Art Deco Walking Tour / NZ$15
There were lots of interesting buildings which had lovely color in Art Deco style in Napier. A strong earthquake hit Napier in 1931 and measured 7.9 on the Richter scale and a lot of buildings had to be rebuilt. Art Deco was fashionable in those days so they were rebuilt in Art Deco style. Napier is now best known as "The Art Deco City" of New Zealand and it has become a popular tourist attraction. The appearance of the buildings were real pretty and it made me feel like I was in an amusement park. By the way, I heard that the building of McDonald's is also built in an Art Deco style. It was a shame that I missed it!

I joined an informative walking tour with a member of the Art Deco Society. It was the two-hour guided tour and I could find out what Art Deco was like while walking around the city with a tour guide. I heard that there were more than 20,000 people who take the guided tour each year.

Art Deco buildings
left:
Public Trust Building, which was built in 1922. This is one of the buildings which survived the earthquake of 1931.
center, right:
I heard that Napier's Art Deco is unique because of the use of Maori art on many of the buildings.

Municipal Theater Building
Was built in 1938. Carpets, neon lights and ceilings...everything inside the theater was Art Deco style.
I heard that Art Deco designs express the following themes.
Sunburst / The skyscraper shape / Symbols of speed, power, flight / Zig-zags / The new shapes / The new woman / etc...
I'll look for Art Deco close to my home in Japan!