alfaar introduced the idea of strengthening the concrete with a mesh of iron rods in a grill pattern to Abayad, borrowing from foreign influences. To avoid resemblance of copying Auroran designs, the majority of Futurist buildings were made of reinforced concrete, which gave greater freedom of form and less need for reinforcing pillars and columns. Alfaar was also a pioneer in covering the concrete with ceramic tiles, both for protection and decoration.

Futurism was associated with both luxury and modernity; it combined very expensive materials and exquisite craftsmanship put into modernistic forms. The style was used to decorate newly-built halls of government, theaters, concert halls, and even some passenger trains.

New-Wave Futurism
New-Wave Futurism became popular at the turn of the 20th century, after around a half-decade where the style had faded from avant-garde circles in the architectural community. Thanks to improved industrial techniques and Abayad's increasingly modernized economy, buildings of steel and reinforced concrete began to appear in large cities across the nation that could be built without direct support from the state. At this point, the new muses of Futurist architectures were no longer buildings constructed by the state, but rather those built by the burgeoning corporations that made in their home in Abayad. Chancellor Saija Alkus, the first Liberal Party Chancellor, calling for the “merchants and tradesmen of Abayad” to lead the country into the future, symbolized a major shift in Abayad's political and cultural consciousness.

The new generation of Futurists, appropriately dubbed the "New Wave," turned their attentions to designing what would come to be called Abayad's "temples of commerce." The New-Wave Futurists emulated many parts of the older school, such as rich, ornate interiors, although the New Wave architects preferred to simply create visually elaborate patterns rather than relying on expensive materials such as ivory, ebony, pearl, or jade. The grand showcases of New Wave interior design were the lobbies of hotels, theaters, and particularly office buildings. Interiors of these structures were extremely colorful and dynamic, combining sculpture, murals, and ornate geometric design in marble, glass, ceramics and stainless steel.

Art and Design
Futurism's influences went past architecture alone, borrowing from many influences in the creation of the Futurist aesthetic. Elements from Abayad's history, as well as from countries such as Zhenia, Amil, and Toloria were commonly sampled, in part thanks to long-standing trade relations with those nations. Zhenia, in particular, was a common muse, thanks to the political and economic ties that were established between the two nations early on in the history of the republic. From 1925 onwards, it was often inspired by a passion for new machines, such as airships, automobiles and ocean liners, and by 1930 this influence resulted in a subset of New Fave Futurism known as Streamline Futurism. Buildings in the style had rounded corners and long horizontal lines; they were built of reinforced concrete, and were almost always white; and they sometimes had nautical features, such as railings that resembled those on a ship. In Abayad, it became most closely associated with transport; Streamline-style architecture was rare in office buildings, but was often used for bus stations and airport terminals, such as the terminal at Abayad City International Airport

Sculpture was a very common and integral feature of Futurist architecture. Public Futurist sculpture was almost always representational, usually of heroic or allegorical figures related to the purpose of the building or room. The themes were usually selected by the patrons, not the artist. Abstract sculpture for decoration was extremely rare. During the republic's early years, the state commonly commissioned artists to design sculptures to decorate state buildings, both internally and externally. Later on, the Liberal governments would invest far less in such commissions, leading to state buildings built by Liberal governments being comparatively plain.

Decoration in the Futurist period went through several distinct phases. Between 1910 and 1920, as Nationalist Futurism was exhausted, design styles saw a return to tradition, evoking familiar themes from the Abayadi Golden Age in newer contexts. In 1912 Anda Karim published an essay in the newspaper Dikyr Alfynu (Arts and Decoration) calling for a return to the craftsmanship and materials of earlier centuries, and using a new repertoire of forms taken from nature, particularly baskets and garlands of fruit and flowers. Karim and her supporters were in the minority, however, and most in the field continued with their minds pointed to the future. Throughout the Futurist period, and particularly in the 1930s, the motifs of the decor expressed the function of the building. Theaters were decorated with sculpture which illustrated music, dance, and excitement; power companies showed sunrises, automotive factories sported stylized hood ornaments; The friezes of the republic's customs houses showed the faces of the different nationalities of Abayad's trade partners. The Streamline style made it appear that the building itself was in motion. The state-sponsored murals of the late 19th century featured ordinary people; factory workers, postal workers, families and farmers, in place of classical heroes.



Textiles and Fashion
Prior to the advent of Futurism, fashion and clothing in Abayad generally reflected regional cultural traditions rather than following national trends. However, with Futurism, many adopted the styles espoused by the new cultural school as a way of embracing Abayad's new, modern place in the world. Textiles were an important part of the Futurist style, in the form of colorful wallpaper, upholstery and carpets, In the 1920s, designers were inspired by the stage sets of state plays and operas, as well as fabric designs and costumes. The early interior designs of of Nationalist Futurists featured brightly colored and highly stylized garlands of roses and flowers, which decorated the walls, floors, and furniture. The use of the style was greatly enhanced by the introduction of stencil-based printing systems, which allowed designers to achieve crispness of lines and very vivid colors. Late Futurist wallpaper and textiles sometimes featured stylized industrial scenes, cityscapes, locomotives and other modern themes, as well as stylized figures, metallic colors and geometric designs.

Rapidly changing fashions in clothing brought new styles of jewelry. Sleeveless dresses meant that arms needed decoration, and designers created bracelets of gold, silver and platinum encrusted with lapis-lazuli, jade, coral, and other colorful stones. Other bracelets were intended for the upper arms, and several bracelets were often worn at the same time. Shorter haircuts and new hairstyles of women in the twenties called for elaborate earring designs. As women began to smoke in public, designers created very ornate cigarette cases and ivory cigarette holders. The invention of the wrist-watch inspired jewelers to create extraordinary decorated watches, encrusted with diamonds and plated with enamel, gold and silver. Pendant watches, hanging from a ribbon, also became fashionable. Futurist artists produced a wide variety of practical objects in the Futurist style, made of industrial materials from traditional wrought iron to chrome-plated steel.