Norman Bel Geddes

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Lore & Background

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, designing 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, an Art Deco House of Tomorrow, and in 1929, "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, popularizing streamlining. He was highly inspired by organic forms, like the bodies of birds and fish. Bel Geddes was also very interested in eugenics and the potentials for the 'streamlining' of biological organisms, including humans. He would often contribute articles to popular American periodicals concerned with the future of design and human society. 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. He designed the General Motors Pavilion, known as Futurama, for the 1939 New York World's Fair. The building was described by Lewis Mumford as "the great egg out of which civilization is to be born." The case for the Mark I computer was designed by Bel Geddes at IBM's expense.

Reader's Guide

Norman Bel Geddes is a key figure to know as one of the first to hold the title of Industrial Designer in the 1930s. His book *Horizons* (1932) popularized streamlining, making possible the design style of the thirties. His most famous achievement, the Futurama Exhibition at the 1939 New York World's Fair, was a massive undertaking he conceived and oversaw. For inspiration, he exploited his earlier work designing a "Metropolis City of 1960" in 1936. His legacy is recognized by his induction into 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 him as a "Pioneer Of American Industrial Design." His archive is held by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, which includes models, drafts, watercolor designs, research notes, project proposals, and correspondence.

Did You Know?

• Bel Geddes was born Norman Melancton Geddes; he combined his name with his wife Helen Belle Schneider's when they married in 1916 to become Bel Geddes.
• His 1929 design 'Airliner Number 4' was a 9-deck amphibian airliner that included areas for deck-games, an orchestra, a gymnasium, a solarium, and two airplane hangars.
• The case for the Mark I computer at Harvard University was designed by Bel Geddes at IBM's expense.
• His book *Horizons* (1932) was so influential that it 'made possible the design style of the thirties' by popularizing streamlining.
• Bel Geddes's library contained many popular books on eugenics, including *The Basics of Breeding* by Leon F. Whitney.