At the turn of the 20th century, Bombay witnessed a major spree in construction which went on till the 1940s. It was first set off by a plague, which began in 1896, scaring the British Raj which squarely blamed the onset and spread of the disease on the congested living conditions of the natives. The authorities razed many neighbourhoods and then decided that the city would have to be opened up to accommodate the expanding population.
This meant the creation of new housing, roads and other infrastructure. Bombay expanded northwards where new houses were built, mainly for the middle-classes. In the southern part of the city, however, land would have to be created, and so the age-old solution was found – reclamation from the sea. Inevitably, a scandal followed, as happens in Bombay where land is concerned.
Sharada Dwivedi and Rahul Mehrotra,
Bombay Deco,
Pictor Publishing (November 2024).
One of the new precincts that emerged was the Kennedy Sea Face, which eventually became Marine Drive; further south was the Backbay Reclamation, where buildings would be made at Churchgate and the Oval Maidan. Plots of land were auctioned at high prices for construction of residential and commercial buildings as well as cinema houses. New buildings came up in the latest, modern style that had become popular all over the world. The same style was adopted in the new constructions in other parts of Bombay and other parts of the country. There was excitement in the air, not least because these buildings were financed, designed, constructed and styled by Indians – there was enough confidence among Indians to do it on their own and not bank on the Raj.
The flats in these buildings were like nothing the city had seen – for one thing, the rooms had toilets, an almost revolutionary concept in the city. They had the latest fittings and the most up-to-date tiling, plumbing and ventilation. The buyers were so taken up that they commissioned the most stylish furniture for the interiors. Internationally, this style came to be known as Art Deco.
In 2008, city historian Sharada Dwivedi and architect Rahul Mehrotra, wrote Bombay Deco, a book detailing the city’s Art Deco heritage. Till then, there had been no formalised publication on the subject – Bombay took its Art Deco buildings, which were visible all over, for granted.
Since then, consciousness about Bombay’s Art Deco buildings — second in number only to Miami — has become widespread. The website artdecomumbai.com has collected an impressive inventory of such structures and regularly conducts walks to showcase them.
Also read: When an Old Cinema Shuts Down, a Million Memories Die With It
Photo: Noshir Gobhai
A new, updated edition of the book has been published, with many more new images and a fresh chapter and it remains a fascinating read about the development of a city into a major metropolis. Mehrotra in his introduction points out that Art Deco came to be associated with modernity. The buildings did not just represent a new way of living, but an entirely new lifestyle — restaurants with international cuisine, often called continental, jazz bands and dancing. The cinemas with an international look and feel, where not just Hindi films but also those from Hollywood played.
The creation of Marine Drive also brought about a radical shift in the way the city faced the world and therefore itself. Till then, Bombay’s residents lived mainly in the inner parts of the city or towards the eastern side, where the harbour was, and where the British lived and worked. With Marine Drive, Bombay became a west-facing metropolis and has been, since then.
Bombay Deco is divided into several chapter that broadly focusses on various aspects of the architectural style – travel, cinema and the urban landscape, accompanied by vintage images of posters, ads, buildings and some sumptuous new photographs to accompany them. These photographs, many of them specially taken for the new edition, enhance the book’s appeal, but it is more than just a coffee table volume, with much to read about Bombay’s Art Deco legacy.
I wish a few Hindi posters had been included, because in the 1940s, artists let their imagination run loose, using the most innovative fonts to create attractive ads. Art Deco furniture could be seen in these films even in the 1950s.
Photo: Rahul Mehrotra
The new edition also has an entirely fresh chapter which details how a 14-year effort spearheaded by Dwivedi and architect Abha Narain, with backing by the Maharashtra government, finally succeeded in UNESCO declaring a cluster of buildings facing the Oval Maidan — 19th century Indo-Gothic structures on one side and 20th century Art Deco ones on the other, a quite unique juxtaposition — as a heritage precinct in 2018. The chapter makes interesting reading, because Mumbai, as the city had come to be known in 1995, was facing competition from other, more ancient sites like Nalanda, which the Union government was pushing. In the end, Mumbai’s persistence paid off and it was granted that status, which implies that the buildings cannot be demolished and replaced by shiny new skyscrapers.
Which is a wonderful thing but only if the actual Art Deco buildings – which are close to nine decades old – can be maintained and, if necessary, propped up and fortified. And that’s not as simple as it sounds. Most of the apartments are under rent control, which inhibits the landlord from spending too much on their maintenance, especially if the rent he receives is negligible.
American architect John Allf, who has been observing and studying Bombay’s Art Deco since the 1980s, writes, “despite these efforts and the subsequent recognition, Art Deco (and historic buildings of all kinds) are at greater risk than ever before,” adding that “the cost of maintaining and restoring Art Deco buildings is astronomical.”
Not surprisingly, many old low-rise Art Deco structures in neighbourhoods, which do not fall in the heritage district, are coming down and modern but soulless skyscrapers are taking their place with the latest amenities, something that buyers find more attractive. How many of these buildings, that make Bombay/Mumbai what it is, will survive in the long run, is the big question. A book like this therefore becomes a vital document that will tell future generation about the city’s modernity and heritage.
All images published with the permission of Pictor Publishing.
