At The Heart Of New Delhi: Orchestrating A New Water Ecology
Cong Nie Hangyu Shi
China
University of Virginia
PROJECT NARRATIVE
The Yamuna River is the sacred river of New Delhi – India’s mega-city verging on 20 million people. The river suffers from severe pollution which combined with human encroachment of Yamuna’s floodplain has set off a chain-reaction of threats to the city including drinking water shortages, flooding in addition to pollution. A cross-disciplinary team created a design studio operating at the intersection of social, cultural, and ecological systems of the river and the surrounding floodplain.
The big idea of our studio was to relocate a dense community on the current floodplain of Yamuna River to our site while developing water-related strategies for proposed communities. As the landscape architecture team, we were responsible for planning the whole water system for the studio and designing a new urban-scale water treatment park. The design relives pressure on engineered systems through green infrastructure insertions - topography, plantings, wetlands and retention ponds, and circulation of people and water are woven together to reset a resilient ecology for the use and benefit of the surrounding communities, calling for floodplain restoration, community integration and environmental education, while reflecting the vernacular landscape.
The proposed sewage treatment park is highlighted by the following characters.
”Permeable” Walls
In addition to respect the walled-park culture in New Delhi, we vary the elevation of walls and add canopy structures to enable multiple body-scale activities. These walls follow the topography rather than street boundaries thus creating open space for activating plazas and markets proposed by the architecture team.
Water Treatment System
The landscape-oriented water treatment system takes advantage of existing elements, consisting of several key parts showcasing how water is treated, protected, and can be enjoyed by local people. It deals with the treated sewage from the existing Sewage Treatment Plant and stormwater runoff from surrounding communities. Maintaining and purifying processes are organized in specific logics, applying native plant species that are common and inexpensive to procure with high ecological values.
Programs and Connections
The park has four main entrances and is connected to surrounding communities by pedestrian bridges. It’s also connected to the busy metro station on the west. In order to reduce the cost and keep a clear focus, we limit the programs inside. A path system provides accesses throughout the park including a Mughal-style garden with cascades, and a restaurant - a portion of profits from a restaurant would provide funds for park maintenance.
Overall, we are not claiming immediate solutions to the wicked problems of New Delhi and Yamuna River, but we are setting up ecological paradigms that are resilient, culture-related and able to be duplicated in the capital city of India. We understand that the project has limits, but we hope this could be a start. The city will still grow magically while creating environmental stresses, however the landscape has the power to act as the mediator between social and natural interactions in this dynamic process – we have provided such a model.
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT ROLES
Our project is part of a funded inter-disciplinary research studio in a graduate landscape architecture program in the School of Architecture instructed by architectural faculties, which has been held annually for five years, focusing on the Yamuna River area in New Delhi, India. The studio consists of students majoring in architecture, landscape architecture and planning that work together on an overall group master plan as well as individual or team projects.
The big idea of our studio was to relocate a dense community on the current floodplain of Yamuna River to our site while developing water-related strategies for proposed communities. Architecture students worked in teams or individually on developing new housing programs, metro station, urban farms and so on. As the landscape architecture team, we were responsible for planning the whole water system for the studio and designing a new urban-scale water treatment park at the central part of the studio site. All design projects integrated with each other cohesively. During the studio, we also received help and guidance from faculties in history, economy and engineering. Finally, our research and design materials were presented to local government as recommendations for future development.
The Yamuna River is the sacred river of New Delhi – India’s mega-city verging on 20 million people. The river suffers from severe pollution which combined with human encroachment of Yamuna’s floodplain has set off a chain-reaction of threats to the city including drinking water shortages, flooding in addition to pollution. A cross-disciplinary team created a design studio operating at the intersection of social, cultural, and ecological systems of the river and the surrounding floodplain.
The big idea of our studio was to relocate a dense community on the current floodplain of Yamuna River to our site while developing water-related strategies for proposed communities. As the landscape architecture team, we were responsible for planning the whole water system for the studio and designing a new urban-scale water treatment park. The design relives pressure on engineered systems through green infrastructure insertions - topography, plantings, wetlands and retention ponds, and circulation of people and water are woven together to reset a resilient ecology for the use and benefit of the surrounding communities, calling for floodplain restoration, community integration and environmental education, while reflecting the vernacular landscape.
The proposed sewage treatment park is highlighted by the following characters.
”Permeable” Walls
In addition to respect the walled-park culture in New Delhi, we vary the elevation of walls and add canopy structures to enable multiple body-scale activities. These walls follow the topography rather than street boundaries thus creating open space for activating plazas and markets proposed by the architecture team.
Water Treatment System
The landscape-oriented water treatment system takes advantage of existing elements, consisting of several key parts showcasing how water is treated, protected, and can be enjoyed by local people. It deals with the treated sewage from the existing Sewage Treatment Plant and stormwater runoff from surrounding communities. Maintaining and purifying processes are organized in specific logics, applying native plant species that are common and inexpensive to procure with high ecological values.
Programs and Connections
The park has four main entrances and is connected to surrounding communities by pedestrian bridges. It’s also connected to the busy metro station on the west. In order to reduce the cost and keep a clear focus, we limit the programs inside. A path system provides accesses throughout the park including a Mughal-style garden with cascades, and a restaurant - a portion of profits from a restaurant would provide funds for park maintenance.
Overall, we are not claiming immediate solutions to the wicked problems of New Delhi and Yamuna River, but we are setting up ecological paradigms that are resilient, culture-related and able to be duplicated in the capital city of India. We understand that the project has limits, but we hope this could be a start. The city will still grow magically while creating environmental stresses, however the landscape has the power to act as the mediator between social and natural interactions in this dynamic process – we have provided such a model.
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT ROLES
Our project is part of a funded inter-disciplinary research studio in a graduate landscape architecture program in the School of Architecture instructed by architectural faculties, which has been held annually for five years, focusing on the Yamuna River area in New Delhi, India. The studio consists of students majoring in architecture, landscape architecture and planning that work together on an overall group master plan as well as individual or team projects.
The big idea of our studio was to relocate a dense community on the current floodplain of Yamuna River to our site while developing water-related strategies for proposed communities. Architecture students worked in teams or individually on developing new housing programs, metro station, urban farms and so on. As the landscape architecture team, we were responsible for planning the whole water system for the studio and designing a new urban-scale water treatment park at the central part of the studio site. All design projects integrated with each other cohesively. During the studio, we also received help and guidance from faculties in history, economy and engineering. Finally, our research and design materials were presented to local government as recommendations for future development.
