Cities with the most Art Deco buildings
 

What city have the most Art Deco buildings

NYC.

and it's not even close.



chicago & detroit also have some fantastic deco tower collections as well, but nothing remotely close to the volume of NYC.

Los Angeles has many as well, just not necessarily in the form of highrises or skyscrapers.

Far Upper Manhattan and the West Bronx.

Pretty much anyplace that boomed in the 1930's will have art deco.

In the Bronx you can see art deco blgds. on the Grand Concourse from 149th street up to Mosholu Pkwy.

well, miami beach of course.

that's probably the most in comparison to the city as a whole.

and napier, new zealand is pretty famous for it too.

but lots of cities have great examples.

Yeah, I would guess the Grand Concourse and Ocean Drive have the most prominent art deco collections.

For Grand Concourse, you have miles of art deco, and thankfully almost nothing was lost during the decline era, because the Concourse never hit rock-bottom like nearby areas. Even in the worst years of the 70's and 80's, the Concourse was semi-respectable.

If you're an urbanophile, I highly recommend a walk up (or down) the Concourse. One of the best urban walks anywhere. The Jewish Park Avenue from the 1930's through the 1970's, and considered a step up from Manhattan back then.

eastern plains cities are a nice cluster of course, KC, OKC, and Tulsa...as a proportion of their pre-war built environment.

based on a lot of walking around for work, i believe there is only one open lot along the grand concourse. it is remarkably intact.

but although there is a lot of it, art deco does not dominate nyc as a whole as it does in the small art deco and tourist oriented cities mentioned.

and it doesn't stand out quite as it does in the small western towns, like with old deco theaters, nor as it does in los angeles being all scattered around out there.

I agree with this, been to all three cities . Tulsa was the most impressive in my opinion. It was a boom town in the 1920's due to oil production.

For what it's worth, Mumbai has the second largest number of Art Deco structures on earth. I believe the city at number one in that respect is New York.

In the US, meanwhile, New York is first, and Miami Beach is second.

In the US Southeast, though, Miami Beach is at number one and... Asheville... is second.

Interesting, where are these rankings from?

I was gonna say NYC has the most in terms of raw numbers, and it isn't really close. It certainly has the most art deco towers. But I actually think LA might have more art deco buildings overall if you consider all those small scale commercial buildings scattered all over the place. You don't really see art deco at that scale in NYC. There are entire retail corridors in LA lined with one and two story art deco storefronts. Thousands of them. Fairfax, Melrose, LaBrea etc are all full of art deco if you look closely.

I feel like outside of NYC this is harder to quantify than one may think, and will vary on specific definitions of art deco. While there are obviously unifying elements, there are significant geographical variants of the style.

For instance, Springs in South Africa - which is now part of the Johannesburg metro area - claims to have the second largest collection of small-scale art deco structures in the world, after Miami Beach. It was a gold mining boomtown that expanded massively during the 1920s / 30s (one of the largest cities in the country at one point), and virtually every structure that wasn't a single-family house was built in the deco style. The street pattern of suburbs were also heavily influenced by the City Beautiful movement. The central parts of the town aren't in great shape anymore, but a fair number of the buildings have been renovated.

http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/a...cos-love-child


South Africa actually has a larger proportion of deco structures than many places as the Great Depression never really affected construction to the same degree they kept building in a modified deco style well into the 50s. The latter examples generally look like this, and there are tons of them:

https://goo.gl/maps/DpxHmnZUxBFSj7K98

https://goo.gl/maps/T4hZNqGE69yYtxAb6

This may be true. There are tons of retail corridors from that era in NYC, but they seem to usually be Tudor-style, even when nearby apartment buildings are art deco. Stuff like this:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7491...7i13312!8i6656

No one has yet mentioned Tel Aviv. Bogotá also had an impressive cluster of late (streamline) moderne buildings. I think any place building primarily with concrete in the 1930s-1950s gravitated toward the moderne. The highly decorated 1920s steel-framed moderne buildings, as seen in New York, Chicago, Detroit, downtown LA, and Tulsa, are not as numerous.

The New York Times, although I had the rankings wrong. Miami apparently has the world's largest collection of Art Deco, followed by Mumbai. Mumbai's Art Deco and Victorian Gothic structures, by the way, are protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As far as the rankings in the Southeast, that's something that's been in Asheville's tourist literature for decades. Downtown Asheville is littered with Art Deco buildings, and several of the city's most prominent buildings including city hall and the high school, are Art Deco.

So that would put it at Miami as number one in the world and Mumbai as second, Miami as number one in the US and whoever, probably New York, at second, and Miami at number one in the Southeast, and Asheville as second.

Cool--thanks for the article about Mumbai!

I've heard that said about a number of cities, including Shanghai:

http://img.timeoutshanghai.com/20170...5032817457.jpg
http://www.timeoutshanghai.com/featu...-Shanghai.html

https://www.chinadiscovery.com/asset...und-768(2).jpg
http://www.timeoutshanghai.com/featu...-Shanghai.html

http://cms.timeoutshanghai.com/DotNe...5010616795.jpg
http://www.timeoutshanghai.com/featu...-Shanghai.html

https://admin.freetour.com/images/to...i-1930s-01.jpg
http://www.timeoutshanghai.com/featu...-Shanghai.html

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7f/95...900d9110eb.jpg http://www.decopix.com/wp-content/up...-WP-1-of-1.jpg
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/298433912777461246/

https://www.topchinatravel.com/pic/c...ncession-1.jpg https://archive.shine.cn/newsimage//..._515961_01.gif
https://archive.shine.cn/feature/Art.../shdaily.shtml



And once upon a time, Tokyo (most of which was destroyed in WWII however).

https://live.staticflickr.com/3072/2...4c0c6e42_z.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10232046@N00/2619760635

A fact that quite frankly makes my bowels quiver from sheer, unadulterated rage. My God, what was lost...

Really? I have noticed some, but not thousands. But I don't always look that close.

I'd think LA might be second to NYC.

I think it goes like this:
Most famous skyscrapers - NYC.
Most well-known strip of buildings - Miami.
Most diverse portfolio - LA.

I think this thread should have been titled: Show us your 5 favorite art deco buildings from your city. But then maybe it should be in the other subforum.

Rio de Janeiro has a crazy number of Art Deco buildings, as does Goiânia.

Most of Copacabana neighborhood in RJ is Art Deco and so is most of Downtown Rio de Janeiro.

I toured Grand Concourse for about 30 blocks on Streetview, and the deco didn't really jump out at me. It's a very impressive street due to the continuous, unbroken street wall, but it doesn't scream art deco like I was expecting it to based on some of the replies in this thread.

This building is pretty clearly art deco inspired:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8366...7i16384!8i8192

But if you turn the camera around, basically everything else you can see is not done in the deco style. That said, I'm sure NYC has the most art deco buildings, because they have the most buildings period- especially buildings from the 1920s-40s.

I think Los Angeles has some really great art deco structures. The city was really in its first big boom period in the height of art deco's popularity as a style. From the iconic blue Eastern Columbia building (https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0425...7i16384!8i8192) to this stunner in the Jewelry District )https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0466...7i13312!8i6656) to the Bullocks Wilshire in Westlake/K-Town (https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0617...7i16384!8i8192), LA has some really stunning examples of the style.

Most of the lower Concourse is the early Art Deco style, and not really what you're thinking of in terms of the "Miami Beach" look, with the curving lines.

The North Concourse neighborhoods have more of this later look. Stuff like this:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/20...!4d-73.8837759

Oh yes. Lots of Art Deco examples in Los Angeles. From little storefront buildings to movie theaters.

I'm old enough to remember when this was a Crocker Bank:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0690...7i16384!8i8192

Then there's this:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0622...7i16384!8i8192

I love the Wiltern; I remember when they used to show movies here. My parents took me to see "Foxy Brown" (hehe my parents didn't care if my sister and I saw R-rated films, I must've been 4 or 5 at the time), the Jodie Foster version of "Freaky Friday," and other films here back in the 1970s:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0616...4!8i8192?hl=en

The Hollywood Pantages used to be a movie theater too. It's now a performing arts venue. The inside is a sumptuous Art Deco movie palace, but they've junked up the outside with posters: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1016...2!8i6656?hl=en


And then of course there's the fusion-Deco of Union Station, which is a mix of Art Deco, Spanish Colonial and Mission Revival:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0560...4!8i4352?hl=en

I spot a few dozen vintage examples just in this rather generic stretch of La Brea: https://goo.gl/maps/6UZRx8QCodgQwhF77

Hollywood Blvd alone has hundreds of art deco buildings. In the entire metro area there are probably tens of thousands all told. That's probably a low estimate. Don't forget about places like Pasadena, the valley, the IE, OC etc. The vast majority of the prewar urban fabric of SoCal is from the 20s and 30s so art deco is going to be well represented.

And it's not just in those big name retail corridors, you really do see it everywhere in SoCal. Ontario, Compton, Long Beach. Of course this isn't even mentioning any of the landmark towers or the Historic Core. Art deco is so common in SoCal that it's used for low rent retail like dollar stores and check cashing places. You also see a lot of art deco infrastructure in LA. Bridges, tunnels etc. City hall and Library tower are art deco inspired as well. It's very much a part of the city's DNA.

The cities that boomed during Art Deco popularity so basically nyc la and Miami

Atlanta might dispute that no 2 ranking in the SE - though Asheville does have a lot of art deco for its size, surely. (or perhaps Birmingham which has a lot as well)


https://wdanielanderson.wordpress.co...-architecture/ (some of these are art moderne and beaux arts among others)

i also thought of atlanta, but as in comparing say tulsa with a much larger city that has more volume but less % i think that proportion matters within the context of this discussion.

I wish there was a definitive list somewhere. I've never seen any quantifiable numbers on it, but I do know the claim of having the second biggest number of structures here has been knocking around for at least twenty years as a selling point for tourists.

the grand concourse is almost entirely art deco styled. its just not the bright and rounded miami versions you might have expected.

re: Mumbai and Shanghai, there's no way they can compete with American cities in raw numbers. There are some prominent colonial buildings but common people in those cities weren't building art deco donut shops and doctor's offices in the 30s. I bet there are so few art deco buildings in those cities that it is possible to catalog every single last one of them (Which, paradoxically, is probably the reason why they are able to claim that they have the 2nd most art deco buildings in the world).

its a bit hazy when people say "biggest collection" of this or that, when i think what they really mean is "best" in the sense of a good number of high quality structures within a cohesive or small area. a place like chicago almost certainly crushes almost any non new york or LA u.s. city in overall volume...i don't think people understand the extent of art deco or streamline moderne or otherwise interwar architecture continuously popping up miles and miles from downtown in midwestern cities...aside from whatever happens to be downtown.

Art Deco in Miami Beach is pretty impressive given the scale. It's not just the strip on Ocean Dr. along the beach but all over.

Yeah, Rio has a lot. Copacabana and Ipanema feel like a taller versions of Miami Beach.

Um, no. Not at all from what I've seen. There's some Georgian Revival, Italianate, Beaux Arts... other than the type of building I referenced in my first post on this thread (of which I did see a fair amount of), most of the other buildings I saw lacked the basic elements of Art Deco. They might have been built in the time period, but they lack the vertical lines, ornamentation, curves, etc. typical of Art Deco.

not art deco
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8365...7i16384!8i8192

not art deco
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8372...7i16384!8i8192

not art deco
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8425...7i16384!8i8192

also is strong in miami area "satellites" like hollywood.

yes you found the trees in the forest. those were built in different eras. thats ny for you. its not miami beach.

Yeah, good point. I think the grandeur of the expression of the style is important for this conversation, too. An art deco skyscraper or train station should count for more than a small commercial building that contains some traces of deco influence. I think this is where LA really shines.

In the midwest, Cincinnati has some really excellent and prominent Art Deco structures. The two most famous examples would be the 49 story Carew Tower, and Union Terminal.

Carew Tower
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1015...!7i7168!8i3584

interior:
https://www3.hilton.com/resources/me...ion_Center.jpg

Union Terminal
https://i2.wp.com/www.drivingfordeco...0929.jpg?ssl=1

Havana also has a significant collection of Art Deco & Moderne. Alas, much of it is in dire shape.

Rio de Janeiro- this barely scratches the surface.

Centro-Cinelandia https://goo.gl/maps/hYUfndCkxXwduhva9
Centro-Praça Mauá https://goo.gl/maps/XNssMWCdAvssxtQz5
Centro- Central do Brasil https://goo.gl/maps/2bDcjKsdMTWuXemH7
Flamengo I- https://goo.gl/maps/uAEqud48rH58tmXB6
Flamengo II- https://goo.gl/maps/u3ZdfuGFMjG1o8mo8
Flamengo III- https://goo.gl/maps/ujkCFAb2opwwAqAW7
Copacabana- https://goo.gl/maps/zy3x9RehAAhcwU5p6

Oh, yeah, that reminds me. BA has to have a huge collection; albeit much of it semi-dilapidated.

That's not really Union Terminal. It's the Justice League's secret headquarters.

^ the resemblance is not a coincidence:

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_of_Justice_(comics)

It goes like this for me, with no rank

NYC
Miami (Especially South Beach)
LA
Shanghai
Mumbai
Asheville
Havana

Any other city that had its heyday in the 1920s-1940s.

Buenos Aires? I don't think it has a lot. I think it's more dominated by neoclassical, which is why it looks to me more like a European capital than a city in the Americas. I've seen old photos of Rio that seemed to more resemble present day BsAs than it does to current day Rio, but I think a lot of the old architecture in the former was destroyed in favor of urban renewal projects.

If you continue in either direction on the GC, there is quite a bit of budget deco or "moderne" inspired architecture lining the street. Seems to me that most of the buildings from the 1930s, especially the late 30s, are more moderne than deco. Of course, there is a fair amount of overlap between the two styles.

A big chunk of Rio's neoclassical was in fact destroyed, but this happened mainly in Centro.

If you go into other neighborhoods like Santa Teresa and Laranjeiras, those neighborhoods are still dominated by this architecture type. Very lovely neighborhoods that are seeing lots of conscious revitalization.

Rio is underestimated by many, but it's not a surprise to me that it's been named the first ''World Capital of Architecture'' by UNESCO.

Actually its precisely that which makes those cities claim the most art deco buildings in the world, not just their grand hotels, apartment complexes and offices. Bear in mind a large chunk of the central city was built in that era, before the wartime moratorium:

Shanghai for example built thousands of shikumen housing in art deco style - check the link:

https://www.google.com/search?client...4dUDCAY&uact=5


https://cdn.citylab.com/media/img/ci...jpg?1562168069
https://cdn.citylab.com
https://scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram...om&_nc_cat=108 http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/files/...8shanghai2.jpg

http://i1.wp.com/www.shanghaiartdeco...ize=1024%2C576
www.shanghaiartdeco.net

https://img.theculturetrip.com/768x4...ai-edifice.jpg
https://img.theculturetrip.com