History

A jazz-age style of “deco-ration” first applied to jewelry and interior design, Art Deco was most popular in the 1920s and 30s. It was closely associated with the Art Moderne style. Both were part of the Modern movement which rejected historical eclecticism. The style originated in post-1918 Europe but it was in the United States where the Art Deco skyscraper was born. In New York, zoning regulations of the 1920s encouraged a distinctive silhouette, created as the upper storeys of tall buildings were stepped back from lower storeys.