This year marks the 100th anniversary of the International Exhibition of Modern and Industrial Arts in Paris — the showcase that gave the world Art Deco.
The designs and styles on display back then spread everywhere, including Miami Beach. After 1926, “Tropical Deco” transformed the city, and today it’s one of Miami Beach’s defining features.
But Miami wasn’t alone. About 9,000 miles away, Mumbai, India, also saw a wave of Art Deco architecture.
A new global initiative called Art Deco Alive! Is launching this fall to celebrate the style’s centennial and the surprising connection between the two cities.
The curiosity of Salma Merchant Rahmathulla, Gayatri Hingorani and Smiti Kanodia led them to start the initiative. Rahmathulla and Hingorani moved to Miami a few years ago and were surprised when they took a tour of Miami Beach’s Art Deco Historic District.
“ We realized there are so many similarities between both Miami and Mumbai … as we did more research, we found out that after Miami, Mumbai has the second largest number of Art Deco buildings in the world,” Hingorani said.
This was shocking news for ADA!’s founders, and it gave them context for Mumbai that they didn’t have while growing up there. Rahmathulla was raised in England but would visit family in Mumbai for holidays every year.
“ We didn't really have the language to know that that was Art Deco, and so it's actually such a beautiful way of sort of giving our childhood that language that we didn't have before,” Rahmathulla said.
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They find the similarities between the cities run quite deep. Both are coastal cities and port towns with major thoroughfares: Ocean Drive in Miami Beach and Marine Drive in Mumbai.
“ Miami really is, like some say, the capital of Latin America, and Mumbai, in the same way, is the financial center, but also home to Bollywood,” Hingorani said. “And it's where people come to, to realize their dreams, right? So, we really feel that between both cultures.”
Amid the similarities are differences in not only the design of both cities, but also in their statuses. Mumbai’s Art Deco buildings have been recognized as UNESCO Heritage Sites, while Miami Beach’s still don’t have that designation.
Even Art Deco is the style that can be found in Mumbai and Miami Beach, they were localized for their communities. After the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 devastated the region, an opportunity appeared to rebuild the city in a new style. Art Deco was embraced with pastel colors, geometric designs and porthole windows.
“ I think Miami is more nautical, whereas in India we've used lotuses and peacocks, and there's actually one building called The Insurance Building that has the Goddess Lakshmi on top of the building, but it's completely done in Art Deco style,” Hingorani said.
One of their goals is to change the narrative surrounding Mumbai and Art Deco in Miami. ADA! wants residents of both cities to be tourists in their own cities and explore the history of these buildings that might get lost in the hustle and bustle.
“ It's not just about architecture, right? It's about what was happening in those buildings. It's celebrating the human spirit within these cities … and really bringing everybody to the conversation,” Ramthullah said.
The four-day Art Deco festival will include heritage walks throughout the Historic Art Deco District, a symposium highlighting two architects and two trailblazing women from both cities, a look at the fashion and jewelry inspired by the style, and more.
IF YOU GO
What: Art Deco Alive!
When: Thursday, October 9 to Sunday, October 12
Where: Historic Art Deco District
Information: Pricing and event details can be found here
