The Chrysler Building, the Waldorf-Astoria, Rockefeller Center-- these are among the hundreds of Art Deco monuments that during the 1920s and ‘30s helped create the image of New York City as the world’s Modern Metropolis. In New York, Art Deco evolved through a series of Manhattan skyscrapers into the city’s chief architectural language.  This lecture covers the great skyscrapers of architects Raymond Hood, William Van Alen, Ely Jacques Kahn and Ralph Walker, including the Daily News, Empire State, Irving Trust, General Electric, American Radiator, Barclay-Vesey and RCA Buildings. It then traces the adaptation of this 'skyscraper style' through apartment buildings on the Bronx's Grand Concourse, airport terminals at LaGuardia, the Central Park West residential skyline, automated midtown parking garages, diners, hotels, department stores, banks and theaters like Radio City Music Hall.

Anthony Robins, an historian specializing in New York City architecture and history, has lectured for museums, universities, and private groups around the world. He was a founding member of the Art Deco Society of New York.