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AQUATECTONICSCONNECTING WATER AND DWELLING IN INFORMAL DHAKA

I live my life in widening circles That reach out across the world. - Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God

:PROPOSAL

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Paula RandAdvisor : Ted NgaiGraduation : 2012

City of Inquiry: Dhaka, Bangladesh

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panesThe yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panesLicked its tongue into the corners of the eveningLingered upon the pools that stand in drains,Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,And seeing that it was a soft October nightCurled once about the house, and fell asleep

-The Love-Song of J.Alfred Prufrock, T.S Elliot

AQUATECTONICSCONNECTING WATER AND DWELLING IN INFORMAL DHAKA

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION -

MATERIAL PROPOSAL-

PROPOSAL

Fig. 3: people in monsoon floods

Studio MissionThesis Statement

8-910-11

14-27

30-57

The soft rush of taxis by him, and laughter, laughter hoarse as a crows, incessant and loud, with the rumble of the subways underneathand over all, the revolutions of light, the growings and recedings of lightlight dividing like pearlsforming and reforming in glittering bars and circles and monstrous grotesque figures cut amazingly on the sky.-The Beautiful and the Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald

INTRODUCTION

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STUDIO MISSIONPerformative Architecture & Metabolic Urbanism

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the citys metabolism, thus it quickly became our goal to use this unique property of metabolic systems to inflict urban and ecological change through the development of architectural systems.12 students will present their design proposals for 12 mega-cities around the world. The design proposals should not be considered as finished projects, but rather, they are performative frameworks devised at an architectural scale that would address our cities future at urban, socio-political, and ecological scales.

- Ted Ngai

According to the United Nations, more than half of the worlds population now resides in urban areas. WIth an estimation of 50 cities around the world growing at a staggering rate of more than 100,000 people per year, urbanization is now described by UN officials as unstoppable. Many of these megacities are growing with such a rapid rate they are expected to merge into mega-regions or the so called endless city within the next few decades, with Hong Kong Shenzhen Guangzhou, China, leading the way with about 120 million people, 4 times the size of the Tokyo metropolitan, the largest city in the world today.One of the most alarming factors of such rapid growth in these mega-regions, such as the West African economic belt Nigeria, benin, Togo and Ghana, and the Northwest corridor of India Mumbai to Delhi, is the lack of urban infrastructure that facilitates and manages the citys metabolism the material and energetic flows. Growth at such a rapid rate can have dire consequences to both its inhabitants and its environments. One such scenario presented itself in 2003 as SARS, a near pandemic incident killing 1000 people and shutting down more than 5 major cities around the world. The virus, originating from bats, crossed the xenographic barrier due to the collapse in proximity between densely populated environment and wildlife as a consequence of intense urban development.Cities undergoing rapid growth destabilizes the intricate Climatic / Geographic / Ecologic balance. To identify and understand these relationships, our studio investigation began with students choosing 12 of the 50 fastest growing cities in the world (by more than 100,000 per year) and studying how these cities metabolize this sudden influx of immigrants, and how their surrounding landscapes respond to these newly engineered environments.Assessment of each city followed an expanded version of Abel Wolmans 1965 formulation of urban metabolism all the materials and commodities needed to sustain a citys inhabitants at home, at work, and at play. Each student began their research and analysis with the citys food security, fresh and waste water management, pollution, and energy production / consumption issues. These metabolic factors are basic living resources and are fundamental to all built environments. The goal was to develop an understanding of how metabolic systems relate to the citys unique context, and they can be used to shape our future cities.As we developed the comparative studies and began juxtaposing the ad-hoc / on demand water delivery networks in favelas in Rio de Janeiro, the mega water infrastructure on and beneath the streets of Tokyo, and the ancient underground lake and fresh water delivery system in Mexico City , it became clear that metabolic mechanisms are trans-scalar, crossing the regional, local, and architectural boundaries. We also find in many other cities, architecture often plays an important role in shaping

*This project was a Peck Prize Selection

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AQUATECTONICSThesis Statement

and resulted in both environmental and societal destruction in Bangladesh. The resulting informal settlements in Dhaka for those displaced by soil erosion, floods and drought are transitory. The dwellings are created of found and often temporary materials, with people living in tension with the ebb and flow of flooding and seasons.

What my research proposes is that there is a holistic and basic connection between the flow of water and dwelling. Through focusing on water flow, urban informal dwelling and materials, a transient form of dwelling is examined. As physical and ephemeral beings, people dwell in relationship to context, connected by their memories which are associated to physical materials and landscapes. As memories become layered over time, they become part of a cultural memory. This larger cultural memory is part of developed social patterns. Water is the basic element of life, both a giver of life and a taker of life. So as people become more transient through displacement or a search for a better life, memories become more associated with the temporal than the permanent landscape. Water then becomes the material of dwelling.

The thesis aims to deal with the complex problems of water contamination, flooding, water collection and a large displaced population in the dense urban fabric of Dhaka. In order deal with these complexities, the research and project seeks to reconcile the micro and macro connections between elements in changing water flow and dwelling, and the blending of infrastructural, architectural and biological solutions. The project aims to empower those impacted to help create solutions. These solutions and connections would be gained by using local and found materials to remediate and create structures, a human reef. The slow additive creation of remediation and change by those who dwell in the affected areas creates an embedded memory in both physical material and in the culture of site. The change over time is accumulated by those who build and dwell, as well as by the water which flows continually from the sky and water bodies.

Water is not a basic human right; water is a naturally occurring necessity, flowing through our earth connecting living and non-living things. But, at this moment in our history, 75% of the world lives in the dense deltaic regions on coasts and floodplains (Fig. 5). Deltaic regions are especially threatened by rising ocean levels from a global warming. Bangladesh is positioned in one of the most fertile deltaic plains at the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghan rivers and their tributaries. With great fertility and a tropical monsoon climate comes extreme natural weather. Up to 70% of Bangladeshs flat plain may be under water during the annual monsoon season. Natural and man-made adversity affects the region, through water borne arsenic contamination and waste pollution, and annual monsoons, tropical cyclones and tidal bores. The capital city of Bangladesh, Dhaka, has swelled to a mega city status of 15 million by 2011. This astounding growth is taking place through migration from the countries eroding and saline agricultural lands. The migrating and poor peoples informal settlements have progressively overflowed into the rivers which bind Dhaka on four sides. The industrial and commercial sectors also use the rivers as overflow for waste. This has caused the rivers to become contaminated with waste from the industrial, commercial, medical, and domestic sectors. Surrounded by India on the majority of its inland boundaries, this big brother controls access to Bangladeshs major water ways. India began damming the rivers on the two countries boarders soon after Bangladeshs liberation from Pakistan in 1971. The result of this (and considerable other) damming in conjunction with the reversal of water flows during monsoon season has been devastating. The small country experiences heightened drought when India restricts water during the dry season. The larger country also releases large amounts of water from the bordering dams during the rainy season, compounding the natural floods effect, killing large numbers of Bangladeshis with no warning and destroying communities. The largest problem has been human displacement from extensive land erosion and flooding. Over four million Bangladeshi people, and counting, have lost their land and means of income. The artificial control of water has added to existing problems

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The corrosive effects of time redefine everything against our will- Roul Perdomo

GLACIATED AREASINLAND WATER BODIESWATERBASINSREEFSBANGLADESH WATERBASIN, THE GBM

Fig. 5: 75% of the worlds population lives on deltaic plains

MATERIAL INVESTIGATION

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BIOLOGICAL SOLUTIONSBivalve Remediators

3. TRANSPORTglochidia form a cyst and remain on host for several weeks

2. SPAWNINGembryos develop into larvae called glochidia which are released into the water

4. SETTLEMENTjuvenile mussels release from the host fish and sink to the bottom. they burrow in the sediment and remain buried until they mature

1. BREEDINGmales release sprem into the water. after being inhaled by females, sprem fertilizes eggs

Fig. 77 : mussel reproduction

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Bivalves are an excellent natural remediator. Mussels, oysters, and clams all take in their nutrients through filter feeding. The process of filter feeding allows the bivalve to intake a large amount of water and by this particulate matter in the water (Fig. 78). By taking in particulate matter in the water the bivalve cleans the water around it through its search for nutrients. It can withstand a large amount of contaminant as long as it has enough to sustain upon.

The mussel can live for over 20 years as a freshwater organism. Mussels procreate by attaching to fish hosts and moving up and down stream (Fig. 77). Through this process of reproduction the water becomes a transient habitat.

Foot

Pedal ganglion

Anterioradductormuscle

Stomach

Hepatopancreas

Anterior foot retractor muscleCerebral pleuralganglion

Beak

Labialpalp Gonad Intestine

Right mantel

GillsPosterior ganglion

Kidney

Heart

Pericardialcavity

Rectum

Anus

Podteriorganglion

Incurrentsiphon

Posterior foot retractor muscle

Fig. 78 : mussel anatomy

The nature of things is in the habit of concealing itself-Philip K. Dick, Valis

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Mussels grow in an aggregated additive way. As the mussels filter feed, purifying water, they build their shells from calcium created from absorbed atmospheric carbon dioxide. Many materials and organisms contain varieties of calcium. Calcium carbonate is commonly found in shells of bivalves, (clams, mussels and oysters) and others shellfish and well as being found in natural stones like limestone and marble. Versions of calcium carbonate are used to clean in water

in commercial treatment plants (limewater) and in use in schools with chalk. calcium in a major bone component of corals, fish and humans. We also find calcium in large amounts in dairy products and is a necessary part of our own diet to keep bones strong and healthy.

BIOLOGICAL SOLUTIONSCalcium and Growth

Fig. 79 : limestone Fig. 80 : marble

Fig. 81 : chalk Fig. 82 : shells

Fig. 83 : stalactites and stalagmites Fig. 84 : coral

Forms of Calcium

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carbondioxidecalcitewaste

umbo

plane of symmetry

ligament

growth lines

Fig. 85 : intake of nutrients and growth of mussels

Fig. 86 : mussel shell

If you want to understand function, study structure.- Francis Crick

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CRAFT TECHNIQUESLarge and Small Scale

Fig. 87 : large scale fishing in India with woven nets

Fig. 88 : women working on fair trade Pebble crochet toys in Bangladesh

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Crochet

Knitting

Weaving

Knotting

Within the commercial and domestic sectors many large and small scale craft techniques are implemented. These are often found in cottage industry within the informal settlements within the cities of Bangladesh, particularly Dhaka. These cottage industries are also part of the rural craft tradition, often taken with the memories of the people who migrate from the rural to urban context. Within the informal settlements people will create and income for themselves by creating clothing, blankets, scarves and other knitwear. These techniques are also utilized within the commercial sector at a larger scale. Fishing is a large part of Bangladeshs economic sector and handmade fishing nets reach a large scale. The fishing nets are allowed to become large when paired with structures of frameworks of other materials. Many different techniques can be utilized to make various structures and items including weaving, crochet, knitting and knotting. These techniques can be mixed in different patterns with different strengths of materials to create variety in strength and performance.

A Rainbow in Curved Air.- Terry Riley

Fig. 89 : technique diagrams : cottage industry crafts

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MATERIAL TECHNIQUESThe integration of Calcium and Craft

JUTE COTTON

Using the calcium carbonate, material is built up through an additive process. By blending ecological and craft material solutions, the composite technique is adaptable and locally based. The common cottage industry crafts and techniques can be utilized to create a soft framework to calcify material upon. This material would be built up over a long time, created in a slow additive way. The materials can be grown and cultivated on or near the site.

Fig. 90 : calcium powder Fig. 91 : jute rope Fig. 92 : cotton yarn

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We construct and keep on constructing, yet intuition is still a good thing-Paul Klee

Fig. 93 : aggregated composite material concept

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MATERIAL INVESTIGATIONSCraft

Fig. 94 : crochet volume test model

Fig. 95 : crochet tension rope test model

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To explore the potential of cottage industry and domestic sites, tests were done using crochet to test form, structure and material. This was done using various thicknesses of thread and different types of crochet technique. The crochet tests we done to explore common craft techniques, and its potential for structure. The crochet density can be varied to strengthen the overall form. A three dimensional crochet

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try! - Dr. Seuss

volume was also created and tested. The three dimensional volume could also become structural, and density can be used for compression members. Loose wide knits can be put into tension. The loose wide tension knits can be used in conjunction with other materials and dense knits to create multiple functions.

Fig. 96 : crochet volume hybrid test model

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MATERIAL INVESTIGATIONSCraft and Calcium

Fig. 97 : calcified crochet rope

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To look at the possibilities of a composite material further testing was done. The mussel and calcium deposition was researched and tested as a material strategy for a human reef for a site in Dhaka city. Using some of the same and some different crochet samples, tests were done to explore the different possibilities in calcification. The crochet was established as a framework for the calcium. Several tests were done using different calcium formulas and levels of curation. The different crochet samples were used as a framework for the calcium. The calcium hardened to a stone-like state over time around the knit framework.

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

Fig. 98 : calcified crochet volume

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MATERIAL INVESTIGATIONSBiological and Craft

Three tanks of guppies, snails, mussels and plants were raised over a four month period. This was done to explore the interactions first between biologys. Specifically river biologys similar to those found in and around Dhaka city. The interactions were zeroed into live river plants, guppies,

mussels, snails and substrate. A filter was used to create a simulated river current. With different variations of light and animals in each tank, the guppies reproduced at different rated and algae grew within the tank at different rates. More light more algae. After a period of observation with just

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I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it. - Maya Angelou

the animals, an artificial crochet reef was introduced into one of the tanks. A series of interactions was then observed between the different biologys and the knit structure. These structures may grow algae which can be eaten and act as reefs where fish and mussels burrow and sleep. The fish

chase one another and eat their young when there is not enough food within the tank or to limit overpopulation. The snails and guppies eat algae and the live plants within the tank, whether off the mussels or the glass or decomposing.

Fig. 100 : (sampling) time-lapse progression of 3 tanks of river biologies

PROPOSAL

THE HUMAN REEF

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3,210 m ; 10,531.49 ft

1,918m ; 6,293.91 ft

The site of exploration and testing is the Administration Kamrangir Char Thana at the crook of the Buriganga River at the south west edge of the city. The Administration Kamrangir Char Thana is primarily residential. Within the fabric in the residential dwellings is cottage industry but also larger industry, commercial manufacturers. The Population was 25827 as of 1999 with a population density per sq km is 8999. This has only been growing in density. Jackfruit, banana, coconut, and papaya are already grown on the thana.

SITE INTERVENTIONSite

The main manufactories include the garments industry 48, ice cream factory 6, bakery 56 and stationery goods factory 7. The Cottage industries include handicrafts, potteries and weaving. The main exports include those cottage industries, handicrafts, potteries as well as readymade garments. The land control though among the peasants is 40.46% are landless, 7.45% small, 47.55% intermediate and 4.54% rich.

Fig. 101 : Kamrangir Char Thana site and surrounding area

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The Lemon is extended throughout its qualities, and each of its qualities is extended throughout each of the others. it is the sourness of the lemon which is yellow, it is the yellow of the lemon which is sour, We eat the color of a cake, and the taste of this cake is the instrument which reveals its shape and color to what may be called the alimentary intuition... The fluidity, the tepidity, the bluish color, the undulating restlessness of the water in a pool are given at one stroke, each quality through the others-Sartre

Fig. 102 : Kamrangir Char Thana site program

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SITE INTERVENTIONTime line

PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3 PHASE 4 PHASE 5

Wild celery

Waterhyssop

Indian mustard

Jackfruit

Mangroves

planting kitchen gardens

excavating for wetland buffers and waste collection

train dwellers in structure construction

set up schools for children and adults

begin calcium structure construction

rain collector construction

rivers become open to more transportation

fish begin to come back to rivers

fishing

collectors become adaptive and can collect

collectors begin to be able to house and protect increasingly dense settlement

mussels

domestic drinking water

shelter from monsoon destruction

dealing with silt erosion

mass to adapt and deal with flooding

housing biodiversity

proposal

involve agencies and governments for funding and support

remediating river plants

construction on site

Planting 1: low lying remediating plants

Planting 2: low lying remediating plants

remediating trees

begin: move latrines inland

collect organic waste

waste becomes fertilizer

recycle materials

becomes surfaces for dwelling

economy

calcium

economic

social

remediating

waste collecors

diet

biodiversity

beautification

river dolphins are less endangered

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PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3 PHASE 4 PHASE 5

Wild celery

Waterhyssop

Indian mustard

Jackfruit

Mangroves

planting kitchen gardens

excavating for wetland buffers and waste collection

train dwellers in structure construction

set up schools for children and adults

begin calcium structure construction

rain collector construction

rivers become open to more transportation

fish begin to come back to rivers

fishing

collectors become adaptive and can collect

collectors begin to be able to house and protect increasingly dense settlement

mussels

domestic drinking water

shelter from monsoon destruction

dealing with silt erosion

mass to adapt and deal with flooding

housing biodiversity

proposal

involve agencies and governments for funding and support

remediating river plants

construction on site

Planting 1: low lying remediating plants

Planting 2: low lying remediating plants

remediating trees

begin: move latrines inland

collect organic waste

waste becomes fertilizer

recycle materials

becomes surfaces for dwelling

economy

calcium

economic

social

remediating

waste collecors

diet

biodiversity

beautification

river dolphins are less endangered

Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard. - Anne Sexton

To plan the development of the project the timeline is divided into long-term phasing and types of development. The development is mapped within the phases as social, remediating, calcium, or economic. In reality while each piece of the development may be categorized, they are all part of a system. To be able to undertake this type of large scale infrastructural and remediating project it requires involving government, nonprofit agencies and social action during all phases. The proposal involves learning initiatives for children and adults. These learning initiatives ask children and adults to learn both the craft, calcification bio-remediation and mussel farming as well as general education (reading, writing and arithmetic etc..) This would empower those who live on the site learn usable skills while remediating and building up their own site over time.

The remediation process is two-fold. The main point source of waste needs to be eliminated. In this case human waste goes directly into the rivers surrounding and latrines could be created. Water remediating plants and animals help to clean the already waste ridden water.

As the water becomes cleaner, the knit structures begin to populate the informal settlement to combat flooding and to collect domestic water. The artificial reefs they form can house the new biodiversity like water purifying mussels which can become part of the informal economy. The knit calcification over time can become dense so that at the waters edge housing can move upwards with the land and allow for water to go into the dugout wetland buffers. At other points on river edge bazaars and boat docks can populate. Inland rain-collectors become dense as time goes go and more are built.

Fig. 103 : integrated time-line

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SITE INTERVENTIONTime line

The phase plan strategy beings with water remediation with super remediating plants and the digging of preliminary wetland buffers. This would begin along the rivers edge with river plants.

After an initial planting, latrine construction would begin inland. The base of water collectors would be the first calcified structures. Plants on the rivers edge would then be planted as well.

The wetland buffer would continue to expand and a second planting of remediating land plants would replace the first.

More latrines and water collectors are built inland. Near the inland latrines kitchen gardens are constructed. At the rivers edge as a final round of remediating plants replace the second and remediating trees go in. The framework for docks, bazaars, and mussel reefs would go in. This framework would be developed continually and calcified. These would be points of economic and social growth. After a period of building the rain collectors can be fixed with adaptive canopies which can be attached to one another to protect the informal dwellings from monsoon rains. At this point the latrines would be evenly distributed within the community.

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Im for truth, no matter who tells it. Im for justice, no matter who it is for or against. Im a human being, first and foremost, and as such Im for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole. - Malcolm X

Fig. 104: site program expansion

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SITE INTERVENTIONMaterial Application

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The knit framework for the project is constructed from materials which originate in cottage industry. The knowledge to create this knit framework is indigenous to the site and informal settlements. Many who live in Dhaka and in the Kamrangir Char Thana already work in these industries. They create and use fishing nets, rugs, and shawls among other products using looms and crochet hooks. The fiber to create frameworks also grows in the surrounding areas. Bangladesh grows jute and cotton in large enough quantities to export.

The base of the frameworks is the fiber. The fibers are twisted into the thread. This thread becomes the workable material. This workable material doesnt change much between applications. The strength comes from the tensility of the specific type of fiber and number of fibers which make up a thread.

To create the large scale site frameworks, each component of the system will be constructed with its use in mind. Because the base component of the knit framework is an everyday item it can be recycled and reused for the purpose. Both items from people on the site, in Bangladesh and abroad can be re-purposed. The re-purposing of materials serves many purposes. First this is a low income site and project which aims to be low budget. By using re-purposed materials the cost of materials is lower. The project also aims to be low impact. This means first not creating a larger impact for a site largely impacted by waste and weather problems. So we try not to create a larger problem to solve. In addition these products that are being used to create the framework, or the human reef , bring in income. Rather than detract from much needed potential income, the project can recycle waste that is already on the site. Also by contributing their own property to the structure, people feel involved. The involvement of people aims to create excitement to contribute in solving global problems for those who do not live in the informal settlement. This can apply to Bangladeshis or those abroad. This is also another way for those who live in the informal settlement to feel connected to the project. This is true if they are building the structures or if they do not have as much time to contribute. Another large reason re-purposing material is important is time. This project is a large scale in both time and site scope. For it have any real lasting effect on the issues it is addressing, it needs to amass a critical mass. By using a portion of re-purposed and recycled materials, the objectives may be achieved in a much shorter amount of time, and the calcification of the knit frameworks can begin much sooner.

The actual construction technique varies upon the part being constructed. The re-purposed materials can be integrated with custom and completely recycled materials to fit the site. All forms of clothing, but also table cloths,

rugs, bed cloths, curtains and even old tarps and cushions can be used. Items such as knitted and crochet sweaters and rugs can be completely dissembled to the thread and re-sewn together to create the needed knit or a patchwork of different items may be sewn together to make the frameworks. This could be especially effective for areas which need to be dense. This might be used along the rivers edge to build up, creating an embankment, or to create the base for water collectors and latrines.

The knit is a framework which will, overtime, be calcified. Different densities and structural capacities can be established prior and during the calcification process. Areas of compression, the embankment, can be stuffed with dirt and made with dense knits. This area will be insurance against flooding, erosion and waste water. In contrast a tension structure like the boat anchors and mussel farms can be held in place with rigs while calcifying or may harden in shape on their side and then be put into place. These structures unlike the dense areas are light and made of ropes or open weaves. Each component may be customized by the person creating and the use it is taking on. The level of customization is dictated by the part it plays in the overall structure. Larger structural elements like the boat and mussel farms require more consultation than a bench or water trough,

History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. - Winston Churchill

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SITE INTERVENTIONWaste Containment

Fig. 105: collect and re-usable waste planning

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To make the remediation effort effective and long lasting there is long and short term urban planning for site and city elimination of waste. To eliminate the main source of site water contamination the intention is to move latrines inland away from primary flooding where waste can be captured. This will over time eliminate the main source of site water contamination, human feces. By incorporating permeable composting, the onsite organic waste will be eliminated in thought from the water channels.

This means that latrines that were dropping human waste directly over water bodies or in a haphazard way will be controlled. Pits will be dug for the human waste to be collected from a series of basic latrines above. These latrines will have suitable ventilation, and built to the needs and

Death, he felt, was only a kind of warning rather than a desperate and permanent end- Lszl Krasznahorkai

means of the specific informal neighborhood surrounding. The pit will have and access point for organic waste to be deposited in the pit as it is accumulated in the community. The pit can be a means of communal composting. Woven calcified material confines waste from contaminating the surrounding ground and ground water. Human and natural waste degrades and becomes manure. The natural waste can be used to fertilize communal gardens. The plants in communal gardens help keep the land in the informal settlement remediated. Plants from these gardens can be used as a domestic food source and an export in bazaars and trade.

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To deal with the problems of flooding and fresh water shortage the site water collector is specified. A hard calcified bottom with a malleable and adaptable cover allows for the adaptable cover to be retracted when there is no rain. However when there is rain, namely the monsoon season the canopy can be opened. The system is too constructed on site with the hard calcified stem integrated with a soft canopy. The calcification ends, not the knit. The canopy is to be operated manually, with tension members. The

SITE INTERVENTIONWater Collectors/ Protectors

tension members may be attached to one another, homes, a tree, a stake. The system is improvisational depending on the number and density of water collectors. The height is ideally taller than the tallest dwelling, and should be similar and even between collectors. The collectors collect water at point source shallow aquifers, rather than pooling water supplies. This is for several reasons. Bangladesh does have problems with naturally occurring arsenic. This also allows for small communities to control their own water supply.

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Importantly, constructing without a large over arching infrastructure lets each water collector and aquifer to be used upon construction, not when an entire system is built. As the project is intended to be built on site, by the site dwellers and as an empowerment project the mode of production is neither fast nor all at once.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Fig. 106: closed and open rain collector

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SITE INTERVENTIONWater Collectors/ Protectors

The adaptable rain collector collects rain water, but also filters contaminants and stores. The rain system collects water and holds it in calcium cavities in stem. The stem of the rain collector is formed of dense knit and crochet which has been calcified with porous cavities in the center. As the water moves through the calcium cavities, contaminants are filters and the waters PH is leveled with the calcium. When the water is filtered through the stem it reaches a

shallow ground aquifer. The water moves through a gravity filter in the ground. The gravity filter is layered with several course filter layers and a fine bio layer. The water is then collected in a shallow aquifer hold lined with a calcium knit basin. The water is pumped up from these shallow holds for local need rather than pumping from deep groundwater.

Fig. 107: anatomy of adaptable rain collector_ stem

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Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa

Fig. 108: anatomy of adaptable rain collector_ aquifer

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The adaptive rain collectors are intended to serve multiple functions. The adaptive rain collectors act as a domestic water source and a shelter from monsoon destruction. Adaptability is managed by dwellers, tension along the edge of the system allows for the system to unfurl and then to attach to one another, dwellings or trees for stability.

The collectors though maybe sporadically placed at first, would at a density become evenly placed. The even disbursement of water collectors lets each person in the informal settlement have a reasonable distance to travel for fresh water. These collectors can also be utilized to protect dwellings from monsoons. The water collectors can be attached to one another when they are equidistant and put into tension.

SITE INTERVENTIONWater Collectors/ Protectors

Fig. 109: rain collector space planning

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water collector canopy

water collector locationsA bird doesnt sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. - Maya Angelou

Fig. 110: rain collector site planning

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SITE INTERVENTIONWater Collectors/ Protectors

Fig. 111: rain collector tension mechanism

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We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking. - Santosh Kalwar, Quote Me Everyday

To allow the rain collector to be adaptive and reactive to site conditions, manual devices are used. Using a manual device rather than a responsive mechanical device or material, allows people who dwell in the informal settlement to operate the rain collector canopy as needed. This is necessary on this site. The site is without water or waste infrastructure so electricity is not an optimal option for the low income informal settlement. Because of the low income of the area, a high expense responsive material is not a practical canopy material. To create an adaptable rain collector for the low income settlement a waterproof lightweight fabric is used with tension members sewn into a pocket in the edge of the canopy. These are several members who are pulled in opposition and attached either to another rain collectors tension member, a tree, house or the ground.

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PRELIMINARY PROPOSALDesign

The rain water collector clears open space in the fabric of the dense informal fabric. This open space becomes an active social space. Because it is an open space in a dense urban fabric, it is a natural circulation route and gathering space. When the specific open space is large enough it is an area for children to play sports and for community gathering. The rain collector network intersects with the pedestrian networks for the latrines, community gardens and informal shops. The rain collector aquifer is also a communal source of domestic water and is therefore a main attractor. Around the water pumps are social nodes. Where the water comes up through pumps, the water is used for domestic use or in pools for cleaning clothes or bathing. These are social nodes are places for gathering, washing clothing, getting drinking water, or working.

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Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. Pooh? he whispered.Yes, Piglet?Nothing, said Piglet, taking Poohs hand. I just wanted to be sure of you. - A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Fig. 113: rain collector node social water program

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The proposal is in full form is a human reef weaving itself from river to land, and then dispersing itself. This comes in the form of dispersed water collectors and latrine basins as well as a calcified site edge. The rivers edge is at times a mussel reef/farm, dock, bazaar, tired land and erosion restraint. Water rituals occur also on the rivers edge where people can interact with biologies. The interactions may be mussel farming, but also fishing or just children playing in the water in water plants. Water rituals are part of daily life. Using the water for transport and fishing once it is clean is part of Bangladeshi culture and indigenous to Dhaka. People go to the river to fish, swim, collect water and do the washing. Children play games in shallow pools while their parents work and shop at the bazaar for food grown

remediating

calcificaltion

social

economic

PRELIMINARY PROPOSALDesign

nearby. Water is collected for the cooking from the rain collectors which protect the dwelling from being washed out by the monsoons. Children bathe in pools of water while their mothers talk to their passing neighbors. These actions become the memories that connect those who dwell one site to their home, family and friends. The integrated site program encourages interaction between program as well as biologys. The addition of kitchen gardens, mussel farms, remediating crops and new material intelligence is a new source of income for the community. Newly cleaned waters also allow people to fish and use the rivers for transport, play and cleaning. The addition of docks and bazaars lets the new sources of income become income. These new sources of income are nodes of trade,

Fig. 114: integrated programing

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social interaction and economy. The nodes allow trade to flow between the informal settlement and the city of Dhaka, the rest of the country (Bandgladesh) and in some cases internationally.

It is public social activity which occurs near both the rivers edge and at nodes within the dense urban fabric. To deal with the ultimate problems of river erosion and flooding calcium, plant life and wetland buffers work together.

Calcium weaves in through the earth to help sure against erosion. The calcium knit weaves like a root structure. Plant life lives in and among the calcium weave to help sure against river erosion. Both the calcium and plants help to remediate and keep the water clean. The wetland buffer is dug to sure against river flooding and flash flooding run-off. The calcium weave and plants help to absorb the flood water and ensure against destruction when this happens.

Where there is love there is life. - Mahatma Gandhi

Fig. 115: riverside human reef bio-human interaction

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steps on the surface or as the structure to carve out spaces. The knit or crochet behaves like ropes similar to roots helping to stave off erosion. The porous artificial roots can alternately behave like steps, seats, drying racks to hang wet clothing and anchors for temporal dwellings. The system is adaptable in both program and function, allowing water to seep into the ground and the ground water system.

The knit calcified material becomes woven into the landscape and the rivers edge. The reef and rivers edge calcium buffer can contain and slow the penetration of waste water into the land and groundwater. The calcium also may level the ph of the water to be more hospitable to aquatic life. Calcium could become stitched into the land mass as a way to traverse the landscape. This could be as

PRELIMINARY PROPOSALDesign

Fig. 116: calcified woven landscape

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One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been. - Sophocles

Fig. 117: calcium flood and waste mediation

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PRELIMINARY PROPOSALDesign

The new urban informal infrastructure is a human reef. The new human reef is an integrated system. Functions and programs are connected by material, water the material of dwelling absorbed in and strengthening the site made knit calcium composite material. This new material makes up

the structure for flood and erosion control and a framework for program. Bazaars, docks and mussel farming sit along the rivers edge where they can be linked with cleaned water routs over the time of construction. Between the edge of the river and

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Tomorrow is our permanent address-Marshall Macluhan

the dense settlement is a wetland buffer. Along the rivers edge, rain collectors are calcified canopies which allow free movement to occur underneath. At times this becomes the structure to carve out openings in the landscape creating tired housing and intimate access points to the river.

Fig. 118: Bazaar and mussel reef riverside

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PRELIMINARY PROPOSALDesign

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the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars. - Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Fig. 119: Tiered housing and riverside dock

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SOURCESImages

Fig. 1: Dhaka City : http://whatwaterfeelsliketofishes.wordpress.com/Fig. 2: Korail Slum: by, Allison Joyce, Photo Journalist Fig. 3: Dhaka City : by Mohammad Moniruzzaman Fig. 4: People cross the Buriganga river : ESPN CrticinfoFig. 5: World Water Map : Paula RandFig. 6: Dhaka City Children : Adbusters magazineFig. 7: Malevolent and Benevolent Water : Paula RandFig. 8: The Entry of the Animals into Noahs Ark : by Jan Breughel the Elder (1613)Fig. 9: Atum : Treasures of Tutankhamun 1972, The British MuseumFig. 10: The Kraken : by Bob EggletonFig. 11: Blue (Moby Dick) : by. Pollock, Jackson c. 1943Fig. 12: Peter and Wendy, by J. M. BarrieFig. 13: Present from Carl Jacobsen to the city of Copenhagen in 1913Fig. 14: Colonial trade : Paula RandFig. 15: World Governments : Paula RandFig. 16: Children on Train : Akash PhotojournalistFig. 17: Sunderbans : http://thankyoubd.blogspot.com/2011/09/sundarban-of-bangladesh-02.htmlFig. 18: Dhaka Market : Karin FankhauserFig. 19: Bangladesh Context : Paula RandFig. 20: National Assembly Building (center), Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. c. 1972. Louis I. Kahn Collection, University of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum CommissionFig. 21: growth of Dhaka City, Bangladesh : Paula RandFig. 22: Multiple Jurisdiction : Paula RandFig. 23: Physical Dhaka : Envisat ASARFig. 24: Dhaka population Density : Paula RandFig. 25: People on Train : Akash PhotojournalistFig. 26: Migration to Dhaka : Paula RandFig. 27: Water flow on through Bangladesh : Paula RandFig. 28: Water Patterns of Bangladesh : Paula RandFig. 29: Flooding Severity in Bangladesh : Paula RandFig. 30: River Erosion in Bangladesh : Paula RandFig. 31, Fig. 32: http://www.emse.fr/~bouchardon/enseignement/regard/bangladesh/regard-bangladesh-jamuna-river/page_01.htmFig. 33: mechanics of river erosion : Paula RandFig. 34: mechanics of flooding : Paula RandFig. 35: Scales of flooding in Dhaka : Paula RandFig. 36: Land Use Percentages : Paula RandFig. 37: Agricultural Income : Paula RandFig. 38: Land and crop type map : Paula RandFig. 39: aman cropping map : Paula RandFig. 40: boro cropping map : Paula RandFig. 41: aus cropping map : Paula RandFig. 42: wheat cropping map : Paula Rand

Fig. 43: crops and cropping patterns : Paula RandFig. 44: rice pattern : Paula RandFig. 45: Flooded villages and fields in the aftermath of the Bangladesh cyclone, 1991. Staff Sergeant Val GempisAir Force Photo/Department of DefenseFig. 46: Jessica Carters blog, Red Shoes & CobblestonesFig. 47: uraban - rural Dhaka : Paula Rand Fig. 48: water infrastructure : Paula RandFig. 49: waste dumping site : Paula RandFig. 50: latrine typology : Paula RandFig. 51: healthy water condition : Paula RandFig. 52: black water condition : Paula RandFig. 53: ground saturation/ contamination : Paula RandFig. 54: Yusuf Hashim Fig. 55: informal context : Paula RandFig. 56: flooded home and woman : Akash PhotojournalistFig. 57: rebuild cycle : Paula RandFig. 58: mussels : Scott Camazine, New York Sea GrantFig. 59: methods of flood control : Paula RandFig. 60: Flood Control on the mississippi : Paula Rand Fig. 61: New Orleans levee : Stephen Morton/Getty ImagesFig. 62: levee response : Paula RandFig. 63: http://www.alsearsmd.com/herb-of-grace/Fig. 64: http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~flower_world/Brassicaceae/Brassica%20juncea.htmFig. 65: re. Fig. 17Fig. 66: http://panasamwonders.blogspot.com/2011/01/popularising-off-season-jackfruit.htmlFig. 67: Tim CarruthersFig. 68: re Fig. 58Fig. 69: methods of remediation : Paula RandFig. 70: Nile river : Paula RandFig. 71: nile river irrigation : http://www.halcrow.com/Areas-of-expertise/Water/Fig. 72: Hapi : http://room162d.edublogs.org/tag/nile-uses/Fig. 73: methods of water capture : Paula RandFig. 74: step well : Paula RandFig. 75: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dharmesh84/42659820/Fig. 76: Varun Shiv Kapur from Berkeley, United StatesFig. 77: mussel reproduction : Paula RandFig. 78: mussel anatomy : Paula RandFig. 79: limestone : DH WallFig. 80: http://www.picsed.com/keyword/marble+rockFig. 81: http://www.photos-public-domain.com/2010/12/04/piece-of-chalk/Fig. 82: Jon SullivanFig. 83: Alexey SergeevFig. 84: http://nhes.wordpress.com/tag/coral-reefs/Fig. 85: growth and nutrients of mussels : Paula Rand

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Fig. 86: mussel shell : Paula RandFig. 87: http://indiatravelresearch.com/?page_id=56Fig. 88: http://www.bestyears.co.uk/general.tem/OREAJD479861Fig. 89: cottage industry diagrams : Paula RandFig. 90: http://www.diytrade.com/china/pd/7312706/calcium_chloride_anhydrous.htmlFig. 91: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jute_Rope_(%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%A3%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B1%E0%AF%81).jpgFig. 92: http://www.esuppliersindia.com/products/waste-cotton-yarn.htmlFig. 93: aggregated composite material concept : Paula RandFig. 94: crochet volume test model : Paula RandFig. 95: crochet tension rope test model : Paula RandFig. 96: crochet volume hybrid test model : Paula RandFig. 97: calcified crochet rope : Paula RandFig. 98: calcified crochet volume : Paula RandFig. 99: calcified strand : Paula RandFig. 100: (sampling) time-lapse progression of 3 tanks of river biologies : Paula RandFig. 101: Kamrangir Char Thana site : Paula RandFig. 102: Kamrangir Char Thana site program : Paula RandFig. 103: integrated time-line : Paula RandFig. 104: site program expansion : Paula RandFig. 105: collect and re-usable waste planning : Paula RandFig. 106: closed and open rain collector : Paula RandFig. 107: anatomy of adaptable rain collector_ stem : Paula RandFig. 108: anatomy of adaptable rain collector_ aquifer : Paula RandFig. 109: rain collector space planning : Paula RandFig. 110: rain collector site planning : Paula RandFig. 111: rain collector tension mechanism : Paula Rand Fig. 112: rain collector water path concept : Paula Rand Fig. 113: rain collector node social water program : Paula Rand Fig. 114: integrated programing : Paula Rand Fig. 115: riverside human reef bio-human interaction : Paula Rand Fig. 116: calcified woven landscape : Paula Rand Fig. 117: calcium flood and waste mediation : Paula Rand Fig. 118: Bazaar and mussel reef riverside : Paula Rand Fig. 119: Tiered housing and riverside dock : Paula Rand

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CITATIONS References

The World BankUNESCO FAODhaka City CorporationBangladesh Bureau of StatisticsThe United Nations World Food Programme Aqua Stat BanglapediaUSDAInternational Rice Research Institute Bangladesh Agricultural Research CouncilBangladesh Rice Knowledge BankWater Problems of Bangladesh : http://waterproblemsbd.blogspot.com/Building Safer Cities: The Future of Risk Management by Alcira KreimerAn anthropological and photographic exploration of riverbank erosion and flood in rural Bangladesh : http://www.livingwiththejamuna.com/essayintroduction.htmlNationMaster.comBangladesh Water Development Boardhttp://globalspin.blogs.time.com/http://discoveringdhaka.wordpress.com/category/see-the-sights/NASA Visible EarthLANDSATUSGSErosion and Deposition by flowing water : https://sites.google.com/site/earthscienceinmaine/erosion-and-deposition-by-flowing-waterPollution kills Dhakas Rivers : http://www.reuters.com/video/2009/05/19/pollution-kills-dhakas-rivers?videoId=104896Culture of Bangladesh : http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Bangladesh.htmlFishing in Bangladesh : http://www.carebd.org/mc_storydtls.php?id=10Practical Actionhttp://thesocialtruth.wordpress.com/category/place/Resource Technologies : http://wasterecycleinfo.com/rd.htmlA Story of Climate Change Told Through Seashells : http://sciencelife.uchospitals.edu/2011/11/02/a-story-of-climate-change-told-through-seashells/#more-6523

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