Jal Sutra
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Tags
Public space, Urban Design, Landscape design, productive landscapes, park design, Lake design, parkscapes
Author: Eisha Chandak
Jal Sutra
Flow. Filter. Flourish: Landscaping water, ecology, and urban experience The project reimagines a public open space in Ahmedabad as a living hydrological landscape shaped by water movement, ecological regeneration, and community interaction. Responding to intense rainfall, urban heat, and rapid urbanisation in Vastral, the project treats stormwater as the primary generator of landscape and public life. A layered system of swales, reed beds, wetlands, marshes, detention basins, and filtration edges captures, slows, filters, stores, and recharges water across the site, creating diverse moisture conditions and seasonal ecologies. These hydrological gradients support native planting, biodiversity, and cooling microclimates while forming a continuous ecological corridor within the urban fabric. Pathways, viewing decks, gathering spaces, and vending edges are strategically placed along the water systems, allowing everyday public life to engage closely with seasonal flows and ecological processes. The project positions water not as hidden infrastructure, but as a visible and experiential system that shapes movement, habitat, social interaction, and the identity of the park itself.