Art Deco

On this cast

• SetbacksThe tower steps back as it rises in a ziggurat profile. New York's 1916 zoning law demanded it so light could reach the street.
• Recessed windowsWindows sit back between the piers in vertical strips, so the floors almost disappear.
• Spandrel panelsThe panel between one window and the next is dark metal or terracotta with chevrons and zigzags.
• Fluted stone beltA band of reeded stone marks the street floor. Fluting returns in Deco as a flat, machine-like stripe.
• ShopfrontsPlate glass framed in bronze, with stepped ziggurat motifs on the base.
• Continuous piersStone ribs run unbroken from the pavement to the top, each ending in a stepped cap.
• Zigzag friezeSharp chevrons on every ledge: geometry instead of leaves.
• Eagle gargoylesStreamlined metal birds jutting from the corners, like the eagles on the Chrysler Building.
• Sunburst crownStacked arches with triangular windows fanning out like rays. Lit at night, the crown is the building's logo.
• SpireA metal needle on top that adds height and a skyline signature.
• Stepped portalThe entrance frames step inward like a telescope, in polished stone, with chevron bronze doors.
• Sunburst transomRays fanning out from a half circle over the door: the favourite Deco motif, from lift doors to radios.

How to spot it from the street

1. Stepped setbacks
2. Strong unbroken verticals
3. Zigzags, chevrons and sunbursts
4. Rich materials at the entrance: bronze, marble, terrazzo

Where it came from

The style matured before the First World War and takes its name from the 1925 Paris Exposition internationale des Arts décoratifs et industriels modernes, though the label 'Art Deco' only caught on in the 1960s. Its geometric ornament came from Cubism, Egyptian finds and the speed of cars and liners.

In New York it met the skyscraper. The 1916 zoning law made tall buildings step back as they rose so that light could reach the street, and architects turned the rule into the wedding-cake profile of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings. Piers run unbroken to the top, spandrels between the windows carry chevrons, and the crown is lit up at night.