For many in Mumbai, Rahul Mehrotra first erupted into the city’s imagination in 1995 as the co-author with Sharada Dwivedi of Bombay: The C...
For many in Mumbai, Rahul Mehrotra first erupted into the city’s imagination in 1995 as the co-author with Sharada Dwivedi of Bombay: The Cities Within. The painstakingly researched, lavishly illustrated volume traced the evolution of a cluster of malarial islands in the 16th century into the teeming metropolis that came to be known as the Gateway of India.
The pioneering book played a significant part in helping Mumbaikars to develop an appreciation for their past and in persuading them to try to preserve this rich heritage for future generations.
But research and writing, as they were to learn, were only two of the many roles in which Mehrotra is engaged. As the founder principal of RMA Architects, he has designed several familiar spaces in Mumbai and beyond: the popular Swati Snacks restaurant, the Visitors’ Centre at the city’s largest museum, community toilets for the NGO SPARC, art galleries, private homes, institutional buildings and corporate offices across the country.
He has participated passionately in civic affairs, framing plans for conserving historic precincts and serving on official commissions relating to preserving urban heritage. He has shared his ideas at scores of lectures and landmark exhibitions, such as one in 2016 in Mumbai’s National Gallery of Modern Art titled...
