Streamlining :: Norman Bel Geddes Theater Essays

Streamlining Ukrainian State Theater: Foyer - Norman Bel Geddes, Horizons Norman Bel Geddes was a Broadway stage designer turned industrial designer. During much of his life, his ideas stretched beyond the vision of most people. He encountered a lot of apprehension toward his innovative ideas, many of which never left the drawing board. Yet, Geddes' notions of "Streamlining" are important to understanding public life. Steven Heller and Louise Fili (1995) write, "[Streamlining] was at once the engine of progress and a metaphor for the fast tempo of daily life" (p. 80). To Geddes, streamlining illustrated courage: We are too much inclined to believe, because things have long been done a certain way, that that is the best way to do them. Following old grooves of thought is one method of playing safe. But it deprives one of initiative and takes too long. It sacrifices the value of the element of surprise. At times, the only thing to do is to cut loose and do the unexpected! It takes more even than imagination to be progressive. It takes vision and courage. Geddes deserves our attention because so many of his visions remain a part of our collective consciousness in the form of "semiotic phantoms" that endure the many changes that have taken place sense his age. Photo borrowed from Dannysoar's Geddes page. Norman Bel Geddes was born in Adrian, Michigan, in 1893 to a wealthy family. But, by the time he was seven, his father lost everything in the stock market and drank himself to death a few years later. Norman, his mom, and younger brother lived in poverty for the rest of his childhood. But his mother was a cultured woman and she shared her interest in the theatre and opera with her sons. Norman loved to draw and paint and his mother encouraged him (Russell, 1974, p. 8). During this time, they moved a lot. When Norman was in the ninth grade, he was expelled from school. A cartoonist who'd heard about him helped him get into the Cleveland Institute of Art. Norman also attended the Chicago Art Institute for a short time, but school really wasn't his thing. His strong interest in stage and opera grew and soon he found his niche (Russell, 1974, p.10). Geddes' most notable contribution to stage design was in lighting. Back then, the sole purpose of lighting was visibility.