中文简介：

纽约，可以说是世界装饰艺术之都，以其引人注目的标志性建筑闻名于世，这些建筑都是装饰艺术风格的早期表达，其中有名的是帝国大厦和克莱斯勒大厦，这两座大厦至今仍雄辩而有力地讲述着未来和继续推动前进的机器时代。这场非同寻常的运动鲜有人提及且没有得到充分重视的是，用瓷砖、赤土、石头呈现的柔和的一面：天空中的鸟儿；森林中的花朵，田野中的花朵；森林中的野兽，大地中的野兽，海洋中的野兽。作者和摄影师通过为本书拍摄的新照片揭示了纽约装饰主义的这一柔和的一面，重点关注75座建筑或建筑群，观察外墙和内部大厅以及电梯和邮箱的装饰，以揭示无名的宝藏。这里包括Edgar Brandt在格雷西广场7号精美铁艺作品，用羚羊和大象在金属中表达奇妙的幻想，还有查宁大厦的龙；洛克菲勒中心的鸟和美女等等。如果你知道在哪里看的话，鸟类、野兽和花朵都是令人愉快且令人惊讶的，而且很容易辨认。本书提醒城市居民，比起夏天脚下燃烧的柏油路，或冬天的残酷，还有更多令人愉快的事情。

英文简介：

New York City, arguably the world’s Art Deco capital, is well known the world over for its striking and still iconic buildings that were early expressions of the style writ large most famously the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, both of which still speak so eloquently and powerfully of the future and the machine age that continues to move us all forward. What is little spoken of and certainly under-appreciated is that which was writ small the softer side of this extraordinary movement, as rendered in tile, in terracotta, in stone: birds of the sky; flowers of the forest, of the field; beasts of the woods, of the earth, of the sea. Through new photography explicitly taken for this book, the author and photographer reveal this softer side of New York Deco, focusing on 75 buildings or building complexes, looking at both facade and interior lobby and elevator and mailbox ornament, to reveal unsung treasure. Included here is the exquisite ironwork of Edgar Brandt as seen at 7 Gracie Square a wonderful expression of fantasy in metal of antelopes and elephants the dragons of the Chanin Building; the birds and beauties of Rockefeller Center; and so much more. Birds, beasts, and blooms are cheerful, surprising, and easy to recognize, if you know where to look. They serve to remind city dwellers of more pleasant things than the burning tarmac beneath our feet in summer, or the cruelty of winter.