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Norman Bel Geddes started his career as a scene designer for the New York Metropolitan Opera. He also designed and directed various Broadway, theatrical works such as Arabesque to The Five O’Clock Girl. As successful as he was as a scene designer, he discovered his true calling in 1927 when he opened up his industrial-design studio.
In his studio, he designed a wide range of products, from cocktail shakers to commemorative medallions to industrial furniture. His designs extended to futuristic concepts: a teardrop-shaped automobile, an Art Deco House of Tomorrow and many more. In 1929, he designed “Airliner Number 4,” a 9-deck amphibian airliner that included areas for deck-games, an orchestra, a gymnasium, a solarium, and two airplane hangars.
Bel Geddes wrote his first design book in 1932, Horizons, which had a significant impact. It was widely accepted that through Horizons, Bel Geddes made the design style of the thirties possible by popularizing the concept of streamlining design to make it beautiful, sophisticated AND functional.
Bel Geddes received commission to design the General Motors Pavilion, known as Futurama, for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. It was a hugely successful and influential installation; this set the groundwork for Norman Bel Geddes to be honored as the Father of Industrial Modernism.
On June 29, 2011 The United States Postal Service celebrated the First-Day-Of-Issue for a commemorative U.S. postage stamp honoring Bel Geddes as the “Pioneer Of American Industrial Design” at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in NYC.
The Museum of the City of New York currently has a wonderful exhibit commemorating Bel Geddes and exhibiting some of his most influential works.