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Art Deco Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age
Art Deco Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age - a comprehensive hardback publication featuring stunning photography and illustrations from the Historic Environment Scotland collection.
2025 marks the centenary of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris – the international exhibition considered the origin of Art Deco.
Art Deco is a design style infused with glamour and energy. Emerging from the smart metropolises of Paris and New York in the 1920s, its impact quickly spread beyond these cities.
A remarkable range of Art Deco objects, structures and images were created in Scotland as architects and designers incorporated features of Art Deco and moderne into their work. These forms were to be found in fashionable new villas, luxury ocean liners and the fleeting Empire Exhibition, as well as in everyday spaces such as shops, lidos, tramcars, cafes, cinemas and even pithead baths.
In Art Deco Scotland, Professor Bruce Peter explores the variety of Art Deco architecture and design across the country, including iconic structures such as the Beresford Hotel, the Radio Cinema in Kilbirnie, the Portobello Lido, the Tower of Empire in Glasgow and the Clyde-built Queen Mary.
2025 marks the centenary of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris – the international exhibition considered the origin of Art Deco.
Art Deco is a design style infused with glamour and energy. Emerging from the smart metropolises of Paris and New York in the 1920s, its impact quickly spread beyond these cities.
A remarkable range of Art Deco objects, structures and images were created in Scotland as architects and designers incorporated features of Art Deco and moderne into their work. These forms were to be found in fashionable new villas, luxury ocean liners and the fleeting Empire Exhibition, as well as in everyday spaces such as shops, lidos, tramcars, cafes, cinemas and even pithead baths.
In Art Deco Scotland, Professor Bruce Peter explores the variety of Art Deco architecture and design across the country, including iconic structures such as the Beresford Hotel, the Radio Cinema in Kilbirnie, the Portobello Lido, the Tower of Empire in Glasgow and the Clyde-built Queen Mary.
- GenresArchitecture
368 pages, Hardcover
First published March 27, 2025
About the author
Bruce Peter
17 books1 followerBruce Peter is a Professor of Design History at Glasgow School of Art. He is the author of a number of architecture and design books, primarily related to transport, leisure and entertainment.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 30, 2026
I borrowed this doorstopper of a book from Highland Libraries. I would imagine the audience is a bit limited. First you have to a be fan of Art Deco – true, there are plenty of people in that category - but then you would also have to be fan of Art Deco in Scotland, a decidedly smaller number.
I do like Art Deco. I take an interest in the interwar period in general, and Art Deco is a big part of that. This is a comprehensive reference book for anyone who wants to know about such buildings in Scotland. The text, although aimed at the true fan, is readable enough, but for me the photos were the most enjoyable part. I’m glad to say there are plenty of them. There are a few buildings that I know and have been inside, and some nostalgia in seeing buildings I recognised but which are now demolished.
The book is divided into themed chapters such as housing, commercial premises, hospitality etc. One of the best chapters featured the British Empire Exhibition held in Glasgow in 1938 – the exhibition tower features on the cover. The chapter on cinemas was another good one. Of course the 1930s saw an explosion in the number of cinemas, coinciding with the Art Deco style. Some of the other chapters, such as the one on shops and commercial premises, were of less interest to me. Often the only Art Deco features were in the signage.
The book finishes on a high though, as the last chapter features ocean liners. In the 1920s and 1930s, the River Clyde in Glasgow was the most important shipbuilding river in the world, and as the author points out, we can therefore argue that Scotland’s most important contribution to Art Deco was in the design and construction of the interiors of large passenger liners. A big part of this chapter is dedicated to the liner Queen Mary, “one of the style’s most famous and enduring monuments in a global context.”
Tastes change and after the war, design in Scotland (and in Britain as a whole) “took a utilitarian turn.” Cinemas lost ground to TV, and passenger liners to commercial aircraft. Art Deco represented the past, but in recent decades it has come to be appreciated once more.
I do like Art Deco. I take an interest in the interwar period in general, and Art Deco is a big part of that. This is a comprehensive reference book for anyone who wants to know about such buildings in Scotland. The text, although aimed at the true fan, is readable enough, but for me the photos were the most enjoyable part. I’m glad to say there are plenty of them. There are a few buildings that I know and have been inside, and some nostalgia in seeing buildings I recognised but which are now demolished.
The book is divided into themed chapters such as housing, commercial premises, hospitality etc. One of the best chapters featured the British Empire Exhibition held in Glasgow in 1938 – the exhibition tower features on the cover. The chapter on cinemas was another good one. Of course the 1930s saw an explosion in the number of cinemas, coinciding with the Art Deco style. Some of the other chapters, such as the one on shops and commercial premises, were of less interest to me. Often the only Art Deco features were in the signage.
The book finishes on a high though, as the last chapter features ocean liners. In the 1920s and 1930s, the River Clyde in Glasgow was the most important shipbuilding river in the world, and as the author points out, we can therefore argue that Scotland’s most important contribution to Art Deco was in the design and construction of the interiors of large passenger liners. A big part of this chapter is dedicated to the liner Queen Mary, “one of the style’s most famous and enduring monuments in a global context.”
Tastes change and after the war, design in Scotland (and in Britain as a whole) “took a utilitarian turn.” Cinemas lost ground to TV, and passenger liners to commercial aircraft. Art Deco represented the past, but in recent decades it has come to be appreciated once more.
December 22, 2025
This is a fabulous book for art deco aficionados.
Scotland is probably not the first place that comes to mind when thinking of art deco, but Bruce Peter’s coverage of art deco in Scottish architecture, transport, industry and other spheres showcases the incredible art deco riches to be found in this country.
There are superb photos on almost every page illustrating art deco gems to be found all over Scotland. Kelso High School in the Borders is one such example, a beautiful elegant building dating from 1939.
The author is an academic but his writing style is very accessible and enjoyable.
This book was a worthy winner at the 2025 Saltire Book Awards.
Scotland is probably not the first place that comes to mind when thinking of art deco, but Bruce Peter’s coverage of art deco in Scottish architecture, transport, industry and other spheres showcases the incredible art deco riches to be found in this country.
There are superb photos on almost every page illustrating art deco gems to be found all over Scotland. Kelso High School in the Borders is one such example, a beautiful elegant building dating from 1939.
The author is an academic but his writing style is very accessible and enjoyable.
This book was a worthy winner at the 2025 Saltire Book Awards.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews