Robert Stephens’ book, ‘Bombay Imagined’, documents 200 unrealised urban visions

Architect and Mumbaikar Robert Stephens’ new book, Bombay Imagined, records unrealised plans for the city — from an underground railway to monsoon-regulating canals

Perhaps Bombay/Mumbai is the only city that is so obviously the product of circumstance rather than deliberation. That said, it is also the most reshaped. In its more than 300-year history as a rising littoral to mercantile to global city, there have been as many misses as there have been hits. Architect and civic historian Robert Stephens’ (37) compilation of the unrealised projects that could have shaped Mumbai, Bombay Imagined: An Illustrated History of the Unbuilt City, is the latest addition to the literature on the city’s development, and perhaps one of the most significant.

The American — one of the latest in a long, happy tradition, to come from outside the city (in 2006) and to make it his own — has rigorously and resourcefully prised out more than 200 imaginations of Mumbai from, in his words, “two dozen institutions on three continents”. These include reclamation plans, infrastructural overlays, monumental architecture, airports, and even more airports. All came to naught, but still tell us of the city, of the time they were proposed in, and allow us some wishful speculation. In doing this, the principal architect at RMA Architects has also brought to light some figures from its past who deserve a better place in the canons of historical personages that shaped Mumbai. Edited excerpts from an interview:

How do you assess the relevance of archiving the unbuilt in the historiography of a city’s development?

As a kid in school, I loved tug-of-war, despite the fact that our team almost always lost. I like to think of the city’s built environment as the byproduct of an urban tug-of-war. Traditionally, in the built history of most cities, one sees and hears about the victors. Those who were lucky enough to have their dreams translated into reality take the cake of historiography. But for every scheme that was built, there were one or two or three or a dozen alternate ideas challenging one another, each with unique and often relevant arguments for their existence. By rewinding and exploring the city through those seminal moments of struggle we glean insights into the very marrow from which our city’s form, perhaps one could even say her very soul, was crafted.

Once you got into the momentum of gathering stories of unrealised projects in Mumbai, how far did you have to cast your net to gather together this extensive archive?

After 15 years in the city, I am convinced that word of mouth is the best way to get anything done in Bombay. If you need a tailor, you ask a neighbour for a recommendation. If you need a good broker for finding an apartment, you ask a friend. The same principle proved to be true in archival research. If you need to discover those who imagined a transformed city, ask those you already know. For example, although I never met Charles Correa, I knew about his extensive work on the city, leading me to seek out as much material referencing him as I could find. In an interview in 1986, Correa unveiled Le Corbusier’s failed dream to design the Air India Tower at Nariman Point. He exclaimed:

‘[Le Corbusier] asked Mr. Tata, but Mr. Tata refused. He turned down the greatest architect of the century and instead employed a rotten third-rate firm from Chicago to design the building. Can you imagine if Corbusier, at the height of his power, had designed that building? … Ten or 20 other people driving down Marine Drive would have been inspired to create a building like that. It would have changed our city.’ Regardless of the century in which they lived and worked, Bombay’s creative residents have consistently loved to reference those whom they both admire and despise. Word of mouth, even from those whose voices have long been silent in the grave, proved to be the most fruitful form of research in creating the Bombay Imagined archive, a collection which draws material from nearly two dozen institutions on three continents.