Mumbai: Sign of the times

Apoorva Iyengar maps the position on the gate of Art Deco building Parijat at Marine Drive where the UNESCO World Heritage Site plaque will be installed. Pics/Shadab Khan

"You need patience to drive a project of immense scale, diversity and one that involves both public and private owners," Atul Kumar, founder trustee, Art Deco Mumbai (ADMT), admits while taking us across Fort, Churchgate and Marine Drive for a look at the ongoing heritage awareness initiative helmed by FORT (Federation of Residents' Trust). This citizen-backed collective of stakeholders gifted Mumbai its third UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in July 2018 that comprises the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles.

Close to 110 installations, using 13 different signage and mounting types, have been executed as part of the Signage Management Plan, with the support of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee. You can spot the signs across residential buildings and familiar public structures in the heritage precinct. It is one thing to earn the inscription but another to continue to preserve it; in this case, this covers all 92 buildings that make up these two Ensembles.

Atul Kumar at the Marine Drive wayfinder map. Pedestrians use it to orient themselves, and identify Art Deco buildings through the floor elevation plaques

We reach the pathway that splits Oval Maidan into half. Kumar and Apoorva Iyengar, associate director, FORT, point towards the floorboard that displays etchings of each maidan-facing Art Deco building. "Thousands navigate this historic WHS area daily. Forming an effective interpretation plan using signage was important since it involves public responsibility and ownership," Kumar asserts, adding that inappropriate signage can have the reverse effect, diminishing the aesthetic significance and historic character of a precinct. Anuradha Parmar, fellow investor in this initiative, and executive director of Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI), Kumar says, said this was the right way to highlight heritage instead of installing garish lights, for instance. UNESCO strongly recommends that the inscribed property has visible and appropriate signage.

Our next halt is the Marine Drive promenade. Kumar points to the pedestrians who stop and read the etchings on the floorboard. "Mumbai is a busy city so it is gratifying to see the curious pause and read the inscription signage. Some stakeholders and authorities [CSMVS, High Court of Bombay, University of Mumbai, and Institute of Science] were particularly keen, and recognised the importance of the signage on their premises. In fact, some of their own staff weren't aware of historical facts. Stopping to read the signage meant they went away a little prouder of their city."

Floorboard inscriptions are installed at both entrances to Oval Maidan. The logos and text on the plaques are UNESCO-approved and made in English and Hindi/Marathi

Kumar credits the 3D model display of South Mumbai's heritage neighbourhoods now stationed at CSMVS, as a useful tool to orient visitors and citizens. An hour earlier, we had flagged off our trail at this magnificent mini version of SoBo. "It took us a year and two months to fashion it," she shares, belying the hard work and precision to craft it, block-by-block.

CSMVS was the first landmark among the WHS Ensembles to install the signage. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, its director general, says, "It's important to learn more about the past, our present and our collective future to stimulate new ideas that benefit the world and create awareness among coming generations."

The model at CSMVS is 1.3m x 0.6m in size and 3D- printed with fused deposition modelling using thermoplastic filaments. It took four months to create the models on the software, eight months to print and finish, and two months to create the display box. Pic Courtesy/UDRI Archives

Parijat, a residential building near the Marine Lines flyover is our last halt. This is where FORT is readying to install the next signage. Iyengar positions the shiny steel inscription against the gate's façade. The CSR arms of corporates giants, like the RPG Foundation, have ensured that funds don't run out. "It [the project] is testimony to the enduring philanthropy that Mumbai has enjoyed," Kumar signs off.