There’s a movement starting out – slowly yet steadily building up, one city at a time. Invigorated with passion, people are resolved to reclaim their built environment, preserving the heritage that exists around them, conserving and restoring where need be.

Emerging as a counteraction to the highly stylised Art Nouveau movement, Art Deco brought a refreshing breath of air for the creative field. Starting out around 1920s in Paris, it expanded globally and landed in India through Mumbai (then Bombay) around 1930s. Since then, the movement diversified to edifices – from movie theatres to residences, offices etc., it touched every nook and corner of the city and changed it to a Deco treasure. So much so that today, Mumbai is believed to have the second-most Art Deco buildings in the world, after Miami.

Twenty-first century’s technological advancement uses the power of social media and through virtual collaborations. Taking the lead, many cities in India are driving social change – local history, architecture, art and conservation enthusiasts are initiating ways to bring the change they want to see around them. But what has been their motivation? What have their learnings been? And what is the way forward for them? We spoke to the founders of Art Deco chapters in India – Art Deco Calcutta, Art Deco Madras, Art Deco Kerala, Art Deco Hyderabad, Art Deco Mumbai and Art Deco Delhi.

I was inspired to document the city’s Art Deco heritage because I have always had a love for the aesthetic of art Deco. My old school, St Lawrence High School, at Ballygunge Circular Road, was designed in an Art Deco style; my own house had Deco elements. You could say I grew up with the surrounding aesthetic. I have always found it an elegant and optimistic design. The main motivation for document Calcutta’s Art Deco heritage came to me when I wanted to search for information on Art Deco on Calcutta, and trying to explore information on buildings like the Tower House at the Esplanade Square. When I found how little documentation was done on this, and how little interest and awareness there was about Art Deco in Calcutta, I started engaging people through social media to create more interest and awareness for Calcutta’s Art Deco heritage. When I got the news of Bombay’s Art Deco precinct, getting a UNESCO world heritage tag, it inspired me to step up my efforts. I started a wider social media engagement and increasing my own knowledge through research. I am presently making a map of Art Deco heritage buildings in Calcutta.

Art Deco Delhi: As an architecture student, I have always been driven to document and research my surroundings. For me, the lack of information on the local buildings, in contrast to the more famous names like The Imperial, Regal Cinema, Golcha, prompted me to start my documentation under ADD.

Art Deco Hyderabad: I’ve always been fond of walking for long hours. On my daily walks, I started noticing these similar-looking buildings, with bold curves and typical geometric patterns. When you look up Hyderabad’s architecture or architecture of Hyderabad on the internet, there’s almost little to no information on Art Deco. There wasn’t anyone documenting these buildings, and they were all vanishing, one by one. Something had to be done. I think this was the driving force for me to document them.

Art Deco Kerala: The key focus of this documentation is to shine the light on our Art Deco Heritage, which was never been acknowledged in the public sphere. At present we only see our vernacular architecture as heritage and not these local modernities such as Art Deco, due to that most of it are neglected and few (which I came across) are left in ruins.

Art Deco Mumbai: Through documentation, our aim is to highlight the diversity of Mumbai’s Deco in the context of building typologies, neighbourhoods, and the expression of the Art Deco style through various architectural features and elements. We also explore and document the cultural heritage of Deco neighbourhoods. Most importantly, our objective is to showcase the city’s Deco and raise awareness and appreciation towards this rich heritage.

Art Deco Madras: Documentation, to me, is an important part of the conservation/regeneration/preservation process. It helps you keep track of the building’s past and present, which informs the future of the built fabric. Another component of documentation are the intangible values. My vision for documentation of these unique buildings would be to record the family history, the stories and experiences of the family or the custodians, etc., in relation to the building. These stories and intangible aspects add more value to the built heritage itself.

courtesy -worldarch.org