This NGO has been guarding Mumbai’s Art Deco heritage structures

If there is one thing everyone loves about Mumbai’s multi-layered and diverse people, food, architecture, language and neighbourhoods, it is the city’s stunning heritage, particularly structures built in the Art Deco style. These gems, however, do need care and restoration which, in turn, require greater awareness about the financial capital’s Art Deco heritage.     

Atul Kumar, who has lived in the historic southern neighbourhoods of the city for a large part of his life, decided to take on this task and in 2016, started Art Deco Mumbai (ADM), a not-for-profit organisation that showcases the city’s Art Deco heritage and also advocates its conservation. “For this, chronicling Art Deco styled structures’ history and photo documenting the Deco neighbourhoods is paramount,” says Atul Kumar, founder-trustee of ADM. He adds that photo documentation and creating an inventory of properties that are Art Deco was his long standing dream. 

Kumar and ADM’s team spent six years going up and down the entire city, navigating neighbourhoods from south Mumbai, moving northwards all the way up to Chembur, photo documenting and creating architectural descriptions and panels for every single Art Deco building. “It was and still is laborious and tedious work and requires a lot of hard work and grit. But today, we have 1,300 such odd buildings that are documented, which I think is one of the largest Art Deco ensembles in the world,” shares the Marine Drive resident. This digital inventory and other Art Deco related data is available for viewing on their website and social media channels. 

Mumbai’s Art Deco jewels include The Breach Candy and Nanavati hospitals; Don Bosco School in Matunga, the HSBC Fort office, Lakshmi Insurance and New India Assurance buildings; Liberty, Eros and Regal Cinemas and Cricket Club of India, the entire row of 35 buildings on Marine Drive, all 18 buildings that overlook the Oval Maidan, several buildings adjoining Shivaji Park and along  Muhammed Ali Road.

The documentation and photo chronicling, a continuous and ongoing activity, now includes Pune too. “Pune is kind of like an urban expansion of Mumbai and this cultural city’s Art Deco heritage is incredibly rich and very Swadeshi, if I can call it that. It has a lot of Indian representation,” says Kumar. 

In order to scale up the outreach, ADM also conducts guided tours around these heritage structures. Kumar thinks that it's one thing to see these fabulous structures on a device and it's altogether another experience to walk the streets to see them up close and know the nitty-gritties of iconic structures. 

“These guided tours help people understand the stories around the neighbourhoods, the cultural background, the social interactions, the style and the architecture. It's a rich narrative that we weave,” he says.   

Actor Rahul Khanna stumbled upon Art Deco Mumbai’s Instagram account a few years ago and has been following them ever since, as he is drawn to people who are enthusiasts and have a passion for hyper specific subjects. “I’m interested in architecture, design and history and they provide a dose of all three. I love getting information about buildings I’ve driven past and admired for years but knew nothing about, learning about the nuances of the deco style and getting introduced to new buildings around the city,” he says.  

He adds that Mumbai is such a geographically beautiful city, but, ironically, there are very few safe places to rest our eyes, architecturally. “It’s wonderful that Art Deco Mumbai celebrates and showcases some of Mumbai’s man made gems,” adds Khanna.