At the age of nine, Kamu Iyer moved to Gold Finch, a building in Dadar Parsi Colony. His new home, designed by eminent architect GB Mhatre, was a modern style building with Art Deco architectural details. The flat, which was large, airy, well-lit, and had a cantilevered verandah, appealed to the young boy. On rainy days, he could play catch-and-cook with his friends circling through the rooms via the inter-connecting doors. And the balcony soon became his favourite haunt. "This house is probably one of the reasons why I took up architecture," says Iyer. "It was so different from other homes."
In his new book, Boombay: From Precincts to Sprawl, Iyer uses his innate sense of aesthetics - which allowed him to appreciate Gold Finch's design even as a boy - to describe architectural features associated with the city's most iconic buildings and precincts. In his foreword, architect Charles Correa captures perfectly how this work is different from other coffee-table books serving up Bombay nostalgia. Not only does Iyer describe these features but he also explains "just why in those days, our city looked the way it did," writes Correa. "He is observant, analytical, visual. He understands how people use spaces - especially public spaces. And he has a sense of history."
Based on the author's own observations as a student, professional architect and teacher, the book traces changes in the city's built form from the 1940s onwards. Before RCC-framed buildings became the norm, writes Iyer, balconies were made of wood and so the carpenter "played the lead role in construction". But later, concrete verandahs replaced wooden ones and the mason replaced the carpenter.
In a chapter on the Bombay Improvement Trust - set up after the 1896 plague with a mandate to develop new, planned neighbourhoods - Iyer explains the all-important "63.5 degree light angle rule". This regulation, which determined the distance between a building and its boundary wall, aimed to prevent epidemics by improving light and ventilation. In fact, Phirozshah Mehta Road in Fort - built by demolishing the "native" population's homes and businesses - is a by-product of the same goal.
The book also deals with more contemporary issues like the redevelopment of the mill lands and slum colonies. In a recent design for a part of Dharavi Koliwada, Iyer shows how the rear setbacks could be grouped together to create a courtyard for community use. A similar design technique is used in Ballard Estate, which has low buildings and amalgamated open spaces.
Urban planning for the underprivileged is not a new concept though it is rarely implemented. As far back as 1945, architect Claude Batley suggested roofing over roundabouts and creating street arcades so pavement dwellers could sleep below them in the monsoon. Similarly, in 1968, Correa suggested modifying sidewalks to accommodate both hawkers and pavement dwellers. Iyer, who was a teacher till about four years ago at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture, says the current crop of students is even more idealistic. "They are very conscious of the fact that the buildings that they are designing are part of a larger urban set up," says Iyer. "They are sensitive to low-income groups and concerned about the environment."
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