ART DECO ARCHITECTURE

Art Deco buildings, with their highly ornate façades and dramatic forms,are a vital part of our surroundings. This wide-ranging exploration of ArtDeco architectural design embraces many different times and places in itssummary of the movement's origins, development and influence. Various typesof architecture were termed Art Deco, and their antecedents might includeArts and Crafts, fin-de-sičcle Vienna, Cubism, Expressionism and theBauhaus. Patricia Bayer shows that Art Deco masterpieces can be seen andadmired worldwide: from the skyscrapers of New York City to imperialdwellings in Tokyo; from Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Battersea PowerStation to movie theatres and diners across America. Post-modernism nowuses its motifs and idioms, and many of the original buildings stillsurvive, fully restored to their former glory. Sumptuously illustrated,this is a comprehensive guide to the best-loved of all 20th-centuryarchitectural styles.