Art Deco Interior Design
Famous Art Deco Buildings That Define the Era
Most of the famous Art Deco buildings went up between 1928 and 1938, in cities as far apart as New York and Mumbai. They include skyscrapers, cinemas, hotels, civic halls, and a train station. The ones that make the lists are usually recognizable on sight and show the style properly, with a stepped silhouette and geometric ornament built in hard materials such as stainless steel and glazed terra cotta.
A setback alone doesn’t make a building Art Deco. New York’s 1916 Building Zone Resolution, the nation’s first, shaped the stepped profile of the city’s towers (NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, 2024), so many of those steps came from zoning.
Which Art Deco Buildings Are the Most Famous?
Nearly every list puts the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building in New York at the top. Miami Beach’s Art Deco Historic District comes next, along with Los Angeles landmarks such as the Eastern Columbia Building.
First place is less settled. Time Out’s 2025 centenary list was picked by critic Dominic Lutyens, who calls the Chrysler Building the most recognizably Deco of Manhattan’s early towers, then ranks London’s Daily Express Building first overall.
| Building and city | Architect | Completed | Signature feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrysler Building, New York | William Van Alen | 1930 | Stainless steel crown of terraced arches |
| Empire State Building, New York | Shreve, Lamb & Harmon | 1931 | Setback tower with a tall spire |
| Daily Express Building, London | Ellis & Clarke with Sir Owen Williams | 1932 | Black glass facade, chromium strips, ornate lobby |
| Eastern Columbia Building, Los Angeles | Claud Beelman | 1930 | Turquoise terra cotta and a neon clock tower |
| Guardian Building, Detroit | Wirt C. Rowland (Smith, Hinchman & Grylls) | 1929 | Orange brick and polychrome tile |
One catch with the Daily Express Building. The black cladding on Fleet Street now is replacement material, fitted during a refurbishment completed in 2000 (Architects’ Journal, 2000). The City of London Corporation credits John Robertson Architects with that work. The look survived, but the 1932 material didn’t.
How to Recognize an Art Deco Building
Look for a stepped silhouette and geometric ornament together, finished in hard, glossy materials like stainless steel or glazed terra cotta, sometimes polished stone. Any one of these on its own proves little.
Silhouette and setbacks
Pennsylvania’s Historical and Museum Commission describes Art Deco facades as a series of setbacks that form a stepped outline.
The stepped forms that define Art Deco architecture get complicated in New York, though. The city’s 1916 Building Zone Resolution, the nation’s first according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (2024), forced tall buildings to step back. 99% Invisible notes that the Chrysler Building’s setbacks reflect that ordinance rather than pure taste.
Other cities copied the profile with no such rule in place (99% Invisible). Docomomo Singapore adds that the stepped masses of 1920s Zigzag Moderne allude to ziggurats and stepped pyramids.
So in New York a setback tells you about zoning, and elsewhere it tells you about taste. Ornament is the better test.
Ornament
Zigzags and chevrons show up as geometric bands on facades and doors, and in lobbies. Sunbursts appear on radiating crowns and ceilings, and around entrances. Stylized figures and reliefs make up the rest, such as Ceres atop the Chicago Board of Trade Building and “Safety” and “Security” on Detroit’s Guardian Building.
Chevrons and zigzags are common ornament on Art Deco buildings, per the Pennsylvania field guide. The sunburst is probably the easiest to spot.
You’ll find the sunburst motif that recurs in Art Deco on the crown of the Chrysler Building (Time Out, 2025) and in the blue and gold terra cotta vestibule of the Eastern Columbia Building (Los Angeles Conservancy). It also lights the entrance hall ceiling of the Daily Express Building (City of London Corporation).
Materials
The usual materials are stainless steel, glazed terra cotta in turquoise, blue, and gold, black Vitrolite glass with chromium strips, and Pewabic and Rookwood tile.
The Chrysler crown is clad in silver austenitic stainless steel made in Germany, according to Designing Buildings.
Where the style got its name
The name traces back to the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, which rejected imitations of historical styles, per the NoeHill architecture guide.
Historian Bevis Hillier popularized the term “Art Deco” with his 1968 book Art Deco of the 20s and 30s. Before that, the style was usually called Moderne or Style Moderne (Dezeen, 2025).
Art Deco Skyscrapers in New York
New York’s Art Deco reputation rests mostly on two towers, the Chrysler Building (1930) and the Empire State Building (1931). Radio City Music Hall has the best-known interior in the city.
Chrysler Building
William Van Alen’s crown stacks seven radiating arches in stainless steel, each set with triangular windows (Dezeen, 2025).
The ornament borrows from Chrysler car designs, and the lobby combines onyx and steel with red Moroccan marble (Designing Buildings). A steel spire on top was added to push the tower past 40 Wall Street, which was rising at the same time.
The Chrysler Building became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Empire State Building
Shreve, Lamb & Harmon designed it, and it opened on May 1, 1931, with President Hoover pressing a button in Washington to switch on the lights. The style is Art Deco with Greek and Egyptian influences alongside Beaux-Arts in the ornamented facade (Dezeen, 2025). The observatories sit on the 86th and 102nd floors.
Opening dates trip up some roundups. One 2025 list prints 1935, while EBSCO Research Starters (2023) and Landmark West’s building record both give 1931.
The two towers by the numbers
The Chrysler Building is 1,046 ft with 77 floors and was completed in May 1930 (Designing Buildings). The Empire State Building has 102 floors and measures 1,250 ft to the 102nd floor and 1,454 ft to the lightning rod (Landmark West). That made the Chrysler the height record holder for about 11 months, from May 1930 until the Empire State opened.
Chrysler heights vary in print. Designing Buildings itself gives both 1,046 and 1,048 feet.
Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center
Radio City Music Hall opened on December 27, 1932, as part of Rockefeller Center. Edward Durell Stone was design supervisor for the hall within the Associated Architects, and Donald Deskey won the 1932 competition for the interior.
Deskey used glass, aluminum, chrome, and geometric ornament, and the proscenium arch over the Great Stage resembles a setting sun. His room is a theater-scale example of Art Deco interior design.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the interior in 1978, after plans to close the hall were announced earlier that year (Smithsonian Associates).
Famous Art Deco Landmarks Across the United States
Outside New York the style turns up on a much wider mix of buildings. Los Angeles gets a city hall and a department store tower. Detroit’s entry is a bank skyscraper, Chicago’s a trading hall, and Cincinnati’s a train station.
Los Angeles City Hall
At 454 feet and 32 floors, Los Angeles City Hall was finished in 1928 and stayed the tallest building in Southern California until 1968 (SoCal Landmarks, 2022).
A 1905 ordinance capped city buildings at 150 feet. City Hall cleared the cap as a public building after a referendum, according to PBS SoCal.
John Parkinson, John C. Austin, and Albert C. Martin share the design credit, and the tower’s shape draws on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Structurae). A 1998 to 2001 retrofit made it the tallest base-isolated structure in the world.
Eastern Columbia Building
Claud Beelman designed it, and it opened on September 12, 1930, as headquarters of the Eastern Outfitting and Columbia Outfitting companies, a furniture and clothing retailer (Los Angeles Conservancy). The cladding is glossy turquoise terra cotta with deep blue and gold trim. After a 2004 to 2006 conversion it became residential condominiums (Pacific Coast Architecture Database).
The tower rose in a downtown of tan and beige, as Los Angeles magazine puts it. Its turquoise and gold sits at the bright end of the Art Deco color palette, and a four-sided clock tower carries EASTERN in neon.
Guardian Building, Detroit
The Society of Architectural Historians calls the Guardian Building one of the most exuberant Art Deco skyscrapers in America.
Wirt C. Rowland of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls designed it, and it was finished in 1929. The facing brick is orange, which SAH Archipedia calls “Guardian brick.” Pewabic and Rookwood tile and Corrado Parducci’s stone reliefs decorate the interior, and Ezra Winter’s mural of Michigan fills the banking hall.
Sources disagree on floor count, from 36 stories (SAH Archipedia) to 43 in other references.
The building has been a National Historic Landmark since 1989. Wayne County owns it and houses county offices there, per SAH Archipedia.
Chicago Board of Trade Building
Holabird & Root’s Board of Trade tower opened on June 9, 1930, and stayed Chicago’s tallest until the Daley Center opened in 1965 (Bisnow).
Setbacks at varying heights let extra light into the building. Sculptor John Storrs made the faceless Ceres, goddess of grain, that caps the tower, a nod to the commodity trading inside.
Cincinnati Union Terminal
The rotunda of Cincinnati Union Terminal measures 180 feet wide and 106 feet tall, the second largest half-dome in the world according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The station opened in 1933, and Winold Reiss’s glass mosaic murals cover the rotunda walls. Fellheimer & Wagner designed the building (EverGreene).
Passenger trains stopped in 1972, and the building reopened as the Cincinnati Museum Center in 1990 (SAH Archipedia), with Amtrak returning in 1991. The rear concourse was demolished, and Reiss’s concourse murals were moved, first to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport, while the two largest stayed in the rotunda (EverGreene).
Why Miami Beach Has the Largest Concentration of Art Deco Buildings
A preservation campaign in the 1970s is the reason. It turned roughly 800 buildings into a protected historic district, and that is what gives Miami Beach the largest concentration.
The district entered the National Register of Historic Places on May 14, 1979, the first urban 20th century historic district to be listed (Florida Department of State marker, 2018). It was also the youngest on the register, since many of its buildings had not reached 50 years of age, according to another Miami Beach historic marker.
How the district was saved
Barbara Baer Capitman and designer Leonard Horowitz founded the Miami Design Preservation League in 1976. In December 1978, Capitman proposed a district of about 1,200 buildings at a state hearing, and on May 14, 1979, 800 buildings were listed as contributing structures (Miami Design Preservation League archives). Hotels such as the Carlyle and the Cardozo were restored in the 1980s.
The campaign also set the look of Ocean Drive. Its hotels were repainted in pastels chosen by Horowitz, per the Florida marker.
Buildings to look for on Ocean Drive
The Carlyle opened in 1941 and is a late example of the style (Dezeen, 2025). Roy F. France designed the Cavalier Hotel in 1936. Afar calls the McAlpin a near-perfect embodiment of Miami Art Deco.
Afar traces much of the area’s early Art Deco to automobile magnate Carl Fisher, who developed the beach. Preservation came decades later.
Famous Art Deco Buildings Outside the United States
The list outside the US runs from Paris and Mumbai to Shanghai, Asmara, Napier, Sydney, and Rio de Janeiro.
Europe: Palais de la Porte Doree
The Palais de la Porte Doree in Paris was built to celebrate empire, and the building now houses something close to its opposite.
Albert Laprade and Leon Jaussely designed it for the 1931 International Colonial Exhibition, and France’s Merimee heritage database credits Alfred Janniot with the huge stone bas-relief on the facade. Iron gates and fittings came from Edgar Brandt, Raymond Subes, and Jean Prouve.
Since 2007 it has held the national museum of immigration history, with a tropical aquarium in the basement. The bas-reliefs stay, but inside the museum honors immigrants, as Paris Update noted in 2023.
Asia and Africa: Mumbai, Shanghai, and Asmara
UNESCO inscribed the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai in 2018 and describes the local blend of Indian design with Art Deco imagery as Indo-Deco. Sohrabji Bhedwar’s Eros Cinema (February 1938) rises in tiers, with its central section partly faced in red Agra sandstone (Cinema Treasures).
Asmara got its UNESCO inscription earlier, in July 2017, and Panos Pictures calls it the first modernist city inscribed in its entirety. Apollo (2019) credits Giuseppe Pettazzi with the Fiat Tagliero service station (1938) and Mario Messina with the Cinema Impero (1937).
Shanghai’s Sassoon House opened as the Cathay Hotel in 1929 and today runs as the Fairmont Peace Hotel. Palmer and Turner designed it for Sir Victor Sassoon.
For the foundation, Palmer and Turner used about 1,600 redwood and concrete pilings, according to Fairmont’s 2010 reopening announcement. Inside, Italian marble floors and Lalique glass sit alongside the geometric shapes that run through Art Deco interiors.
The hotel closed in 2007 for a three-year renovation and reopened in 2010.
Oceania: Napier and Sydney
Napier
Napier put up 111 new downtown buildings between 1931 and 1933 after the February 3, 1931 earthquake, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Art Deco won because it was cheaper and safer than ornate parapets and pediments, a local ambassador told Nuvo magazine. Architect Louis Hay’s National Tobacco Company Building adds roses and vines around its curved entrance, plus bulrushes, a local take on stylized floral patterns in Art Deco (Culture Trip).
Napier also disputes Miami Beach’s title. Smithsonian Magazine calls Napier the highest concentration of Art Deco buildings on Earth, while Afar and Time Out’s Miami guide give that title to Miami Beach.
The sources don’t define concentration the same way, so which city wins depends on how you measure it.
Anzac Memorial, Sydney
Bruce Dellit designed the Anzac Memorial, with sculptures by Rayner Hoff. Foundation stones were laid on July 19, 1932, and Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, opened it on November 24, 1934. The Trustees date Dellit’s competition win to 1929 in one history and to July 9, 1930 in an annual report.
Dellit planned two water features, but the Great Depression left only the Pool of Reflection. The 2018 Centenary Extension realized his original concept (Monument Australia).
South America: Christ the Redeemer
Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro was designed by Heitor da Silva Costa. Paul Landowski modeled the head and hands, and engineer Albert Caquot handled the reinforced concrete. It was dedicated on October 12, 1931.
The surface carries about 6 million soapstone tiles, per Mental Floss. The original soapstone is no longer available in sufficient quantity, so matching replacement tiles are hard to obtain.
When a Building Called Art Deco Only Partly Fits
The label gets shaky when a building has only one of the traits described earlier, or when critics and heritage bodies file it under a neighboring style.
Districts that mix styles
Miami Beach’s own historic marker lists Mediterranean Revival, Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and Miami Modern (MiMo) as the district’s principal styles. In Napier, Heritage New Zealand says most post-quake buildings are broadly Art Deco, but some use other styles, with Spanish Mission a popular alternative. Panos Pictures describes Asmara as a blend of Italian modernist styles rather than a pure Art Deco city.
Time Out’s 2025 list goes further and calls many of the Miami Beach buildings Streamline Moderne.
Single buildings with disputed labels
The Daily Express Building in London is ranked first on Time Out’s Art Deco list and tagged Art Deco by the RIBA image library, yet Modernist Britain describes it as one of London’s most iconic Modernist buildings.
The Fiat Tagliero in Asmara splits the same way. The Mail & Guardian (2017) called it an iconic Art Deco example, and Apollo (2019) called it the most famous modernist building in Eritrea.
The Eastern Columbia Building is a third case. The Los Angeles Daily Mirror (2020), citing 1930 coverage, describes it as a Streamline Moderne tower, while most roundups file it under Art Deco.
A workable rule of thumb is to call a building Art Deco when at least two of the core traits show up together, and Art Deco-influenced when only one does.
Monuments and statues
Christ the Redeemer is a statue, so there are no floors or tenants to compare with the rest of the list.
It was the tallest statue of Jesus in the world until 2010, when Christ the King in Poland surpassed it in height. It remains the largest Art Deco-style sculpture in the world.
How to Visit Famous Art Deco Buildings and Which Are Protected
Most of these buildings let the public into only a small part. Expect a lobby, an observation deck or a guided tour, and not much more. The upper floors stay private.
| Building | What is open | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chrysler Building | Lobby only | Weekdays, free, no tours |
| Empire State Building | 86th and 102nd floor decks | Ticketed, timed entry |
| Radio City Music Hall | Interior by show ticket or tour | Radio City Music Hall Tour Experience, about 60 minutes |
| Guardian Building | Lobby and public corridors | Guided tours for a fee |
| Art Deco Historic District, Miami Beach | Streets and exteriors | Walking tour from the Art Deco Welcome Center |
Access details by building
Published Chrysler Building lobby hours differ between travel guides, so check before going. The 71st-floor observatory that opened with the tower is long closed (Untapped Cities).
Most visits to the Empire State Building’s 86th floor take at least one hour, according to the building’s official FAQ. The 102nd floor is reached by glass elevator from the 86th, and an Express Pass skips the exhibits and elevator lines.
The Miami Design Preservation League runs a two-hour official walking tour from 1001 Ocean Drive. City Tour Detroit runs regular guided tours of the Guardian Building, and the Detroit Historical Society has sold out behind-the-scenes tours that included its vaults.
How heritage protection works
In the US, National Register listing does not guarantee preservation but makes destruction harder, as American Heritage put it in describing Miami Beach’s 1979 district.
UNESCO World Heritage status covers Asmara (2017) and Mumbai’s ensemble (2018). The Wire (2018) says inscription bars demolition and tightens zoning enforcement, while the Mail & Guardian (2017) says UNESCO can step in when buildings deteriorate.
In the UK, the Daily Express Building has been Grade II* since March 15, 1972 (Modernist Britain). Napier’s Art Deco Trust formed in the mid-1980s when buildings faced demolition, and the city council now consults it on development affecting heritage buildings (CNN).
Designation and access are separate questions. Check hours before you go, because lobbies close early and tours sell out.
Common Questions About Famous Art Deco Buildings
Is the Golden Gate Bridge Art Deco?
Yes. The bridge’s own operator calls it one of the world’s largest examples of the style. Credit for the Art Deco elements is split. The district names consulting architect Irving Morrow, while Docomomo US credits his predecessor John Eberson with the stepped towers.
Who designed Art Deco buildings?
Teams did, not single architects. Designing Buildings notes that Art Deco projects often paired architects with painters and sculptors as well as designers.
In Detroit, Wirt Rowland worked closely with Mary Chase Stratton of Pewabic Pottery on the Guardian Building’s tile.
How does Art Deco differ from Art Nouveau and Streamline Moderne?
Art Deco is geometric and ornamented. Art Nouveau came before it and drew on organic, plant-like forms. Streamline Moderne strips the look down to smooth, long edges.
The NoeHill architecture guide pairs Art Deco with movie palaces and corporate headquarters, along with important public buildings. It describes Art Moderne as drawing on the aerodynamic forms of airplanes, ships, and automobiles.
What types of buildings were built in the Art Deco style?
Nearly every commercial and public type. Designing Buildings lists theaters, cinemas, commercial buildings, government buildings, apartments, industrial complexes, and skyscrapers.
Is there an Art Deco walking tour outside Miami Beach?
Yes, in Napier, New Zealand. The Art Deco Trust, which moved in July 2025 to the restored former Women’s Rest at 5 Clive Square East, leads guided walks through the rebuilt city center.
Its listing also names an Art Deco Festival in February and a Winter Deco event in July.
When is the best time to visit an Art Deco landmark?
Go on a weekday, after the first rush. The Empire State Building’s official FAQ says it is busiest in the first two hours after opening and the hour after sunset.
Lobbies such as the Chrysler Building’s open only on weekdays.
Which Art Deco Landmark to Visit First
Start with a walkable district. Miami Beach’s Art Deco Historic District and Napier’s rebuilt center both show the style’s range from the street.
On a single trip, I’d walk a district first for the exteriors and ornament, then do a public lobby or stage tour to see the materials and murals. The observation deck goes last.
The deck goes last because it shows the city rather than the tower’s own crown and setbacks. In winter, choose the enclosed 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, since the 86th floor is open-air (Empire State Building official site).
You do give up some depth this way, since a district walk never opens the upper floors and a lobby visit covers one room.
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