Decoding Mumbai's Art Deco Dwellings (1930s-50s): Modernity, Hybridity, and Postcolonial Identities in late-colonial Architecture of Mumbai

殖民后期的孟买建筑是强烈的社会文化变革的积极支持者，在形成殖民空间关系、反映和/或争论现代性及其合理性、包括/排除群体和赋予身份方面发挥了关键作用。从殖民帝国主义到后殖民现代主义，孟买的建筑是如何体现这些转变的？面对殖民霸权，建筑如何促进印度人的自决和去殖民化？建筑如何反映现代性、民族认同、权力转移和进步的概念？该项目广泛研究了这些概念如何在孟买的建筑环境中形成/重新形成，后来关注印度建筑师和孟买改善信托公司在孟买郊区社区的低层中产阶级（装饰艺术风格）住宅，旨在创造一个非殖民化的“混合”叙事，以反对帝国的“孟买城市历史”。这项研究将调查孟买的装饰艺术建筑是如何被印度代理人塑造的，以应对殖民后期各种政治、社会和民族主义的需求。专注于1930-47年间由英国训练的印度建筑师和BIT建造的装饰艺术住宅，该研究旨在创建“本土现代性”的批判性历史，将建筑的材料、工艺、设计和赞助与更广泛的社会经济政治问题联系起来。因此，本研究提出以下研究问题：1。在殖民后期的孟买，建筑的生产是否强化/挑战了自我、进步和民族认同的概念？国际装饰艺术是如何被政策、赞助人、BIT和建筑师所利用，以适应城市的需求，并创造一个“混合空间”的？孟买的装饰艺术建筑可以被解释为挪用、现代性和后殖民赋权的表现吗？为了回答这些问题，定性研究策略计划在不同的阶段。第一阶段将包括对“建筑生产与政治、身份和现代性”的学术审查，以及以建筑为重点的后殖民批评。这些将结合起来形成关键主题，将理解孟买建筑的适应和转型，从而形成孟买政策制定者、建筑师和当地社区使用的策略和工具的解释框架。第二阶段涉及解释性历史研究，以创造一种叙事。来源包括政府出版物，如牌匾报告，BIT报告和其他从大英图书馆，SOAS图书馆和马哈拉施特拉邦档案馆获得的印度办公室记录；殖民文学，如军官记述、当地记述、传记、游记、家族史；以及非官方出版物，如英国皇家建筑师协会期刊和建筑手册。第三阶段将是一个案例研究，将进行混合建筑的研究。将从孟买的一个社区中选取5-7个案例研究，以收集建筑设计（平面、剖面、立面）、形式、元素和图像的异同。数据收集方式包括文献分析、档案研究、实地考察、利益相关者访谈、测量图、素描和照片记录。获得的数据将在“孟买装饰”属性矩阵中进行评估，以创建案例研究目录。最后一个阶段包括结合从前几个阶段获得的数据来创建对社会实践、感知和空间使用的解释。这将最终导致孟买装饰艺术后殖民转型的完整图景。这项研究被设想为增加20世纪建筑史，印度现代建筑和装饰艺术。建在阿基特的十字路口

Mumbai's Architecture in the late-colonial period was an active proponent of intense socio-cultural changes by playing a crucial role in forming colonial spatial relations, reflecting and/or contesting modernities and their rationalities, including/excluding groups and empowering identities. Shifting from colonial Imperialism to postcolonial modernism, how did Mumbai's Architecture represent these transformations? How did architecture promote Indians' self-determination and decolonization in the face of colonial hegemony? How did buildings reflect the notions of modernity, national identity, shifting power, and progress? Broadly examining how these notions were shaped/re-shaped in Mumbai's built-environment and later focusing on Indian architects and Bombay Improvement Trust's low-rise middle-class (Art Deco-styled) housing in suburban Mumbai neighbourhood, the project aims to create a decolonial 'hybrid' narrative in opposition to the imperial 'urban history of Bombay'. The research would investigate how Mumbai's Art Deco Architecture was shaped by Indian agents to respond to various political, social, and nationalistic demands during the late-colonial period. Focusing on Art Deco dwellings built between 1930-47 by UK-trained Indian architects and BIT, the research aims to create critical historiography of 'indigenous modernity', which connects the materials, process, design and patronage of buildings with broader socio-economic-political issues. Hence, the research posits the following research questions: 1. Does the production of architecture in the late-colonial Mumbai reinforces/challenges the notions of self, progress, and national identity?2. How was international Art Deco appropriated by policies, patrons, BIT, and architects to fit the city's needs and create a 'hybrid space'?3. Can Mumbai's Art Deco Architecture be interpreted as a manifestation of Appropriation, Modernity, and Post-colonial Empowerment? In order to answer the questions, a qualitative research strategy is planned in distinct phases. The first phase will involve a scholarship review on 'Architectural production and politics, identity, and modernity' and post-colonial critiques focusing on architecture. These will be combined to form critical themes that will comprehend the adaptation and transformation of Bombay Architecture, resulting in an interpretative framework of strategies and tools used by Mumbai's policy-makers, architects and the local community. The second phase involves interpretative-historical research to create a narrative. Sources include government publications like Plaque Reports, BIT Reports and others obtained from India Office Records at the British Library, SOAS Library, and Maharashtra State Archives; colonial literature like Officers' accounts, native accounts, biographies, travelogues, family histories; and Non-official publication like RIBA Journals, and Construction Manuals. The third phase would be a case study research that will be undertaken to study buildings as hybrid architecture. 5-7 case studies will be taken from a single Mumbai neighbourhood to gather similarities/dissimilarities in the building's design (plan, sections, elevations), form, elements and iconography. Data collection modes include document analysis, archival research, fieldwork observations, stakeholder interviews, measured drawings, sketching and photo-documentation. The data obtained will be assessed in a matrix of 'Bombay Deco' attributes to create a catalogue of the case studies. The final phase involves combining the data obtained from previous phases to create an interpretation of social practices, perception and use of space. This will eventually lead to a complete picture of Post-colonial transformation in Mumbai's Art Deco concluding the research. The research is envisioned to add to the histories of 20th-century Architecture, Indian Modern Architecture, and Art Deco. Built on the intersection of Archit