Saving Mumbai’s Art Deco buildings

Kumar and his small team, which is notfor-profit, are working hard to come up with a precise tally for the first time by documenting the entire city and adding all the Deco buildings to a Google map on their website, artdecomumbai.com.

“We want to establish the accurate number and therefore position Mumbai’s relevance correctly across the world,” explains Kumar, who says they’ve already counted 136 in 18 months, with several neighbourhoods left to investigate.

“It’s definitely going to be way more than 200,” adds the finance professional confidently, before cautiously speculating that the final number could be around 300.

The team talk to owners to establish which structures are Deco. They record building and architect names, dates of construction, coordinates and Deco features.

Key specifics and photos are then uploaded to an inventory on artdecomumbai.com. Images with captions are also published on Twitter and Instagram.

“We have 100% accuracy. If we are doubtful then we don’t include the building,” says Kumar, who also organises walking tours to spread the word.

He laments that a lack of awareness has led many Deco buildings to be demolished or compromised by alterations. Property developers offering lucrative sums to replace them with luxury apartments have also caused destruction.

“Ultimately our objective is to conserve this tremendous collection. As we talk to people they become fiercely proud and that translates into a desire to preserve,” concludes Kumar. – AFP Relaxnews