India : Bombay Art Deco listed as a UNESCO world heritage

The Art Deco buildings in Bombay, India have been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List alongside the city’s Victorian architecture.

The Bombay Art Deco is reputed to be the second largest complex in the world, after Miami, of this architectural trend that was all the rage in the United States and Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.

These buildings, threatened by property speculation in the megalopolis, are currently being identified. Most were built between the early 1930s and the early 1950s. Many of them are located in the south of the city.

On the other side are more chic buildings, with curved corners, balconies, vertical lines and exotic motifs. They were built by wealthy Indians who had sent their architects to Europe to study the Art Deco style and return with modern ideas to differentiate themselves from the guns of colonial buildings.

Bombay’s Art Deco buildings possess « a colourful, vibrant, free, sophisticated style that reflected the aspirations of a new class ».

Bombay’s Art Deco buildings, recognizable by their pediments, spiral staircases or marble floors, are occupied by residential apartments but also by offices, clinics and dark rooms such as the famous Eros and Regal cinemas.

Most of these buildings, including those located along the three kilometres of Marine Drive on the waterfront, have five stories often decorated with bright colours — yellow, pink or blue.