Art Deco style architecture flourished in the 1920s and 1930s, with the Paris Exhibition of 1925 fueling the movement. The strongest influences were Cubism and Ancient Egypt, after the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.
Any comments - or a suggestion for a London secret? Please e-mail me.
Art Deco 1 2
Broadcasting House
Eric Gill’s statue of Shakespeare’s Prospero and Ariel dominates the BBC’s main entrance. The building is a circular core for radio and TV studios, isolated from noise by office blocks. Look for the other three reliefs of Ariel around the outside walls.
2-22 Portland Place W1
Tube: Oxford Circus
Selfridges
A soaring steel frame was clad in romantic classical style by American architect Daniel Burnham in 1926. This great temple to shopping is well worth a look before you plunge inside. Note the sculpture of the Queen of Time riding on a ship of commerce over the entrance.
400 Oxford Street W1
Tel: +44 (0)20 7629 1234
Tube: Marble Arch
Greater London House
The former Carreras Cigarette Factory has been restored to its original art deco glory, which was heavily influenced by the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. The brightly coloured lotus flowers are an ancient Egyptian motif but the black cats adorning the building were the logo of Carreras cigarettes.
Tube: Camden Town
Hoover Building
Built for Hoover, the vacuum cleaner manufacturers, in 1935, this wonderful factory was its UK head office until the 1980s. The white concrete is offset with Egyptian-style ceramics and illuminated by green light at night.The building is now a Tesco superstore.
Western Avenue, Perivale UB6
Tube: Perivale
Ibex House
This 11-storey office block of 1937 had the longest curtain walls windows in Britain when it was built by little-known architects Fuller, Hall and Foulsham. The facing of yellow tiles contrasts nicely with the black metal work of the windows. The two stairwells must have seemed very modern at the time.
42-47 Minories EC3
Tube: Tower Hill
Unilever House
Overlooking Blackfriars Bridge is this neo-Classical building of 1931 by architect J Lomax Simpson. The exterior Art Deco sculptures – the powerful equestrian groups are by William Reid Dick – are excellent. The interior was completely transformed in an award-winning contemporary style in 2007.
100 Victoria Embankment EC4
Tube: Blackfriars
