For fifty days from April 1st through May 28th, 2006, the SHISEIDO GALLERY and the HOUSE OF SHISEIDO* will hold their first joint exhibition, titled Art Deco in the City.
*Located in Ginza 8-chome and 7-chome, respectively.

The decorative design style known as "Art Deco," originating during the 1920s and 1930s and retaining its strong appeal throughout the nearly eighty years since, has constantly manifested itself in unique ways as it has been embraced by different countries and cultures throughout the world. The Art Deco in the City exhibition explores how Art Deco has manifested itself in distinct ways in prominent architectural landmarks and interior designs in a variety of cities throughout the world.
The SHISEIDO GALLERY portion of the exhibition will spotlight the decorative architecture of hotels, since such buildings are often among the most symbolic structures of any given urban landscape. Hotels, because they offer spaces that are "extra-ordinary" while at the same time endeavoring to serve as comfortable extensions of everyday life, have often proved to be among the most richly featured examples of structures preserving the functional and decorative elements that have characterized Art Deco.

Photographer, columnist, and architect Naoto Inaba embarked upon a project to stay in and photograph Art Deco-style hotels in eleven different world cities, and the scheduled exhibition is comprised of approximately 180 images selected from the extensive collection he amassed during that journey. These have been grouped into four separate collections, each featuring several different cities, to be exhibited for two weeks each (schedule below), as well as a series of Shanghai photos to be shown for the duration of the exhibition at the HOUSE OF SHISEIDO's second-floor gallery. Each exhibit will also be accompanied by audio recordings made during the photo shooting at each location, enriching the exhibition's capacity to transport viewers around the world and through time to visit the world's Art Deco hotels.

The HOUSE OF SHISEIDO will exhibit Art Deco examples from both Shanghai and Tokyo's Ginza district, focusing on Shiseido's Takekawa-cho store, which was constructed in 1928 and was itself one of Ginza's first examples of Art Deco architecture.

In the midst of the modern world, inundated with its changing, growing myriad of design approaches and styles, the Art Deco in the City exhibition offers a golden opportunity to revisit the appealing fusion of beauty and function that have endured as the essential spirit of the Art Deco movement.