Art Deco exploration is a must when visiting Napier. You could have stopped at the instagram favourite, the Ahuriri National Tobacco building to glimpse the combination of art nouveau curved doorway tipped with roses adorning an art deco sunburst. It is an elaborate confection of Art Deco. Moving onto Napier’s waterfront an Art Deco exploration will discover the Soundshell public pavilion and the nearby statue of Pania of the Reef, (1950’s European view of Maori cultural narratives). The surrounding gardens continue to be faithfully planted in the art deco style. The marine parade’s majestic Norfolk pines are pencil lines down the parade, offering a counterpoint to the Soundshell curved raised public art space.
INTERESTING FACT
DID YOU KNOW? The colours of the new 1930’s Napier were a major talking point. The town was very colourful compared with the brick, stone, concrete and cream painted wood in other cities. The colours were achieved by the new technique of mixing metallic oxides with the cement, which gave a range that included pink, blue, green, chartreuse and yellow, but more usually red/ brown, ochre, buff or biscuit, similar to the colours of the paving slabs in Emerson Street. … from Art Deco brochure.
