BRIDGING LEVELS

SITE OBSERVATION

The site that we were working with consisted of 2 bridges running parallely with dahisar river flowing between the two.  Along the road next to the west bank of the river, were mostly garages, hardware stores, glass makers and occupation related spaces like parking spaces for busses/rickshaws. This led to the site and its surrounding having the movement of  workers at all times.

as we were exploring our possibilities while choosing our flows, we noticed that even though there was more buzz of the workers than any other kind of people that occupy the space, there were barely any intentional programmes present for them.

further, we conversed with the different kinds of workers around the area and got to learn about their daily routine and how it interacts with the site. we then proceeded to make annotative drawings that describe these routines .

FINAL DESIGN

it starts with a set of decks that are connected with a flight of stairs at each level. to the left of the flight of stairs leading to the first deck is a stone wall creating a sense of enclosure. the first deck is a compact one with a small roof on the left. the stairs then lead to the second deck which is a long L shaped elongated one with bushes on the left that fill up the space between the two decks. the narrow deck then connects to a more rectangular one which is closer to the water level. as this deck is at a level below the last one, it allows people to experience the creek more personally. this deck also has a roof seating spaces made up of different sizes of rocks. the next deck is square shaped and has a delicate seating made from bamboo on one of its edge. the deck has two bridges connected to it. the bridge closer to the creek is a ramp, which leads to a small deck and a tidal pool, the tidal pool is of a rather organic shape and is made from rocks of varied shapes and sizes.the maximum height of the pool wall is 1m. to the left of the pool are some stairs that are made for sitting along the edge of the river. the rocks that are used for the tidal pool are are extended by the bridge along the edge of the river.  the bridge that is closer to the road on the left has a slight ramp sloping upwards in the beginning and then is at a single level. both bridges are made of wood and have wooden railings that appear to be floating. the main intend of the  bridges was to  create an experience of walking along the river edge on different levels. this bridge leads to a shop that has entry both from the road side and from the bridge aswell. the shop is a 3x2 metres mobile structure which attaches directly to the bridge. the shop acts like a gathering space on the road side which when when we exit from the other side leads to the bridge. the next programme is one which interacts with the rain, the roof of this rectangular structure is made of tin which will create a certain sound  as the rain hits its surface.this rain is then collected by the gutters on the side of the roof and once the gutters are filled,the water flows down from the side giving the person inside the space the feeling of being inside a waterfall. the  design of this programme is also accessible from both the road and the bridge as it meets the level of the road. the side facing the river from where the water falls has glass railings that give a sense of openness to the space. the next programme is a set of U shaped decks that are at two different levels, these decks are connected by stairs. the spaces between the two deck is completely filled with bushes and trees. while the first deck can be directly accessed from the previous programme or the road itself, the second can be only accessed through the stairs attached to the first one. both decks have rocks of various sizes that are kept on each of their sides that continue the language that the design tries to convey throughout the spread.