Environmental Thresholds

This course worked with the ideas of natural processes and systems, their flows, cycles and interdependencies. The environment as we experience it is a set of interconnected networks which balance each other to maintain the rhythmic flows. The current building practices have resulted in new spatial priorities which largely ignore their consequences on the environment. This causes disruption to the very interconnectedness of all life forms and natural systems. This course investigated and explored design possibilities that negotiate bio-social relationships on an ecologically sensitive terrain.

Design Concept

The site has a context of settlements, old rundown factories and the rich ecology of the wetlands. Studying the context gave rise to certain questions and thoughts. One of the major ideas through which I initially started thinking was that how would the existence of this conservatory affect its context? A parallel thought was about inverting this gaze of me looking at the people in the settlements as people who were to be taught and trained in order to take care of the wetlands. I realized that we need to acknowledge the fact that these people have been a part of that landscape for generations and have witnessed various shift over the centuries, they could have knowledge that they might impart to us instead. Thinking through these ideas, I tried to think of meaningful ways to engage the local community on a regural basis. Thinking about this spatially, I came across the idea of the street becoming a part of the landscape which will run throughout the design and hold it together, as currently both the sides of the site which are besides the streets are approximately 10m high, which disconnects the base of the site from the street level completely. One major observation was that the Sewri train station does not have a market place like most of the other stations do and when I checked, the nearest market was a bit far for the people in the community. Given this, I thought maybe the street as a part of the design could afford a market place and hence be the additional program of the design. With a market as a program, it will allow for chance interactions and encounters (as you had mentioned) between the people of the settlements and the other people. This would involve the community on a regular basis and their engagement wouldn't be forced or deliberate.