Rahul Mehrotra: ‘Bombay was the gateway for the Art Deco style’

Updated On: 26 October, 2024 10:17 AM IST | Mumbai | Fiona Fernandez

From co-writing a column in mid-day with the late Sharada Dwivedi on local history, to chronicling its heritage and architectural styles, architect and urban planner Rahul Mehrotra discusses the just-released Bombay Deco against the backdrop of a rapidly-changing metropolis

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Aerial view of the Oval Maidan that mediates two centuries of architectural styles — Neo Gothic and Art Deco. PIC COURTESY/Jehangir Sorabjee

What are the invaluable, time-tested lessons you imbibed from your collaborative research with the late Sharada Dwivedi?
Sharada and I first met in late 1989, when she was installing an exhibition on the city’s history at the Asiatic Society of Bombay. As a 30-year-old architect and urban designer starting out to work in Bombay, I was stunned how the exhibition highlighted, for me, the vacuum that existed in the popular understanding of the city and its built history. Soon after our first meeting, Sharada and I embarked on a fortnightly column for mid-day, where we narrated the history of a particular area in Bombay, touching upon the contemporary challenges for that precinct. It was titled ‘Bombay – a look at historic precincts’.

Bas-relief panels in Eros’ auditorium depict the story of making movies. Pic Courtesy/Noshir Gobhai