Slide 1 - Under the Portuguese Rule, Bombay was an archipelago of seven

islands.

Slide 2 - Salsette and Bassein, two Portuguese urban centres, harboured the
bigger ships and major trade, while the seven southern islets of Bombay were
farms and fishing villages with marshes, mudflats, caves, temples and hills.
Land was parcelled out and rented to noblemen. The landowners-maintained
coconut groves on the islands and Salt pans thrived.

Slide 3 - A typical house in such villages consisted of a large multifunctional

living space, several small rooms, a tiny kitchen and a toilet. The veranda
outside the house became an important element and was used for storing
tools of fishing along the side. Small rooms were added to this house after
every marriage as the family grew. The houses are typically ground storied
with sloping tiled roofs and wooden columns.

Slide 4 - That Bombay ceded into the lap of the British through a dowry
arrangement with the Portuguese in 1661. As a means of defence against the
Marathas and the Dutch a 50 metres fort wall was constructed.

Slide 5 –
The city of Bombay grew through the conjuring up of land from the sea with
numerous reclamations over the course of 150 years. Hills were flattened,
Embankments causeways were built to link the seven islets separated by sea
and swamp in an attempt to join the seven islands.

Slide 6 –
Until the mid-nineteenth century, Mumbai meant essentially the Fort and
outside it were numerous villages like Mazagaon, Byculla, Mahim and
Matunga.
Slide 7 Outside the Fort walls was the ‘Black Town’ set amidst trees and rice
fields.

Slide 8 –
European style bungalows developed within the fort area and with the
beginning of Urbanity in Bombay Mercantile houses started developing in the
native regions. The houses were located on the rear end of the and on higher
floors with the lower floors generally reserved for shops and trade.

Slide 9 –
All this suddenly underwent a change with the pulling down of the wall in
1862-63 as trade flourished allowing for the continuous expansion of the city. 

Slide 10 –

Also With the establishment of the cotton mills and the railway lines,

Slide 11
The city continued to thrive while the population started increasing resulting in
the further expansion of the city.

Slide 12
All of the previously mentioned developments within the city are clearly
evident in the land use plan.

Slide 13
Sion, Mahim and Matunga became residential suburbs. Several industries were
established along with textile mills. Townships like Mulund were designed for
the working classes and industrialists.
Slide 14
With the influx of migrants, industrial areas started coming up with workers
housing chawls comprising of several one room units with individual kitchen
facilities and common toilets while the educated and the middle class started
occupying western style art deco apartments.

Slide 15
After capturing the islands of bombay, the Portuguese built several seas facing forts along the
coastline. The forts were decorated with carved stones, arches and barrel vaults.

The Asiatic Society of Mumbai Town Hall or Town Hall Mumbai is a Neoclassical building located in
the Fort locality of South Mumbai.

The Gothic style is expressive with architectural features including a range of European influences
such as German gables, Dutch roofs, Swiss timbering, arches and Tudor casements often inter-fused
with traditional Indian features. Arcades were used to shield shoppers and pedestrians from sun and
rain of Bombay.

The Indo-Saracenic style developed in the second half of the 19th century, combining Islamic and
Hindu architectural styles with its characteristic domes, arches, stained glasses, spires, and minarets.
The Gateway of India and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya are good examples of this
architectural style.

The Deco period began in 1910. Art deco's linear symmetry was a distinct departure from the
flowing asymmetrical organic curves of its predecessor style art nouveau and produced distinctly
angular shaped buildings with facades. The style is also extremely popular amongst various Cinema
halls that sprung up in the early to mid 20th Century.
It would be nearly two centuries from 1668 when Bombay Fort’s walls would
come down and allow for the continuous expansion of the city.