A Well-researched Look at Mumbai’s Architecture By Prof. Dr. Avinash Kolhe explores the city’s remarkable architectural evolution, from vernacular homes to Gothic, Indo-Saracenic, Neo-Classical, and Art Deco, celebrating heritage, preservation, scholarship, illustrated storytelling for readers. 

About the Book: Published by the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) on 29 August 2026, Mumbai Architecture: A Guidebook by Dr. Mustansir Dalvi and Dr. Smita Dalvi is part of the CSMVS Digital Library of Mumbai’s Built Heritage Project, supported by Bank of America. Featuring evocative illustrations by Shah Faisal, the guide introduces readers to the city’s layered architectural history through accessible essays, diagrams, photographs, and glossaries, making it an invaluable companion for students, scholars, architects, and heritage enthusiasts. 

Mumbai: A City That Inspires Books

Aamchi Mumbai has always been a colorful city, commercial capital of the country and all that. Of late, it has been the center of books of various kinds. There are novels, cinemas, anthologies of short stories and poems… all centred on Mumbai.

In the year 1999, late Sharada Dwivedi and Rahul Mehrotra published Fort Walks: Around Bombay’s Fort Area. Now comes a new book on Mumbai’s architecture by Dr. Mustansir Dalvi and Dr. Smita Dalvi, distinguished professors of Architecture at the J J College of Architecture, Mumbai. It was published on 29 August 2026 by the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai, and has beautiful illustrations by Shah Faisal.

This is a project under the aegis of the CSMVS Digital Library of Mumbai’s Built Heritage Project, supported by Bank of America.

Reading Bombay as an Architectural Palimpsest

Though the Sahib arrived in Surat in the year 1608 and opened its factory there, it shifted its major activities to Mumbai in 1687. Since then, Mumbai witnessed tremendous economic growth. With this came new buildings and new institutions under the Raj. This was in addition to old buildings. This book is essential reading, a key to understanding the extraordinary city of Bombay as one of the world’s great architectural palimpsests.

This city’s architecture grew and adopted various styles, which are properly detailed in this book that focuses on the city’s major traditions: Domestic Vernacular, Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Indo-Saracenic, and Art Deco.

The most unique feature of this book is that it has a glossary after each chapter and not at the end of the book, as is the normal practice in research-based books. The Dalvi duo’s book is lavishly illustrated and written with clarity. Each chapter combines historical introductions, diagrams, photographs, and carefully defined terms, making this an indispensable guide for students, scholars, and all those Mumbaikars who love this fantabulous city.

The Fascination of Domestic Vernacular Architecture

What caught my attention and aroused my curiosity in the book is the chapter titled Domestic Vernacular architecture, which simply means Indian architecture. The migratory birds from Gujarat and Maharashtra not only brought with them their eating habits and lifestyle, they also brought the way buildings were built in their regions. They smartly adapted their original style and adjusted it to the space-starved city of Mumbai. Hence the name Domestic Vernacular.

Colonial Styles and the Future of Preservation

Through the chapters, the Dalvis have brilliantly traced the history of architecture in Mumbai. First, we have the Neo-Classical, then Neo-Gothic, the Indo-Saracenic—and then the Neo-Classical, which made a comeback. Here comes the importance of basic material in construction.

The colonial buildings used solid masonry, whereas our domestic builders used a great deal of timber. Dr. Mustansir Dalvi rues the fact that the Domestic Vernacular style has gone out of fashion. The remaining buildings need not only to be preserved but could also be adaptively reused. Or else, they will be gone for good. He mentions the redevelopment of Bhendi Bazar, where 200 buildings will be transformed into just 20.

All these thoughts and much more come to mind while leafing through the Dalvi Duo’s well-researched and beautifully printed book. Thanks a lot, CSMVS.