Art Deco New York Architecture: Exploring the Jazz-Age Metropolis

The Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center—New York is still defined by its great Art Deco monuments from the 1920s and ‘30s. Though Art Deco was largely forgotten after World War II, it was rediscovered and reappraised starting in the 1960s and today seems to be everybody’s favorite style. This course includes two illustrated lectures and three walking tours. The lectures trace the development of Deco from a skyscraper style to its rapid spread across the city, and include exclusive audio recordings of three architects from the period whom the instructor interviewed in the 1980s. The first walking tour covers the great Deco icons along Manhattan’s East 42nd Street plus Rockefeller Center. The second tour looks at the residential skyline of Central Park West, while the third runs from Murray Hill to Gramercy Park and includes the Empire State Building. The instructor is a founding member of the Art Deco Society of New York and its vice-president emeritus, and is the author of the award-winning New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham’s Jazz Age Architecture.
 
Continuing Education Units (CEU) : 0

You'll walk away with

• The ability to identify the Art Deco style in New York buildings
• An understanding of the development of a variety of Manhattan neighborhoods and familiarity with some of the architects active during the period
• Knowledge about the current landmark status of major monuments

Ideal for

• All members of the community—working, retired, and in between
• The curious and creative