Rahul Mehrotra, Indian Architect and Founder Principal of architecture firm RMA Architects
Rahul Mehrotra is an Indian Architect and Founder Principal of architecture firm RMA Architects. He founded it in 1990 as Rahul Mehrotra Associate of Mumbai + Boston. He is the Professor of Urban Design and Planning and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He has been one of the activists behind the declaration of urban precincts as conservation areas in Mumbai. He is one of the founder members of the Kala Ghoda area rejuvenation movement, the restoration of the Oval Maidan and the formulation of several citizens’ associations in the historic Fort District in Mumbai.
He was also executive director of the Urban Design Research Institute during 1994 to 2004. where he is now a trustee. The UDRI is also actively involved in researching and influencing policy for the historic district, and the city more generally. He is also a founding board member of the Indian Institute for Human Settlement (IIHS).
Education
He studied at the School of Architecture (now CEPT university), Ahmedabad and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Urban Design with distinction from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard in 1987.
Projects
Mehrotra has designed projects that range from recycling urban land and master planning in Mumbai to the design of art spaces, boutiques, weekend houses, factories, social institutes and office. He built buildings across India – thereby engaging diverse issues, multiple constituencies and varying scales: from interior design and architecture to urban design, conservation and planning.
Apart from his engagement with the design of buildings, Mehrotra was actively involved in civic and urban affairs in Mumba. He served on commissions for historic preservation and environmental issues, with various neighborhood groups. He was the Executive Director of the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) during (1994–2004).
He is now a Trustee there and has taught at the University of Michigan during 2003 to 2007 and at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at MIT during 2007 to 2010).
Mehrotra has written and lectured extensively on issues to do with architecture, conservation and urban planning in Mumbai and India. His writings include co-authoring Bombay—The Cities Within.
It covers the city’s urban history from the 1600s to the present; Conserving an Image Center—The Fort Precinct in Bombay, which was a seminal study, and based on this study and its recommendations the historic Fort area in Mumbai was declared a conservation precinct in 1995—the first such designation in India. In 2000, he edited a book for the UIA that earmarks the end of the century and is titled The Architecture of the 20th Century in the South Asian Region.
Mehrotra has also edited the first of the three books that document the 2004 Michigan Debates on Urbanism, and in 2011 wrote Architecture in India – Since 1990, which is a reading of contemporary Indian architecture.
Some of his selected projects are…
- Hathigaon (Jaipur, Rajasthan)
- KMC Corporate Office (Hyderabad)
- Visitor Centre At Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (Mumbai)
- House In A Tea Garden (Conoor)
- Taj Mahal Visitor Centre (with Taj Mahal Conservation Collaborative) (Agra)
- Hewlett-Packard Software Campus (Bengaluru)
- LMW Corporate Headquarters (Coimbatore)
- Restoration Of The Chowmahalla Palace Complex (Hyderabad)
- Campus For Magic Bus (Panvel) etc.
Some of his published books are…
- “Taj Mahal: Multiple Narratives”, co-authored with Amita Baig and published by Om books International. 2017.
- “Architecture in India since 1990,” published by Pictor, Mumbai. 2011.
- “Bombay Deco”, co- authored with Sharada Dwivedi and published by Eminence Designs. 2008.
- “Banganga and Malabar Hill”, co –authored with Sharada Dwivedi, published by Eminence Designs, April 2006 (new and revised edition)
- “A City Icon – Victoria Terminus Bombay 1887(now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus 1996)” co- authored with Sharada Dwivedi and published by Eminence Designs. 2006.
- “Michigan Debates on Urbanism” vol 1: Everyday Urbanism, editor for volume, published by The University of Michigan, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architect + Urban Planning. 2005
- Conservation After Legislation – Issues and Ideas for Bombay” Co-edited with Abha Narain Lambah, published by the Urban Design Research Institute, Mumbai. 2004.
- “The Bombay High Court – The Story of the Building – 1878-2003” co-authored with Sharada Dwivedi, published by Eminence Design, Mumbai. 2003.
- “World Architecture A Critical Mosaic 1900-2000 – Volume VIII, South Asia”, Editor for book documenting canonical works of architecture of the century in South Asia, General editor Kenneth Frampton, published by the Architectural Society of China, Beijing and the Union of International Architects, Beijing. 2000 etc…
Exhibitions
- “The State of Architecture”: practices and processes in India. 6 January-20 March 2016. National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.
- “Kinetic City” Exhibition by RMA Research, British School at Rome, 5–26 February 2013.
- “Water – Curse or Blessing” exhibition featuring Hathigaon, Village for a hundred elephants, Aedes Gallery, Berlin, Germany, 9 September – 21 October 2011.
- “Working in Mumbai” an exhibition on the works of RMA architects, Wolk Gallery, MIT, Cambridge, USA. 2008.
- “Goa 2100” an exhibition on transforming Panjim City in Goa towards a sustainable future. Exhibition as part of Indian Team at the World Gas Conference, Tokyo, Japan. 2003.
- “The Works of Rahul Mehrotra at the Shanghai Biennale” Exhibition on Contemporary Art and Architecture – organized by the Contemporary Art Museum Shanghai, China. 2002.
- “Memories in Asbestos – an installation on interpretations of the Kalaghoda Art District in Bombay” Installation in collaboration with Mumbai artist Atul Dodiya, 1–14 February 2000, at Chemould Art Gallery, Mumbai.
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