TA: Milap SalotSpeculating the Past: Designing alternative futures through building adaptation
The dominant pursuit of architecture is to build new and different, adaptation then, in contemporary conditions, is a subversive practice. Adaptive reuse constitutes a transformative potential not only for architecture but also social and economic revitalisation of communities that it situates itself within. The studio focuses on building adaptation to develop speculative design studies through change in function, type and produce narratives on future scenarios and societal conditions. The course would be underpinned by the discourse and theoretical perspectives on adaptation and further clarify new approaches that not only challenge the binary approaches historically assumed to preserve buildings but also reimagine futures specific to the place. Through questioning current ecological and social systems, the aim is to investigate new architectural possibilities. The process is informed by critical thinking to generate architectural innovation. The possible sites are the Watson’s hotel, Mumbai or the industrial infrastructure of the Mumbai Port.
