Automobile tycoon Walter Chrysler commissioned architect William van Alen to design the highest building in the world. The record may have been beaten after a year by the Empire State Building, but the Chrysler Building remains an extraordinary example of Art Deco, with its series of tiers, gargoyles in the shape of eagle's heads (evocative of car bonnet ornaments), alternating curved lines and sharp triangles, and the top, reminiscent of the chromework on cars.