Working in Mumbai is a critical reflection on thirty years of the practice of RMA Architects. Rahul Mehrotra weaves a narrative to connect his multiple engagements in architectural practice, including teaching, research, documenting, writing and exhibiting since the establishment of the practice in 1990. The book is structured around the subjects of interior architecture, critical conservation, and work and living spaces that straddle the binaries of the global and the local as well as the rural and the urban. While the book is a portfolio of the selected works of RMA Architects, the projects are curated so as to unravel and clarify the challenges faced by architects in India and in several parts of the “majority” world where issues related to rapid urbanization and the impacts of global capital are among the many that dispute conventional models of practice. Working in Mumbai is used emblematically to interrogate the notion of context and understand how the practice evolved through its association with the city of Bombay/Mumbai.
The design of the book seeks to avoid the repetitive regularity of conventional architectural publications and uses a spatial analogue that presents multiple readings and appreciations for the various forms, materials, and ideas embedde within the work. Spreads transition from one to next, linking one project to another, while distinct sections set apart and organize the work. The soft paper finish reduces glare while also working to level the quality of reproductions over 30 years of work, while interludes and vignette help capture the spirit of the practitioners and their various collaborators. The hardcover includes a copper foil emboss and metallic PMS overprint on a full color photograph of recent built work while contrasting green endpapers serve to transition in and out of the book.
Design Staff: Christian Unverzagt, Genevieve Doman
Client: Rahul Mehotra/RMA Architects, Boston/Mumbai
Dimensions: 11.5″ x 10″, 352 pages, hardbound
Published by ArchiTangle, Berlin
Printed in Germany