As always, architecture evokes responses (like all Art) that reflect ourselves. Yes British were Imperial pillagers who trained the designers and builders of these places. Irony is good, right?
@Clint pathetic. Attempting to justify the exploitation of millions, avoidable deaths of millions because of architectural side effects. Truly pathetic. Educate yourself.
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Beige, beige, beige. Take out your Indian paint box Mumbai.
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Art Deco is bad enough,.....why add India to the mix?
I would never thought Art Deco in Mumbai! Thanks, but like others, more photos would have been nicer than words. There is something warm about Art Deco and wherever it is, there is even in Eastern Europe, it reflects the culture and atmosphere of the times. I don't know if Art Deco is Art, but its comforting to look at and even a hundred years later blends in everywhere, so to the nay-sayers, well, grow up.
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As far as art goes, Art Deco is pretty shallow and not at all interesting in any way. It's about as close to art as a commercial advertisement. Just viddy the Chrysler building in NYC.
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@Glenn Thomas Wow. Let's be negative.
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@Glenn Thomas
Quite wrong. Design is never cheapened or rendered superficial by its association with "commercial" material culture. Commercial material culture actually produces most art: Rembrandt's paintings are first and foremost consumer products. The mosaics on the brothel floors of Pompei are global treasures even though prostitutes and their clients ignored them during their daily rounds.
Art Deco describes a 'mood' of architecture that sought to delight the users and observers of its ultra-moderne spaces by introducing design elements to urban public structures made with 20th century techniques of mass architectural construction. In the 1930s our technical abilities made the beautiful excess of les arts decoratifs accessible in new ways. It was so globally popular that it lasted a generation.
These buildings are part of the great urban migration and expansion, a wonderful experiment in rendering the public spaces of world cities joyous and uplifting.
This is why the Chrysler Building and the Wiltern Theater are so well loved.
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I grew up amongst the beauty of these neighbourhoods. It's a lovely, lively place to be. Pressures of population and negligence and poor planning have made these dull. I'm happy to see so many residents get involved in trying to showcase and beautify the neighbohoods. Art deco is every where in Mumbai, beyond just the famous marine drive and oval maidan.
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Having seen some of them I am disappointed that you chose words instead of photographs. They would have been far more impressive.
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A celebration of a movement better served with more pictures of the neighbourhood and less word descriptions.
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Sadly, the article e appears to be all words and few pictures. The last time I was in Bombay ( as it was called in the 1970's), I remember seeing so many Art Deco buildings, and many of them still exist. Even small towns in India have such buildings. Next time I am in India, I will take photos of these buildings.
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Art Deco buildings are important to any city firstly because they are beautiful and secondly because the are part of the city's history. However it is a relatively small part of something a lot bigger i.e the soul of the city. This comprises of the art, the literature, the music, the academics and in short the humanity of the city. I agree that the buildings are being threatened in Mumbai but the far greater threat is to the character of the people itself in all the large urban centers of India !
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The picture of the New India Assurance building is brilliant for its presentation of a sublime edifice.
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Yes, Mumbai's art-deco architecture is worth taking note of but no one much talks about Kolkata's even more impressive of British colonial (i.e., Victorian) architecture. Mumbai has some of this, too, but not on the same level as India's most absurdly overlooked metropolis.
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Chennai (formerly Madras) in South India, another seafront town, used to have beautiful art deco buildings, including for middle class houses.
Of course, most of them have been knocked down to make ugly concrete block apartments.
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When presenting a design concept, more photos and fewer words would be helpful.
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@Jim Moore
I agree, most of us will never get the opportunity to visit there.
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@Jim Moore I agree.. I bought an art deco casa
in merida mexico..there are many beauties in Mexico too...
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Not sure about number of buildings compared to Mumbai and Miami, but Napier in New Zealand and Indianapolis in the US also have a critical mass of art deco buildings.
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@Denis Pelletier
Tulsa has a fine collection as well.
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Chicago, too!
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@Denis Pelletier
Napier is a town rebuilt all in the same style at the same time; wonderful. An ensemble, as it were. Many locales have "downtown" buildings that are not part of an ensemble (but are truly wonderful) - including Oakland, San Francisco, Asmara (Eritrea). Cincinnati, Los Angeles (Wilshire Blvd.) and the already-mentioned Chicago and NYC. These buildings are jewels in the urban fabric.
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