8. Paul J. Rainey Memorial Gates at the Bronx Zoo
The northern entrance to the Bronx Zoo is defined by the stunning gates that present visitors’ portal into the animal kingdom. Architect Paul Manship, a prominent classicist sculptor, collaborated on the gates with the architect Charles A. Platt.
The gates, completed in 1934, marked a pronounced departure from both artists’ relatively conservative backgrounds. Their intricate, lifelike depictions of zoo animals including leaping deer, lions, birds, and more were all designed with Art Deco’s signature sinewy, angular aesthetic in mind. The gates still stand today, a fanciful introduction to the zoo and a reminder of one of the Art Deco movement’s innovative achievements.