Out come the jewellery, the fashion and the cars of the 1930s - but Art Deco wouldn’t be what it is without the architecture.
Made with funding from NZ On Air.
Every year thousands of people flock to Napier to celebrate the Art Deco era.
The jewellery, the fashion - and the cars of the 1930s. But centre stage is the architecture.
So what makes a true Art Deco building?
Art Deco Trust Heritage Officer Michael Fowler says the style forhim is a particular design.
Logan Art Deco B&B owner Pam Thompson says it's the clean lines and motifs, ziggurats and speed lines.
The term Art Deco wasn't coined until the 1960s - well after Napier had rebuilt following the deadly 1931 earthquake.
Buildings here represent a pastiche of styles - styles that embodied a modern aesthetic during the era.
Mr Fowler says the ASB building is "what we call a stripped classical building, which borrows from Greek and Roman architecture, but this particular building has incorporated māori motifs".
There are very few pure art deco buildings in Hawke's Bay - but Masson House is close.
"What I really like about Masson House is the lettering in Art Deco font and the ziggurat."
"It's probably one of my favourite buildings of Art Deco in Napier," Mr Fowler says.
Architects designed according to what was fashionable, cheap - and safe - at that time, concrete.
But for the original owners of this authentic Marewa Bed and Breakfast - no expense was spared.
"The timber was the finest quality that they could find they imported carpets from France for this home they also did the light here which is all internally wired, so this original," Logan Art Deco B&B owner Pam Thompson says.
Only a handful of Napier's Deco buildings are protected by law.
In most cases - their preservation depends on the goodwill of owners like Pam Thompson.
Thankfully - these historical gems tend to attract people who appreciate the style that brings thousands of Art Deco enthusiasts to Napier - to celebrate a city that rebuilt itself from the rubble - in 1931.
