LafargeHolcim Awards: Recovered Foreshore in India

SOUTHEAST ASIA CONSTRUCTION27 Jun 2021

India urban development sustainable solution LafargeHolcim

‘Recovered Foreshore in India – Waterfront sanitation and community infrastructure’ has won the LafargeHolcim Awards Next Generation 1st prize Asia Pacific (US$25,000). It is a project by Soledad Patiño, an architect and urban designer at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Massachusetts, USA.

The project brings social and economic legitimacy to waterfront districts of Mumbai through a new network of sustainable infrastructure.

“It is a truly holistic approach,” praised Marilyne Andersen, one of the jury members from the LafargeHolcim Foundation Academic Committee, and also a professor of sustainable construction technologies at EPFL Lausanne, Switzerland. “It has a deep understanding of life in such a place and combines it with aesthetic.”

Community upgrade

Koliwadas, the traditional fishing communities of Mumbai, are becoming more and more marginalised. This project aims to rehabilitate Mahim Koliwada with new infrastructure developed in collaboration with the community.

Four intervention zones from the coast to the city edge are planned. In the first zone, new jetties will support fishing activities, followed by storage facilities for equipment and a new recycling centre. In a connecting zone, seafood processing, workshops and community functions will be located. The fourth zone will accommodate a community kitchen, market and plaza.

The project also supports the restoration of the mangrove ecosystem in the Mithi River, thereby reducing the risk of flooding. “My project rethinks sanitation infrastructure as an instrument to integrate marginalised communities into the city,” said Ms Patiño. “It understands sanitation as an ecology of interdependencies that affect everything from sewage treatment to water supply.”

The jury said the project will provide the Mahim Koliwada with a new social and economic significance.

LafargeHolcim Awards

Now in its sixth edition (2020-2021), the triennial LafargeHolcim Awards event is considered the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design. The Next Generation category recognises the visionary concepts and bold ideas of young professionals and students. For the Asia Pacific region, there are five projects that have received Next Generation prizes.

The issue of sustainability in the construction industry is of paramount importance, given the construction and maintenance of buildings accounts for 40% of both energy and material consumption worldwide. In view of climate change and diminishing resources, new approaches are needed along the entire value chain of the construction industry. Developing and applying these new approaches are what the LafargeHolcim Awards promote.

Images and videos: LafargeHolcim

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