An exploration of art deco architectural design, embracing many different times and places in its summary of the movement`s origins, development and influence. Various types of architecture, the author explains, were termed art deco, and their antecedent were mixed and often surprising: 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 n 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.