The East in Exaggeration: Asian Influence on Art Deco

There’s a reason Art Deco doesn’t do subtle. The entire movement was a fever dream of excess—gold-trimmed skyscrapers, lacquered everything, and geometric patterns sharp enough to cut. It was a global flex, a champagne-fueled middle finger to the Great War, and a declaration that the future was here. But behind all the jazz-age swagger and European bravado, the Art Deco aesthetic owed a massive debt to the East.

Asia wasn’t just an influence—it was a foundation. From the stylized dragons of Chinese lacquerwork to the serene symmetry of Japanese prints, the movement devoured Eastern aesthetics and spat them back out in high-contrast, high-gloss splendor. The results? Pure dynamite. Let’s take a look at how Art Deco stole from—er, paid homage to—the Far East and turned it into one of the most defining aesthetics of the 20th century.

And then there was Makie, the Japanese lacquer technique that turned furniture into black mirrors dusted with gold. French designers went wild for it, incorporating the technique into the sleek, high-gloss surfaces that defined Art Deco interiors. The result? A look that felt modern but still carried centuries of craftsmanship in every detail.

Shanghai: The Art Deco Playground of the East

While Europe and America were busy borrowing from Asia, Asia itself was shaping Art Deco in real time. Nowhere was this more obvious than Shanghai. In the 1920s and ‘30s, the city was an architectural playground—a neon-lit collision of East and West, where Art Deco wasn’t just imported, it was made local.

Buildings like the Cathay Hotel (now the Fairmont Peace Hotel) and the Bank of China Headquarters were towering examples of Deco style fused with Chinese motifs—think symmetrical layouts, stepped forms, and ornamental details that nodded to traditional Chinese architecture. The interiors dripped with Deco decadence: lacquered woods, jade greens, and inlaid gold. Shanghai was proof that Art Deco wasn’t just a one-way street—it was a conversation.

The Legacy: Still Gilded, Still Bold

Today, the Asian influence on Art Deco is more than just a historical footnote—it’s alive in modern interiors, fashion, and design. The same bold contrasts, geometric precision, and luxurious finishes that defined the 1920s still show up in contemporary spaces. Black lacquer and gold accents? Timeless. Japanese-inspired minimalism paired with Deco glam? A match made in design heaven.

Art Deco was never just about Europe or America flexing its post-war muscles. It was a global remix—one that took the precision of Japanese craftsmanship, the luxury of Chinese lacquerwork, and the grandeur of Asian architecture and blended them into something unapologetically extravagant. And if you strip away the glitz and the Gatsby-esque indulgence, what you’re left with is a simple truth: the best design has always been a conversation across cultures, a grand theft of ideas that, when done right, becomes something new, something electric, something timeless.