The Making of Maximum City

The term art deco refers to a design movement that spanned the boom of the 1920s and the bust of the Depression-ridden 1930s. Historian Bevis Hillier defines it as “an assertively modern style running to symmetry rather than asymmetry,and to the rectilinear rather than the curvilinear.” It affected all forms of design,from the fine and decorative arts to fashion,film,photography and product design and was a symbol of luxury and flamboyance.

Mumbai has the highest number of art deco buildings in the world,second only to Miami,a fact that is often overlooked. But now the team gathered at UDRI — committed conservation architects,retired government officials,legal eagles and most importantly,residents of art deco buildings — are on an overdrive to put together an exhaustive dossier that they hope to present to the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in a bid to win a World Heritage status for a clearly delineated art deco precinct in Mumbai.

The story began in 2003 when the Unesco world heritage centre organised a seminar on modern heritage in Chandigarh to highlight the need for greater representation of 19th and 20th century heritage. Conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah presented the case of Mumbai’s Victorian and art deco buildings on behalf of UDRI,which was well received. The Maharashtra government’s official entry was submitted to the Unesco headquarters in Paris last year. The plan,prepared by UDRI,listing 89 structures,will now be put up on the tentative list of Unesco’s World Heritage sites. With each structure having to be detailed individually,the task is a mammoth one and needs to be completed by September this year,in time for the UNESCO nomination. But Mumbai will face stiff competition from Delhi,which is the second entry from India vying to be on this prestigious list.

At their headquarters,the energy and sense of urgency is palpable. The initiative led by Lambah is seconded by well-known architect Rahul Mehrotra. The latter had collaborated with the late Sharada Dwivedi on Bombay Deco,a book that documents the history of the rich architectural form of the city. “art deco emerged in India in the 1930s,and Mumbai served as the crucible for its birth. It was a popular style in the country,and interestingly,its appearance paralleled the waves of nationalism and the aspiration of swarajya or self-rule. It preceded the advent of modernism,which emerged in quite different circumstances. In fact,art deco served as the harbinger for modernism and its establishment in the 1930s essentially allowed for an easy transition for architectural production into a modernist idiom by the 1940s,” says Mehrotra.

An ornate trellis on the wall of a residential society or sun motifs or the geometric design on the entrance of a public building often get overlooked in the everyday chaos of the city life. The team points out how some of these structures are relics of the art deco movement,which combined traditional craft motifs with machine age imagery and materials. However,the challenge,says Lambah,42,is to convince the Unesco of the relevance of the art deco movement in India,where built heritage goes up to 4,000 years. “A 20th century building is too young to qualify for heritage protection. Even ASI requires a building to be at least 100 years old to be eligible. Yet art deco is as relevant a genre as any other,” she says.

The story of Mumbai,according to Lambah,is the story of the evolution of art deco in the city and the development of Mumbai as a cosmopolitan metropolis. “If you stand at Oval and see the development around,you will be astounded. Oval was once on the sea front. The sheer size of the reclamation is amazing,especially since it was done in the 1920s. That is also when these buildings,private or government,came up with strong horizontality,curved balconies and articulated corners — all part of art deco aesthetics — using reinforced cement that changed the whole construction industry,” says Lambah,who moved to Mumbai 18 years ago from Delhi and has since been involved in many prestigious restoration projects of the city. The entire architectural language of the city changed with the advent of terraces,multi-storeys and lifts. At the same time,as the film industry took off,there was a profusion of art deco theatres. The lifestyle change in the city became a subtext to the emergence of art deco architecture.

While the art deco structures are scattered all over Mumbai,for the sake of understanding,Mehrotra has categorised them into five sections in his book. The first,called the Gateway to India,includes art deco cinemas like the Regal,the New Empire,Eros,Metro and Liberty,the “ real trail blazers” and vibrant symbols of a new lavish lifestyle.

The next section lists residential art deco buildings along the western edge of the Oval Maidan and the Marine Drive that came up after the government carried a massive reclamation of Mumbai. Chowpatty,Malabar Hills and Cumballa Hills and the suburbs of Dadar,Wadala,Matunga Sion and Shivaji Park are the other two categories,followed finally by commercial art deco structures like those of the Mutual Life Building,The Indian Merchants Chamber,the Vachha Agiary or the Horniman Circle. For the Unesco recognition though,the experts have chosen a more contained area encompassing the 19th century Victorian neo-Gothic buildings that are part of the Fort precinct in south Mumbai which they have called the Victorian and art deco ensemble of Mumbai.

Emphasising the uniqueness of this part,the tentative dossier that the UDRI is preparing,says,“The Gothic revival buildings along the eastern edge of the Esplanade were originally conceived to sit along what was in the 1860s the western sea front of Bombay. Thus,the Secretariat,University Library and Convocation Hall,High Court,Public Works Department Offices,the Central Telegraph Office and the adjoining General Post Office were built fronting the sea across the Esplanade between the 1860s and 70s.”

The design and positioning of these buildings created a brilliant interface between the urbanity of the Fort and the green of the Esplanade. With the ambitious Backbay Reclamation scheme of the 1920s,a vast expanse of sea facing land was created. A large housing scheme was conceived in the art deco style,facing the imposing Gothic edifices on the eastern edge of the Maidan and anchored at the northern end by the Eros Cinema. Despite the varying scales and styles of buildings,it was a fantastic setting for urban composition with two centuries of building styles facing each other across the Maidan.

It adds that what is unique about Mumbai is the concentration of the art deco buildings in what can easily be called a Deco district — the ensemble of theatres with the buildings on the great Backbay reclamation which makes a precinct,both cohesive and clearly delineated. In size,is rivaled perhaps only by the art deco district in Miami.

While UDRI is helming the project,the campaign has strong support from a section of the city’s residents. “It’s been a constant battle to get the government and the individuals living in these buildings to appreciate and preserve that heritage,” says Swarn Kohli,82,who co-heads the Nariman Point Churchgate Citizens’ Association and has been instrumental in bringing about a sea change in the iconic Marine Drive sweep of art deco heritage with her RTIs and awareness campaigns. Ashad Mehta,48,who owns and lives in Empress Court,which is part of the Oval Cooperage precinct and overlooks the Oval Maidan,says,“There are about 25 such buildings in our precinct and it’s imperative to preserve them in a city like Mumbai that is getting plundered by builders. Most of the residents here are conscious of the heritage they live in and do their best to preserve the buildings at their own expense. But we have little control as far as preservation of public buildings or commercial enterprises in the locality are concerned,” says Mehta.

The petitioners are hoping the UNESCO recognition will change that. “From what I understand,in Miami the buildings have been largely converted into commercial uses and this gives them more income to preserve them. Importantly,the government has set up a series of festivals and events to bring attention and awareness to the buildings. For any conservation movement to be successful and sustainable,it has to be that three-legged stool — government,citizens and committed professionals,” says Mehrotra.