Art Deco – Links
A work in progress. Our goal is to offer the web’s largest collection of links to Art Deco architecture sites, including brief descriptions or reviews. Currently we have more than 65 links. We’ve begun with links to Art Deco sites by cities, states and countries, as well as New York City interest. We’ve visited links on other Deco pages, and included here those still active links relating to Deco architecture. If you’d like to do a link exchange, or alert us to a good new site, please
LINKS UPDATED AS OF JANUARY 2013
Art Deco Architecture — New York — General
Art Deco Architecture — New York — Individual Buildings
Art Deco Architecture — New York — Individual Architects
In Its Own Category (the V&A Deco Show)
Other than Architecture Art Deco Sites
Art Deco Architecture — New York — General
Celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2005 – same year it hosted the Eighth World Congress on Art Deco.The venerable New York organization offers Deco publications, events and parties.
Entries on the Chrysler and Empire State buildings (as well as the Golden Gate Bridge, Kiefhook Housing estate in Rotterdam, and Nebraska State Capitol) with text and photos.
New York Architecture Images by Tom Fletcher
Photos of “Art Deco/Art Moderne.” Includes a few things that aren’t Deco (like the Met Life Tower, rather than its Deco extension), but generally worth a visit. Don’t miss the “Art Deco Metalwork” section – fabulous!
Art Deco Architecture — New York — Individual Buildings
Please note: This is a just a selection. Some of these buildings make thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of appearances on the web.
The Chrysler Building
Carter Horsley on the Chrysler Building: Carter Horsley’s take on the great icon (but note he consistently misspells architect William Van Alen’s name – one “l” in Alen, not two)
Cities Service Tower, 70 Pine Street (originally 60 Wall Tower)
In Andreas Feininger photo: Dramatic view from the street looking up at the tower past the tracks of the long-since demolished Second Avenue elevated.
View from the top, by Feininger: Wonderful view c. 1941 of lower Manhattan, Battery Park and New York Harbor, from the top of 70 Pine Street.
The Empire State Building
The Empire State Building: The official site.
The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark by John Tauranac: A review of the book, by Carter Horsley. Includes nice photos by Horsley.
The General Electric Building (570 Lexington Avenue)
Carter Horsley on 570 Lex: Horsley on one of the great unsung Deco skyscrapers.
The Irving Trust Company (1 Wall Street)
The Irving Trust Company (1 Wall Street): From an NYU virtual tour of Wall Street; click on links for views of the interior.
The Swiss Center Building (originally Goelet Building), 608 Fifth Avenue
Carter Horsley again: One of New York’s best-kept Deco secrets, the Swiss Center lobby is a miniature Deco dream — and it’s right next door to Rockefeller Center.
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall: The official site.
Rockefeller Center
Great Buildings Online: Rockefeller Center: An architectural history site, with photos, models, books and links.
The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
Carter Horsley on the Waldorf-Astoria: Lots of photos.
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel: The official site, from Hilton hotels.
Art Deco New York — Individual Architects
Joseph Urban
Joseph Urban virtual exhibit at Columbia University
This is a remarkable site devoted to a remarkable collection about a remarkable architect. Joseph Urban, originally from Vienna, was a bona fide member of the Viennese Sezession movement. He came to America at the turn of the 20th century, and built a dual career as both architect and stage set designer. He also had something of a dual career as a stage designer – creating stage sets for both the Metropolitan Opera and the Ziegfeld Follies (his Ziegfeld Theater was a tour-de-force – sadly demolished).. Few of his New York buildings survive – most notable are the New School with its great oval auditorium (a NYC Landmark), and the Hearst Magazine Building (also a NYC Landmark) which unfortunately has become the six-story base for a 40-story steel and glass tower by Lord Foster. But visit this site and take a virtual tour – what an amazing resource.
V&A Art Deco 1910-1939: If you missed the great V&A (Victoria & Albert, the London super-museum) 2003 exhibit on Art Deco, here’s your chance to take a virtual tour.
Buffalo, NY
Art Deco in Buffalo, NY 1925-1940: A brief exposition of “what is Art Deco,” but much more interesting for its large collection of Art Deco Buffalo architecture. There’s also a section on Deco furniture.
Chicago
Chicago Art Deco Society (CADS): Chicago’s Art Deco Society web site, including news, information on events, lists of past newsletters available, and an interesting set of links to Deco dealers.
Detroit
Detroit Area Art Deco Society: Detroit’s Deco Society. Lots of resources.
Kalamazoo
Art Deco in Architecture: An essay by by Heidi Dressler, with links to photos and write-ups about the Deco buildings she mentions.
Louisville
Louisville Art Deco: A site devoted to Art Deco in Louisville, Kentucky. Photos of buildings, and more.
Los Angeles
Art Deco Society of Los Angeles: LA’s Deco Society site — with plenty of Flash and Java effects (would you expect anything less from Tinsel Town?). Great pics, plus preservation issues and on-line newsletters.
Miami Beach
Absolutely Florida: Art Deco in Miami Beach: A commercial site, worth a visit. Follow the links to the Art Deco Hotels page, or click on the listing here.
Art Deco Hotels of South Beach: A listing, with links to the hotels’ own sites.
Palm Beach
Art Deco Society of the Palm Beaches: There are other Deco beaches in Florida besides Miami….
Tulsa
Tulsa’s Art Deco Heritage: Web site of the Tulsa Preservation Commission (Tulsa was the year 2000 host city for the World Congress on Art Deco).
Tulsa Art Deco: The Tulsa Foundation for Architecture – wonderful photos.
Washington, D.C.
Art Deco Society of Washington: An excellent site, with many resources.
California
Art Deco Society of California: Despite its name, devoted largely to Northern California (a separate state, they say, from LA and the south, which has its own Deco Society, see above under “cities”). Otherwise, a very comprehensive site. It includes a guide to Deco (and other) attractions in the Bay area (that’s the San Francisco Bay to those who don’t know — includes Oakland and Berkeley), a calendar of events, historic preservation updates, excerpts from their newsletter, the Streamlined Times, and downloadable (Adobe pdf format) versions of The Sophisticate, the ADSC’s semi-annual magazine.
Bay Area Deco: This site put up by a real-estate company includes lists and photos of Art Deco in Oakland and Berkeley.
A Digital Archive of American Architecture: Dozens of photos of Art Deco skyscrapers on this page devoted to skyscrapers of 1925-1945.
Art Deco in Randy Juster’s fabulous photos: A brand-new site with photos by Randy Juster (mentioned elsewhere on the site as the country’s finest Art Deco photographer, in your reviewer’s humble opinion). Randy’s site includes photos of Art Deco marvels around the world.
Australia
Melbourne
Art Deco Society Inc.: “Australia’s Largest Art Deco Society.” This is the Deco sociey for Victoria (of which Melbourne is the metropolis) and Tasmania. “It is dedicated to the preservation and celebration of aspects of the Art Deco era such as architecture, landscaping, furniture, industrial design, fashion, graphics, art, jewellery, entertainment and transport.”
Sydney
Art Deco Society of New South Wales: The original Art Deco group in Sydney. They sponsor many local events. The site includes extensive lists of Deco buildings, including architect, date and address. Be sure to check out the Building of the Month – photos plus lots of good information.
20th Century Heritage Society of New South Wales: A break-away upstart from the ADSNSW, more specifically dedicated to preservation of the Deco greats. Co-founder and current Chairman Roy Lumby is a walking encyclopedia on Art Deco Sydney, in particular the city’s Art Deco pubs (he keeps threatening to write a book on the subject). The Society also sponsors local events (if you happen to be in Sydney, try to get on one of Roy’s guided tours). The site has a nice virtual tour of Art Deco in the Elizabeth Bay/Potts Point neighborhood — perhaps more such tours are in the offing?
Austria
Vienna
Die Wiener Gemeindebauten: A very handsome site devoted to the Viennese Art Deco “Council Tenement Blocks” — low-income but very stylish housing put up by the city government in the 1920s and ’30s. In German, but you can click on the icon of the Union Jack in the lower right hand corner, and voila– an English version! Many beautiful photos.
Brazil
Art Deco Institute of Brazil: An ambitious site devoted to Art Deco in South America’s largest country, with emphasis on Rio de Janeiro. This is the English version of the site.
Canada
Art Deco Montreal: A bilingual site devoted to what its boosters describe as one of “the top ten cities in the world for its Art Déco architecture” Not much content on the site yet, but there is a list of current events and a page on the Aldred Building, “Montreal’s Original Skyscraper.”
Art Deco Toronto: Information about events and preservation issues, plus “The List” of all Toronto’s Art Deco landmarks, and a small but neat photo gallery.
Indonesia
Bandung
Art Deco in Bandung: An essay by Dibyo Hartono, head of the West Java Art Deco Society, and member of the Bandung Society for Heritage Conservationon, on Art Deco in this Indonesian city. I met Mr. Hartono in Perth, Australia, during the 1993 World Congress on Art Deco — we were guests in the same house. A very pleasant man.
New Zealand
Auckland
Art Deco Auckland: The official site of the Art Deco Society Auckland, Inc. It includes photos and history, as well as “information about early 20th Century New Zealand artists, a list of New Zealand antique dealers specialising in Art Deco…,plus a guide to Auckland’s Art Deco accomodation.”
Napier
Art Deco Trust of Napier: A splendid site devoted to Napier, New Zealand’s answer to Miami Beach (and then some). A must-see.
South Africa
Durban
Durban Art Deco Society:Includes a virtual tour of Durban Deco, and a plea for its preservation.
United Kingdom
The Twentieth Century Society: Founded as the Thirties Society in 1980; hosted the 1995 World Congress on Art Deco, in London and Brighton.
Other than Architecture Art Deco Sites
Things Deco Catalog: Great Deco reproductions from New York Deco-philes Bob Josen and Harriet Seltzer.
Lattimore’s Global Art-Deco Directory: Tons of links, though not much to architecture. Auctions, dealers, antiques.