Between Ruin and Revitalization

Amid Raj Rewal’s modernist enclave stands an abandoned commercial relic, now reimagined through adaptive reuse. This project unfolds in two phases: first as hostel housing for airport engineers, then as permanent apartments integrated into the neighborhood. Embracing Shannon Mattern’s call for Maintenance and Care and Jorge Otero-Pailos’ Experimental Preservation, it rejects erasure in favor of stewardship, flexibility, and layered histories. Prioritizing minimal interventions, reuse of materials, and maintenance-friendly systems, the design fosters ecological sensitivity, social integration, and future adaptability. Architecture here is not a finished product but a living process—sustaining life, memory, and community across shifting urban needs.

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