Excerpt: ‘Eternal Wastescapes And Garbage Cultures’ is an urban landscape design thesis by Gouri Ravikumar from the Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni – AUIC, that seeks to acknowledge the impoverished rag-picking slum community that lives next to the Deonar landfill, which is over 123 years old. The goal is to improve living conditions, address environmental issues, and restore dignity to these communities by encouraging self-building initiatives.
A Proposal for Spatial Justice: Recognizing and rebuilding the trash township of the Deonar landfill in Mumbai
Introduction: Waste flows from densely populated cities to vast wastelands. With cities expanding and becoming denser, it is necessary to reevaluate the current linear, unsustainable waste processing system. Mumbai, often referred to as the “city of dreams,” is one such Indian city. The Deonar dumping grounds are a vast collection of the city’s remnants, a sombre reflection of it. Slum communities provide a public service at great personal risk by scavenging the unsegregated waste, taking 30% of the waste away.
Despite bearing the brunt of the city’s waste, the workers from Deonar are viewed as outsiders and are thus rendered invisible. This proposal seeks to acknowledge and give voice to the impoverished rag-picking community that lives next to a landfill that is over 123 years old. The goal is to improve living conditions, address environmental issues, and restore dignity to these communities by encouraging self-building through effective waste recycling, using locally sourced materials, and putting green-and-blue infrastructure into place.
The Deonar dumping ground is situated in an eastern suburb close to the Thane Creek in Mumbai, India, and spans 132 hectares (326 acres). A literal mountain of trash has grown out of the landfill. It receives roughly one-third of the city’s waste each day—more than 3,700 metric tonnes or 8.1 million pounds—of trash.
Site Context and Surroundings (Source: Google Earth)Site ImagesEvolution of Site
The trash mounds are as tall as a nine-story building, reaching up to 30 metres (100 feet) in the air. One of the biggest slums in India is the Deonar slum, which is directly next to this landfill. The Thane Creek borders the dump yard on one side, and a large slum settlement borders it on the other.
Site AnalysisSite AnalysisSite Analysis
The 1,260,000 square metre site has poor infrastructure and is completely devoid of state services. The informal settlers, who are mostly recent immigrants, reside close to the landfill. These people are either temporary labourers, small business owners, or skilled workers.
SWOT AnalysisSite Visualization
Women and children either work as rag pickers or are involved in the resale of sorted garbage to support themselves off of the landfill. The area has a dense, intricate labyrinth feel to it because the houses are much smaller and divided by crowded, narrow lanes. The only open space is the garbage dump.
Design Process
Six Important Factors Considered for the Design FrameworkDesign Strategies
The proposal preserves the majority of the pre-existing old formal settlement’s footprint, creating a network of paths that are still frequently used by both locals and other users. It also involves creating a brand-new, intricate network of blue-and-green infrastructure.
This well-articulated green and blue infrastructure addresses the following issues:
1- the hazards associated with the actual sanitary issues, such as the lack of restrooms, a nonexistent sewage system, and a very poor supply of potable water;
2- the hazards associated with the monsoon-related floods that occur frequently;
Design StrategiesLandscaping Strategies
3- the potential threat that the landfill’s water pollution poses;
4- the opportunity for improved use, growing and expanding the nearby vegetation for various reasons: to offer some protection from the dumping and waste processing activities; to enhance public areas for various social events (school, gatherings, religious festivals) that the communities regularly celebrate.
Final Outcome
Site PlanCluster PlanAxonometric View of a Cluster
The new Deonar township community is built by residents and local NGOs with limited help from the municipality or government.
A] HOUSING UNITS:
Program Possibilities: The housing form is contained within a 40 sqm parcel allotted for each family, contingent on the number of family members, by arranging indoor and outdoor spaces within a 3-floor height limitation. The spaces in each of the houses are multipurpose and each floor can be thought of as a separate unit for a family.
Cluster Floor PlanCluster SectionHousing Units
Housing modules with single-story to triple-story designs are made based on the size of the family. A single room and kitchen make up the single-story housing unit, while two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen are included in the double-story terrace unit. The three-story apartments range from three to four bedrooms with bathrooms, kitchen and terraces.
Material Palette
Design Function and Material Application: This modular housing is created with the enormous volumes of waste that are dumped at the landfill in mind, using them as building materials. In order to maximise energy efficiency, it is also important to provide suitable natural ventilation and shading. The materials used, which include reclaimed bricks and stones from construction waste, recycled or upcycled textiles, glass, and plastic materials, are either readily available locally or were obtained from a landfill. Affordable, lightweight, and flexible, the metal frame is used as a roof truss, ideal for self-help construction.
Housing Unit – Exploded View and Community Hub – Exploded View
B] COMMUNITY HUBS:
Program Possibilities: The shared facilities can serve a variety of purposes, including workspace (recycling and upcycling centres, co-design lab), non-governmental organisations, assistance centres, community schools, daycare centres, medical clinics, and communal restrooms.
Community Hubs
Design Function and Material Application: Similar to the housing units, this modular structure was also created with the massive amounts of waste dumped at the dumping ground in mind to use them as building materials. Providing suitable natural ventilation and shading is also a goal to maximise energy efficiency.
Details
Maintaining the housing units’ material palette, the materials—reclaimed stones from construction waste and recycled/upcycled textiles—are either locally sourced or obtained from the landfill. Due to their affordability, light weight, and flexibility, roof trusses are constructed using a similar metal frame design.
Landscape Zoom – In and Landscape – Plant PaletteWater Cycle Concept DiagramWater Cycle Concept Diagram
Conclusion: The project addresses and gives voice to the impoverished rag-picking slum community that lives next to the landfill, which is over 123 years old. The thesis accomplishes its objectives of improving living conditions, addressing environmental issues, and restoring dignity to these communities through effective waste recycling and self-building initiatives.
[This Academic Project has been published with text submitted by the student]
Site Context
Design Process
Final Outcome
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