Art Deco buildings, with their highly ornate facades and dramatic forms, are a vital part of our surroundings. This wide-ranging exploration of Art Deco architectural design embraces many different times and places in its summary of the movement's origins, development and influence. Various types of architecture were termed Art Deco, and their antecedents might include Arts and Crafts, fin-de-siecle Vienna, Cubism, Expressionism and the Bauhaus.

Patricia Bayer shows that Art Deco masterpieces can be seen and admired worldwide: from the skyscrapers of New York City to imperial dwellings in Tokyo; from Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Battersea Power Station to movie theatres and diners across America. Post-modernism now uses its motifs and idioms, and many of the original buildings still survive, fully restored to their former glory. Sumptuously illustrated, this is a comprehensive guide to the best-loved of all 20th-century architectural styles.