“The Hoover Dam also became an icon of modernism, that certain mode of design which emerged from Europe in as disparate forms as Gropius’s Bauhaus or the 1925 Paris Arts Decoratif et Industrials Modernes show; out of these came the International Style and Art Deco. Although the Hoover Dam’s design was not specifically allied with a sub-movement of modernism, the attempt was made to create an aesthetically pleasing–and Modern–facade.
The original design for the dam’s facade by Bureau of Reclamation engineers made it clear that an architect needed to be brought in. Although the engineers’ design was highly functional, the unbalanced outlet houses, government-office powerhouse, and massive eagles set on the roadway towers clashed violently with the image projected of Hoover Dam as a modern structure”.
