Why did the Art Deco style of architecture gain popularity in cities as geographically and culturally apart as Bombay and Miami?
Art Deco was very much a global trend, so it is not surprising to see it in locales as far flung as Miami and Mumbai. It suggests a sort of cosmopolitanism among its patrons. Its prevalence in our cities, however, is informed by their expansion in the 1930s. Like Mumbai, Miami had a considerable amount of land reclamation in the early 20th century — Miami Beach was reconfigured from a swampy mangrove into an urban oasis between the 1920s, which required a significant dredging of Biscayne Bay. The creation of Art Deco districts in Miami and Mumbai is very much attached to urban growth in both contexts.

What are some of the similarities and differences in the Art Deco style adapted in the two cities?
There are many stylistic similarities, as they are both examples of predominantly 1930s Art Deco adapted to a tropical or subtropical climate. The use of eyebrows or eaves over the windows is just one of them. Sometimes, there were material differences — like the use of teak wood in Mumbai and the use of coral rock or oolitic limestone in Miami. Miami Beach's buildings tend to be smaller in scale, and there are a lot more hotels in the area. I feel a greater sense of permanence in Mumbai's Deco, especially in the apartment buildings where generations of families have lived.