India, June 27 -- There is a spot in Mumbai where a generational leap remains frozen in concrete.

On one side of the street stands the distinctly Gothic Revival high court building, with its Victorian trappings of dark stone and iron detailing. Across the road, concrete sweeps upward in exuberant lines, banded stripes and streamlined curves reminiscent of ocean liners and now-vintage luxury.

Topping it all, the Art Deco Eros Cinema looms like a ship rising out of the ground (see images below; all these structures, of course, are now part of the Unesco world heritage site known as the Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai.)

The Art Deco style, around the world, was a celebration of new materials (particularly malleable concrete ceme...