A recent presentation in the city on the Art Deco heritage of Mumbai and the efforts that are on to get these buildings preserved should generate some discussion on the future of such buildings in Chennai. However, in the absence of any Act that can protect the city’s built heritage, it is doubtful if Chennai, which has some masterpieces of art deco architecture, can do anything to preserve them.

An art deco classic in Chennai, the Connemara main block built between 1934 and 1937. – (Courtesy: S. Anvar.)

Mumbai, which saw the Back Bay Reclamation taking place in the first years of the 20th Century, adapted the Art Deco style for all its buildings on the new land. Today, the Oval Maidan divides the entire area into two distinct styles: one, the Bombay Gothic, and the other, the Art Deco. Architects and conservationists are now negotiating with the Government to declare the region a heritage zone and there is also a move to get the space declared a World Heritage Site. This will mean protection from demolition, a complete ban on altering the skyline, transfer of development rights being given to owners who will be monetarily affected and, finally, regulations on all alterations and structural changes. With Mumbai being the first city in India to have Heritage Regulations in place, these regulations having come into effect in 1995, the new moves are likely to succeed. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Chennai where there is no law that protects heritage buildings, leave alone skylines.

Art Deco, a popular international design movement that flourished between the 1920s and 1940s, was adapted by cities such as Bombay and Madras almost immediately. While Chennai may not have had a uniform art deco skyline like the way Mumbai does, it certainly has significant pockets that are clearly completely art deco. A long stretch along NSC Bose Road beginning from EID Parry and a similar stretch along the Esplanade used to have several examples of public buildings in the art deco style. Yet another instance is along the stretch of Poonamallee High Road between Central and Egmore Stations. Similarly there are many areas in South Chennai with bungalows designed in similar fashion. Even town houses have Art Deco ornamentation on them. After the Indo-Saracenic, the Art Deco was the next great design movement to impact Chennai’s skyline and it made way for the International and Modern styles. This was also the case in Bombay which was earlier a city with the Gothic style dominating it. Interestingly, just as Bombay developed an intermediary style that combined both the Gothic and Art Deco, so too did Chennai with a combination of Indo-Saracenic and Art Deco in the University ­Examination Hall, the Hindu High School and Kingston House (Seetha Kingston School). But all these are rapidly changing with many buildings ­either being defaced by modern ornamentation or being ­completely demolished to make way for new constructions. An example is the Oceanic ­Hotel which was classic Art Deco and which has since been razed to the ground for an IT Park. The ­language department of the ­Madras University is ­another.

At this point in time, the general opinion is that the future of Art Deco buildings in Chennai is even bleaker than that of Indo-Saracenic structures. The latter are massive public structures that cannot be done away with so easily, while the former are largely in the private domain. Their rate of disappearance is very fast indeed. Unless something is done quickly to establish a Heritage Act in the city, these examples of the Art Deco style will vanish forever from our city.