BOMBAY DECO

Author: Sharada Dwivedi & Rahul Mehrotra

Brand: Generic

Edition: First Edition

Binding: hardcover

Number Of Pages: 248

Release Date: 13-10-2024

Details: The first detailed review of Mumbai’s Art Deco architecture. Over 200 archival, specially commissioned and rare aerial images extensively detailing the buildings, decorative themes and motifs of one of the largest collections of Art Deco structures in the world. An essential record of a time in Bombay’s architectural history when the city embodied the essence of modernity in the arts, architecture, urbanism and lifestyle of the people. Art Deco arrived in India, literally on the shores of Bombay, spurred by the frantic building activity prevalent in the island city in the 1930s. Unabashedly bold with an ever-glamorous decorating style, it grew out of industrial means of production in India. What is noteworthy about Bombay’s ‘Deco Districts’ is the prevalence of this style in both waterfront locations as well as within dense urban situations. A particularly unique setting is at the Oval maidan, where Art Deco buildings face the great Victorian Neo-Gothic buildings, creating a magnificent ensemble of two centuries of different styles in the city. Bombay Deco is a celebration of the style that transformed the image of the city from Victorian to that of a cosmopolitan metropolis. The book incorporates both an interpretive overview on the Art Deco buildings and objects that appeared across the city, along with captivating photo essays that illustrate them. Built between 1930 and 1947, many of these were constructed in a distinctive ‘Indo Deco’ style, a new expression that incorporated unique localized motifs in its decorative components. They were dramatic harbingers of India’s future as a democracy, echoing the people’s quest for independence through a new modern style. The decades of the 1930s to the 1950s were a period of great innovation and exuberance of design in a city that came to be uniquely known not only for its collection of varied architectural styles, but also one that historically always embraced the future. As Bombay grew and transformed, its striking Art Deco buildings managed to survive quite unobtrusively until, in 2018, UNESCO designated the combined precincts of Fort and Marine Drive as heritage precincts under the title ‘Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai’. This recognition ushered this collection of buildings into the international limelight, marking a great achievement for the city, and showcasing the unique character of this urban setting that is unparalleled anywhere in the world.

EAN: 9789392547034

Languages: English