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One of the defining features of Modernist Houses in Bombay is their symbiotic relationship with nature. Architects prioritize sustainability and environmental stewardship, incorporating passive design principles to minimize energy consumption and maximize natural ventilation. Green spaces are integrated seamlessly into the design, creating tranquil retreats amidst the urban landscape. Furthermore, Modernist Houses in Bombay pay homage to the city’s tropical climate, with features such as shaded verandas, courtyards, and lush gardens providing respite from the heat while enhancing the overall aesthetic appeal.
Building Connections: The Integral Role of Architecture in Human Existence and Community
From heritage conservation societies to architectural tours, these endeavors aim to raise awareness about the value of preserving Bombay’s modernist legacy for future generations. Bombay’s urban image, the one that is recognized today, started to take shape from the 1920s. Land was at a premium, despite the emergence of new northern suburbs and the schemes of the City Improvement Trust, meant that the apartment block in a residential precinct became the preferred choice of ‘upper-class’ urban habitation. This extensive activity of housing would be the critical layer superimposed on the palimpsest Bombay that would hold its own within the traces of native settlement and the dominion architecture within the Fort precinct.
Rock Walls The Guide to Building and Enjoying Your Own
“My parents have travelled the world extensively and own an impressive collection of artefacts from different countries—they wanted to give these memorabilia a place of pride in this apartment,” she adds. Additionally, the designers also wanted to upcycle and reuse the furniture they already owned. The interiors showcase a predominant use of wood, complemented by soft furnishings in cotton, linen, jute, and light fixtures crafted in metal and cane. Striking artworks, old and new, are thoughtfully curated for each room while plants in every nook and corner inject a refreshing dose of greenery within. Antique furniture from the clients’ collection finds pride of place here, paired with new custom pieces, all of which cohesively tie into the visual language.
Influential Architects:
The architectural drawings, which show the detail of the building as a whole as well as all the pillars and gargoyles, are apparently now locked in the archives. Established in 1857, the University of Mumbai (known earlier as University of Bombay) was one of the first three universities in India. It's possible to take a walk around the campus and have a peek inside both the University Library and Convocation Hall.
Melange Home in Mumbai: a true melange of mid-century modern and contemporary - STIRworld
Melange Home in Mumbai: a true melange of mid-century modern and contemporary.
Posted: Wed, 04 Jan 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
The Differences Between Modern and Contemporary Design
By doing this thesis I hope to find similarities and differences in the development of Art Deco style from both the sites. The first being a historical analysis, including economic, historical, and political developments within Chicago and Bombay between 1920 and 1940. The second part of my thesis will revolve around four case studies, two from each city. These will include analyses of architectural developments, material, technology, and the density of that area. I am narrowing my scope to interpret two case studies from each city, which will be analyzed based upon the above parameters. This study also intends to understand and bridge the blind spots in protecting Art Deco buildings in both the cities by using improvised Historic Preservation laws as its tool to do so.
History of Bombay House: British Era Edwardian Building
The master bedroom is furnished with lights from Length Breadth Height, a terracotta pot by Nazneen Jehangir from Gallery 47A, Himachal pots from north India, art work from a local artist in Lisbon and a papier-mâché vase from Magnolia. A large king-sized faux leather bed has bedsides that bring in quirk with pineapple knobs (all from Magnolia). A rug from Carpets of Kashmir stretches across the room, which has a modern walk-in wardrobe.
The Modernist movement in architecture gained momentum in the mid-20th century as a departure from traditional styles. In Bombay, the cityscape was transforming, and a new generation of architects sought to break away from historical precedents to create structures that embraced simplicity, functionality, and a connection with the surrounding environment. The ‘New Architecture’ that was built and debated upon in the penultimate decades before India gained nationhood, would in time be remembered as ‘Art Deco’.
The dining area has farmhouse style table and cane back chairs with a pale green tile backdrop. Finishing the space is art from a local California artist, white pottery artefacts from Sri Lanka, planters from Gaia, a mirror from Magnolia, plants from Rakhangi Nursery, a Fanz Art fan, and a ceramic floral vase from Porches in Algarve, Portugal. A starkly checkered marble French floor broken by cement grey finish tiles, a black door, and clean fluted panel walls feature in the entrance foyer.
Embracing Elegance: The Modernist Houses of Bombay
As luck would have it, the philosophy aligns perfectly with this Mumbai project—the client is a cousin of architect Kayzad Shroff, the other half of ShroffLeon. Younger than Shroff by almost a decade, the relationship between the cousins is much like that of blood brothers, which resulted in a largely free hand when it came to the design, as well as the art and furniture. The 1,000-square-feet apartment was housed within an approximately 50-year-old building, which presented some challenges. A majority of the walls within were shear concrete, making any drastic restructuring impossible. The architects had two advantages though—Shroff had grown up just a few streets away from the building; he had also spent a substantial part of his childhood in this very apartment, which gave him a familiarity with the space, as well as the surrounding areas. The harmonies and contrasts flow through the home, creating a space with a modern, contemporary spirit.
Though it couldn't happen right away as the majority of Indian architects at the time of independence were under the influence of architecture of the Britishers or were working in the architectural firms established by British architects. So, the change was gradual with its inception in pre-independence era of 1930s and 1940s, when some of the foreign architects designed and executed their projects with European expressionism and Bauhaus thinking in the country. But these were isolated efforts and could not take the shape of an architectural movement. These waves of rationalist thoughts kept on smoldering with war between the Revivalist and the Rationalists thoughts propagators throughout 1940s as well as at the time of independence and immediately after it.
Art Deco became the language of modern expression for these architects and their practices. Many of them were a new generation of Indian architects graduating from homegrown schools like Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay, or the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, among others. These prolific architects merged modernity with prevalent cultural and stylistic practices that reflected swadeshi sensibilities, using a unique stylisation of Art Deco that was adapted to Bombay.
We are inclined to the belief that the architects have attempted to cram too much […] The rooms in our opinion are too small and the ceiling heights inadequate for residential quarters intended for good class tenants.” (Ditchburn, 1936, p. 176). These new developments reflected the needs of the day – the rapidly modernizing impulse, a new lifestyle of professionalism and mercantilism that consolidated the port city in the early decades of the twentieth century. The creation of this architecture at a ‘domestic’ rather than monumental scale laid out over vast areas of the city changed its image into all inclusive, dynamic metropolis. In 1898, the City Improvement Trust was constituted by an Act after the ravages of the bubonic plague in 1896. The Trust was entrusted with the work of making new streets, opening out crowded localities, reclaiming land from the sea to provide room for the expansion of the city, and to build hygienic homes for the less affluent. This necessitated a newer type of building, one that was urban, situated, as it were, close to the action of the throbbing organic metropolis.
Mid Century Modern residential architecture has common characteristics that help achieve goals of simplicity, modernity, and a connection to the natural world. Modernism is a philosophical movement that began in the late 19th century and ended in around 1945. It was the predecessor to Mid Century Modern design, which primarily dealt with graphic design, architecture, and furniture (more on this below). Pierre Koenig’s Schwartz House was built in 1994, relatively late in the career of the architect responsible for one of the most dramatic and influential of all Los Angeles residences, Case Study House no.22, from 1964. Three decades later, and Koenig showed he still had it with this impressive Santa Monica structure. The Schwartz House consists of a square steel frame containing a two-storey glass and steel cube, turned 30 degrees for the best views to the beach.
This essay is a compilation of rare archival records listing the architects and firms that played a crucial role in shaping the city through the Art Deco style, particularly from the 1930s to the 60s. It is a result of years of extensive research on the city and the people who built it, and lists some of their prominent works. The few decades after independence helped shape the physical form of the city of Bombay that we see today. The population was expanding, and the class differentiation was cruelly apparent in day-to-day life.
N. Dhar, who condemned the new fashion as being only another type set to copy from abroad, full of corrupt mannerisms and entirely un-national from an Indian point of view. This exchange demonstrates both the optimism and the scepticism of the times, and the free interaction of viewpoints that would help reinforce the changing ways of the city. Despite its oversized fame, it's a modest-sized house, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a 300-degree-plus view of the city of Los Angeles. Designed by Pierre Koenig in 1959 from a concept developed by the house's owner Buck Stahl, it's also called Case Study House #22. You can also take a regularly scheduled tour of the Schindler-designed Mackey Apartments which are nearby. Architect Richard Neutra's private residence in Silver Lake seemed radical at the time, a glass house with rooftop and balcony gardens.
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