TA: Ayushi GoyalPublic Space Design, the Ecological Approach
In this studio, we design a public open space through an ecological process. Rapid peripheral urban growth in context of concurrent climate change has decreased resiliency of our cities and exposed them to adverse impacts like urban floods and increased temperatures. Public spaces, if designed in an ecological manner, are potent urban places that can play key role in mitigating these challenges. In this studio, we design one public space to be in harmony with its natural and urban environment by employing ecological drivers to inform design decisions. Here, people and their activities are considered as part of urban ecosystem and not out of it and hence, the design will integrate social programs with ecological functions.
Urban designers, also, perform within existing planning frameworks and larger city networks. Hence, studio addresses process of Development Plan &Town Planning scheme and stakes-interests guiding urban designers. We embed ecological intentions within an existing TP scheme in a peripheral lake in Ahmedabad. Students learn an explorative, research-oriented design process embedded in programmatic and project execution requirements of a functioning public urban space in India.
