Art Deco, Napier Overview

First emerging in France a few years before the First World War, Art Deco is an exquisite style employed in designing buildings, movie theatres, jewellery, cars, and furniture, among other things. In New Zealand, the quaint city of Napier is popularly known as the Art Deco Capital following the massive earthquake in 1931. Napier is home to one of the world's most spectacular Art Deco city centres.

The town Centre in this city has been hailed as the place which houses the most comprehensive and uniquely styled Art Deco collection, rivalled solely by the Streamline Moderne located at Miami Beach. There is no other place in the Southern Hemisphere with such a beautifully arranged cluster of buildings, all built in the antique styles of the 1930s, with a beautiful combination of Spanish Mission, Stripped Classical, and of course, the reigning Art Deco.

History and Hawke's Bay Earthquake

Napier, as it stands today, is not how it used to be previously. On 3rd February 1931, Napier was suddenly struck by a destructive earthquake, one that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale. Lasting for about a couple of minutes, it was enough to bring down the buildings to the ground, killing hundreds, and wounding several others.

The town was peppered with unexpected fires breaking out all over and little could be done to extinguish them since the earthquake had cut off the water supply as well. Over five hundred aftershocks were felt in the region in the two weeks that followed the disaster.

This was succeeded by the reconstruction of Napier. Art Deco had been all the trend since the 1920s, with its fountains, linear structures, sunbursts, soaring skyscrapers, intricate adornment, and geometric motifs, so it was employed in the rebuilding of the entire area.

The concrete buildings that came up were to be more resistant to natural disasters as well as fire incidents. Within two years, a new Napier had already come into existence, and over the next few years, it became one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Napier Art Deco Festival

After all that it has been through, Napier has not forgotten its past. In 1985, an Art Deco Trust was formed in order to preserve the exotic architecture of Art Deco in Napier. The members of this trust occasionally come together to host a number of different activities, such as vintage car tours as well as guided historical walks, over the year.

On the third weekend of February every year, the Art Deco Trust hosts the festive Napier Art Deco Festival, an occasion where the whole town travels back in time to the 1920s and goes retro, dressing up in deco clothing. From picnics to parades, jazz concerts to street dances, delicious food to vintage wine, and antique planes and vehicles on display, this whole town turns into a colourful carnival!

The festival has witnessed a growing contingent of visitors from all around the world, who come here to be a part of the delightful array of events that make up the festival. Apart from this grand celebration, Napier is also home to several other events all year round, such as the Winter Deco Festival in July, and the Art Deco Weekend.

How To Reach Art Deco Napier

Napier lies at a distance of about four hundred kilometers from Auckland, and it takes around five hours to get there by car via the Thermal Explorer Highway.
You can also travel to Napier by bus. Several buses leave from Auckland Central to Taupo. From there, you have to catch another bus to Napier. Direct buses are also available.
From Hastings, it takes about twenty minutes to reach Napier by car via State Highway 50. Buses are also available from Heretaunga Street West to Napier.
From Hawke’s Bay, Napier is about seventy kilometers away and it takes approximately an hour by car via the Thermal Explorer Highway.