Art Deco's two phases
Geometric 1920s Art Deco (sun rays, zig-zags, chevrons) and streamlined 1930s Moderne (curves, marine motifs, glass blocks). Both are distinct from Bauhaus and from earlier Art Nouveau. The cities below have continuous neighborhoods, not single isolated buildings.
Paris
Paris hosted the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs that named the style. Le Grand Rex cinema (1932), La Samaritaine (recently restored), Folies Bergère, Avenue Montaigne residential blocks. Montmartre + Le Marais mixed periods.
Brussels
Brussels Centre Monnaie, Villa Empain (Boghossian Foundation, 1934), Flagey building, Résidence Palace. Less famous than Brussels Art Nouveau but the deco grid in Schaerbeek and Etterbeek dense.
Prague
Prague Lucerna Passage, Hotel Imperial, Adria Palace. Czech Art Deco fused with Cubism (a uniquely Czech architectural moment around 1910–1925) — the Czech Cubist style nowhere else in Europe.
Bucharest
Romanian Art Deco capital. Bucharest's "Little Paris" reputation came from a building boom 1925–1939. Calea Victoriei buildings, Telephone Palace (1933), Cantacuzino Palace, ARO Palace. Underrated and cheap.
Naples
Naples Mostra d'Oltremare district (1939–1940 Fascist exhibition site, partial Art Deco). Galleria Umberto I a generation earlier but reads continuous. Mussolini-era Razionalismo (1930s Italian rationalism) overlaps the Deco moment.
London
London BBC Broadcasting House (1932), Senate House (1937), Battersea Power Station, Carlton Cinema. Less concentrated than Paris but the masterpieces are genuinely great.
Strategy
Walking tours organized by city architecture societies surface buildings tourists miss. Modernist guide covers the Bauhaus and Le Corbusier scene.