American Art Deco

A lavishly illustrated survey of American Art Deco architecture.

Art deco flourished in cities and small towns throughout America during the 1920s and 1930s. Extremely popular as a statement of modernity and technological progress, art deco movie palaces, dime stores, department stores, courthouses, and schools were ubiquitous in the American landscape; numerous examples of the style continue to be viable spaces.

American art deco was unique. Unlike their European counterparts, architects in the United States had "exotic" indigenous cultures for inspiration. Arts such as Navajo chiefs' blankets, Hopi pottery, and Sioux beadwork, characterized by geometric ornament, were easily assimilated into the art deco style. Regionalism—a good example of which is the Prairie style, advocated by Frank Lloyd Wright and other progressive architects—also influenced American art deco. America's pioneering and westward migration provided powerful themes and motifs, producing an art deco with authentic national and regional characteristics.

American Deco features descriptions—and over 500 color photographs—of 75 opulent buildings across the country that have been preserved. The photographs document interiors, exteriors, and details of deco skyscrapers, courthouses, theaters, and other significant buildings.