Logical Reforms
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Resuscitation Rescue RevivalA moment in the city

Resuscitation Rescue Revival

    Research

    ‘River Mithi’, in Mumbai, India, originates from the overflow of Vihar Lake in the north. It flows for a total of 18 km before it meets the Arabian Sea to the south. Along its course, the river changes its width from 5m at the origination to 70m as it meets the sea. Like many rivers in rapidly industrializing countries, the River Mithi is so polluted with plastic debris and industrial and human waste, that piles of debris line the banks of the river, choking it off as a dying natural resource. The unsanctioned slums on the banks of the river face the most direct and dire consequences of the waste stream and eventually, all the waste ends up in the ocean. River Mithi is also one of the most polluted rivers in India. 

    Where ever river changes course, man-made attempts have been made to control it, like rip-rap, retaining walls, and bridges. These man-made ways have been added to make additional development land, but often at the cost of the surrounding communities and the river's ecology. 

    Bridges play an important role in connecting two sides of the river. This research analyzes these infrastructural, environmental, and human issues at five key points, each identified with an existing infrastructural bridge across the river. 

    Proposal for the Airport Site

    Engulfed by the walls of the Mumbai Airport, we not only see the impact of excessive trash dumping but also dramatic changes to the river's natural drainage patterns due to airport development and land acquisition efforts. The airport’s runway extend over the River Mithi, claiming the river as land for development and leaving little a small tunnel equivalent no space for the river to flow. Each monsoon season, the large sudden inflow of water under the airport runway floods the slum communities living near the banks of the river. Each year more than 2,000 homes and many more people are affected, with many deaths reported. One major disaster due to this development was the Mumbai flood of 2005. It was the time when city of Mumbai was rapidly urbanizing. Due to the retaining  walls of the airport, the rain water has no place to drain to, This is intensified along with the accumulation of plastic trash, almost normalized local municipal waste dumping even further.


    If we could understand the physical, environmental, social, and economic mechanisms of the river’s demise more holistically, we could develop architecture that builds off of existing river bridges to locate new site-specific civic infrastructure each addressing both the most pressing environmental need of the river at that point and the most critical one for the lives of those along its banks. 

    Starting by identifying the most immediate need of the community, a safety during monsoon. Almost like a boat coming to rescue, the structure is well connected to the community by building on the bridge with the ramps seeping towards the houses. Series of piers create a water front for the boats during emergies. Surrounded by fishing net on both sides of the structure is used to capture trash. 

    Scale model documenting the geological features of the River Mithi