Mumbai's glorious Art Deco legacy at 100

Mumbai is home to one of the world's largest collection of Art Deco buildings, but many are unprotected.

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In the 100 years since, the glamorous building style - evocative of neon-lit jazz bars and the golden age of big motion pictures - rapidly spread around the world.

It moved from the famous pastel hotel facades of Miami's South Beach to the sprawling necklace of mansion apartments along Mumbai's Marine Drive seafront.

Art Deco's distinct motifs - typified by geometrical ziggurats (step towers), sweeping curves, sunburst designs, nautical elements and circular or turreted rooftops - symbolised an unequivocal break from the past, celebrating the dawn of a new, unabashed, post-war 20th Century modern age.

In a short time, the style transcended architecture to influence the design sensibility of home interiors, furniture, fonts, jewellery and some of the world's most iconic cinema halls - from Radio City Music Hall in New York City to Regal, Liberty and Eros cinemas in Mumbai.