Dictator Style - Cult Guru Decor - Boss From Hell Style
[www.google.com]
Get a look at photographs of offices, homes and stage settings favored
by cult leaders. Then, check these against a field of study termed
Dictator Style or Dictator Decor.
Certain popular musicians have gone for this too. Liberace and some rap stars
come immediately to mind.
Even if he or she does not run a recognized cult, any boss
(or prospective spouse) who favors this kind of decor is probably
gonna be very, very demanding.
Peter Yorke's book entitled "Dictator Style"
examines interior decor favored by Porfirio Diaz, Vladimir Lenin,
Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Josip Broz Tito, Francisco Franco, Juan Peron, Joseph-Desire Mobutu, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Idi Amin, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, Saddam Hussein, Manual Noriega and Slobodan Milosevic.
The ideologies range from Fascist, Fascist/Catholic Traditionalist, various manifestations of Commmunism, Arab Socialism (Baath Party) to untutored
thuggery made good.
Lenin was upper middle class/aristocrat. Most of the others began as common soldiers.
Despite this diversity of ideology, religiosity, ethnicity, nationality and education, Peter Yorke identifies ten (10) feature that are found again and again in the style and decor chosen by these despots.
There more of these are found in the same room, the graver the prognosis.
In the Western context, Louis XIV pioneered Dictator Style.
If you want to see the difference between 17th century French Dictator Style and 17th century French architecture at its exquisite best, compare
Vaux le Vicomte, a Chateau built by Louis XIV's finance minister, Fouquet,
and Versailles.
Louis threw Fouquet into prison, and appropriated the architects and artists
who created the disgraced minister's gem of a place. Under Louis' direction, those same architects created Versailles. Grace and proportion were replaced by
Dictator Style.
Back to Peter Yorke and Dictator Style.
Key elements are gold, marble, glass (chandeliers, mirrors), lack of proportion.
On pages x and xi of the Introduction, York gives us the list:
"Here are the ten key points of the Dictator Look"
1. Big It Up. Make sure everything is seriously over scale. If you copy
a French chateau, double the size of the rooms.
2. Go Repro. York tells us dictators like old style princely furniture and decor. Most dictators crave legitimacy. They want bling.
3. Think French. York does not have them on his list, but think of
the furniture favored by Saudi royalty
4. Think Hotel. As York tells us, for impoverished local boys, the hotel
represented the good life template
5. Go for gold, starting with the faucet taps
6. Go for glass, especially mirrors and chandeliers
7. Important looking 18th and 19th century oils
8. Brand names
9. Marble, preferably new marble. Why? York tells us, old marble looks
grimy. Preferably shined to a high gloss.
10. Portraits of yourself. Lots and lots of portraits.
This last item should be a tip off. Any group where disciples have the
leader's picture on the dashboard of the car, at their desks, in their
bedrooms (especially if its the wall FACING the foot of the bed), and
if disciples are wearing jewelry with the leader's picture -- run like hell.
[www.google.com]
Get a look at photographs of offices, homes and stage settings favored
by cult leaders. Then, check these against a field of study termed
Dictator Style or Dictator Decor.
Certain popular musicians have gone for this too. Liberace and some rap stars
come immediately to mind.
Even if he or she does not run a recognized cult, any boss
(or prospective spouse) who favors this kind of decor is probably
gonna be very, very demanding.
Peter Yorke's book entitled "Dictator Style"
examines interior decor favored by Porfirio Diaz, Vladimir Lenin,
Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Josip Broz Tito, Francisco Franco, Juan Peron, Joseph-Desire Mobutu, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Idi Amin, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, Saddam Hussein, Manual Noriega and Slobodan Milosevic.
The ideologies range from Fascist, Fascist/Catholic Traditionalist, various manifestations of Commmunism, Arab Socialism (Baath Party) to untutored
thuggery made good.
Lenin was upper middle class/aristocrat. Most of the others began as common soldiers.
Despite this diversity of ideology, religiosity, ethnicity, nationality and education, Peter Yorke identifies ten (10) feature that are found again and again in the style and decor chosen by these despots.
There more of these are found in the same room, the graver the prognosis.
In the Western context, Louis XIV pioneered Dictator Style.
If you want to see the difference between 17th century French Dictator Style and 17th century French architecture at its exquisite best, compare
Vaux le Vicomte, a Chateau built by Louis XIV's finance minister, Fouquet,
and Versailles.
Louis threw Fouquet into prison, and appropriated the architects and artists
who created the disgraced minister's gem of a place. Under Louis' direction, those same architects created Versailles. Grace and proportion were replaced by
Dictator Style.
Back to Peter Yorke and Dictator Style.
Key elements are gold, marble, glass (chandeliers, mirrors), lack of proportion.
On pages x and xi of the Introduction, York gives us the list:
"Here are the ten key points of the Dictator Look"
1. Big It Up. Make sure everything is seriously over scale. If you copy
a French chateau, double the size of the rooms.
2. Go Repro. York tells us dictators like old style princely furniture and decor. Most dictators crave legitimacy. They want bling.
3. Think French. York does not have them on his list, but think of
the furniture favored by Saudi royalty
4. Think Hotel. As York tells us, for impoverished local boys, the hotel
represented the good life template
5. Go for gold, starting with the faucet taps
6. Go for glass, especially mirrors and chandeliers
7. Important looking 18th and 19th century oils
8. Brand names
9. Marble, preferably new marble. Why? York tells us, old marble looks
grimy. Preferably shined to a high gloss.
10. Portraits of yourself. Lots and lots of portraits.
This last item should be a tip off. Any group where disciples have the
leader's picture on the dashboard of the car, at their desks, in their
bedrooms (especially if its the wall FACING the foot of the bed), and
if disciples are wearing jewelry with the leader's picture -- run like hell.