Norman Bel Geddes Database
Job 248, Streamlined Ocean Liner, 1932-1959
Summary:
Geddes’s design for an 1,808 foot long streamlined ocean liner eliminated all projections or enclosed them within the ship’s shell. Anticipated to reduce trans-Atlantic travel by one day, the ship was designed to accommodate 2,000 first- class passengers and a crew of 900.
Geddes photographed this model for inclusion in Horizons (job 237), which also featured renderings and detailed plans and sections. These illustrations persuasively suggested that this fantastical ship was ready to be built and launched, which it never was. Like Geddes’s design for the Wenner-Gren yacht (job 302), the ocean liner’s lifeboats were housed within the ship’s streamlined superstructure.