Embedded Files
Provocations
SITE
The site is located in Sewri, at the eastern edge of Mumbai’s waterfront. Historically, it served as a wharf where the ships would dock and kerosene was stored. What one could gather from readings and satellite imagery was that it was a barren basalt rock boulder lying beside the trans harbour construction zone.
But the notion of the ‘site’ being a clear ground completely shifted on the first visit of the place. The rock was permeable enough to be entirely covered with layers of dried twigs and shrubs. One could barely identify an empty patch of rock while walking over the undulated ground amidst trees. It had a series of stable regions which became vantage points to the seaward side. I stood there for quite a while and the sight of a mangrove at far meant harmony. With the tides, its roots submerged and appeared creating moist and dry surfaces. The line between ground and water didn't really exist here. The threshold was so subtle – it almost felt that the slope gradually disappeared and softened to hold the wetness.
Analysis
Basalt Boulder
Mangrove
Ecotone-Flamingos Feeding
Intent
Inferences from the site such as the permeability of ground, vantage surfaces, constant transition with ingress and egress of wetness led me to the thought that space is a moment in time and this temporality is rooted in varying experiences of the inhabitant while navigating through the built form. The intent is to explore spatial possibilities of treading closer to the threshold and engaging with its ecology rather than shying away from it.
Thus, initial conceptualisation of the building was such that it would be nestled between trees, cascading along the terrain to become a humble mass as it reaches the sea.
Massing
Cascading Volumes
The idea of temporality was manifested by forming levels that constantly change what one perceives at the eye level .
Section along N-S axis
Section along E-W axis
It then developed into a partly temporal and partly permanent structure that opens up to the courtyard which retreats itself to bring in the experience of rain.
Frame 1: Complete Massing
Frame2: The Temporal Disappears
The Dismantle
Articulating the idea of temporal led to the development of a system wherein the deck itself shifts and builds to evoke varying experiences-of the ground and its wetness, of being within a built environment
Design
Entrance to the wetland conservatory is from underneath the structure, leading to the entrance lobby which is a 6m wide linear walkway with courtyards on both sides to retain the experience of walking amidst the trees.
It then opens up to a central space and further to a 3m wide central spine to access public spaces like gathering space and education centre on the west. Here, the balcony and overlooking space provide a recess to the internal spaces which spill out to the corridor facing north.
The spine staggers to access private spaces like admin, labs and lastly unveil the view of the sea in a double height volume that frames the ecotone where the inhabitant is a miniscule entity gazing at the threshold. Moreover, the building progresses from a partly submerged to grounded and then a stilted structure along the ridge of the sloping terrain.
Section B-B'
The journey along this spine melds with a ramp entering an outdoor wetland observatory which is a set of RCC plinths stepping down at intervals such that parts of the space would be moist and dry with tidal action. The intent was to subtle the threshold with lighter and porous mass on the seaward side almost as if the built form gradually lowers down to let the wetness be a part of it.
Part Section-Outdoor Wetland Observatory
2.5m wide corridors branch out from the spine to segregate private and public spaces. The library is a part deck that lowers down to reach closer to the ground yet doesn't touch it directly since it is supported by timber posts that notch onto raised RCC slab.
Similarly, a deck in the gathering area divides the large volume into smaller spaces.
These lowering decks can be dismantled to move along the vertical axis and align with the floor level forming a continuous space.
Section C-C'
Cafeteria and admin serve as spill outs to the terrain with stone steps on the undulation so that one can meander and engage with the ecology of the ground while being beneath the structure. Also, stilts at the peak let monsoonal water to pass through the pavilion like space creating moist surfaces at this edge to merge with the environment while adjacent raised dry surfaces provide for accommodating programmes of dining and office respectively.
Section D-D'
As one travels upwards, the mezzanine opens up to a viewing deck which overlooks the sprawl of the entire structure
The gradient indicates roofs which slowly cascade towards the sea to become humble forms for inhabitation .It also creates vantage decks at varying levels for bird watching.
Aerial View
Beneath the Stilts-Monsoonal Water flowing through the Building
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