Inhabited Sea
Reimagining Mumbai in Wetness
Introduction
How might coastal cities respond to the challenges posed by climate change? Focusing on one of the largest coastal cities in the world, Mumbai, this project examines how cities may be reimagined with the seas, rains, tides, and storms of our climate changed present.
The sea has long been a part of Mumbai, soaking its terrain through coastal erosion, constructed rivers and storm water drains. Therefore, rather than design projects that seek to dry Mumbai, Inhabited Sea is a transdisciplinary exploration that examines ongoing practices of living that proliferate in this wetscape. In particular, we are interested in how an ethnographic and design disposition can not only complement, but also transform how data driven research is situated, read and engaged in design and planning.
Drawing together scholars, citizen- scientists, researchers, designers and artists at various institutions (the University of Pennsylvania, The Indian Institute for Technology Bombay, Tata Institute of Social Science, the School of Environment and Architecture, Marine Life of Mumbai, CAMP and Haverford College) we ask: how might existing practices and knowledges of living in wetness animate a different set of imaginaries and plans with which to live and thrive in the climate changed city?
Projects
Monsoon in Lallubhai
CAMP / R+R
What does the monsoon do, when it falls over a 40+ acre, 6-7 storey high forest of concrete, broken chips, plaster, glass and asphalt known as Lallubhai Compound in Mankhurd?
Architectures of Exfoliation
Rohit Mujumdar, Vastavikta Bhagat, Shreya Kothawale - School of Environment & Architecture
How do the flows of atmospheric, surface and ground water shape the physical, spatial and chemical qualities of wet mud and muddy waters that constitute the inhabited sea of Mumbai’s R-Ward (Central)?
The Sea and the City
Lalitha Kamath and Gopal Dubey - Tata Institute of Social Sciences
We explore the relations of the sea in/and the city by recovering the (forgotten) histories, (tacit) knowledges and (embodied) practices of the aboriginal fishing settlement of Trombay Koliwada that has a long history of living amidst wetness on the coast.
Urban Sea
Nikhil Anand - University of Pennsylvania
What is the urban sea made of? And how might those working in the urban sea provide new modes and idioms for living in cities with sea level rise?
Drawing on Wetness
Rhea Shah - University of Pennsylvania
The project uses drawing as a method of analysis to reveal multiple temporary separations within wetness created by three practices in the city : the flamingo migration, Koli fishing, and the construction and usage of the local train infrastructure.
Intertidal Living
Shaunak Modi + Sejal Mehta - Marine Life of Mumbai
We focus on the intertidal regions of Mumbai, to document the extraordinary proliferation of non-human life that is nurtured in this anthropogenic landscape.
PlastiCity
Helen White + Ellie Kerns - Haverford College
Courtney Daub + Adwaita Banerjee - University of Pennsylvania
Siddharth Chitalia - School of Environment and Architecture
Zulekha Sayyed - CAMP
We write biographies of plastics that now inhabit Mumbai’s seas. Where did they come from? And where are they going?
Social Ecologies of the Coast
P. Pallavi, D. Parthasarathy + Arun Inamdar - Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
This project examines the ways in which the residents of Mahul and Mahim are made vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.