New Grounds: multi-level urban landscapes

Indian metropolises are emulating the global highdensity vertical living trend. Neighbourhoods now stretch vertically in multi-layered developments that integrate work, home and recreation in one urban unit. Increasing distance from the ground disconnects users from ground level landscapes and a high-density development lead to loss of urban biodiversity. These multidimensional neighbourhoods require an innovative landscape vocabulary and response that can be grouped under vertical landscapes. The studio positioned such neighbourhoods in Ahmedabad, to be reinterpreted through the current tall building guidelines. It explored new combinations of uses and buildings that provided a foundation to apply vertical landscape responses. Students were required to program, locate and design a complex three-dimensional neighbourhood landscape resulting in amenity creation for societal interaction and recreation. They also explored multilevel and vertical green infrastructure tools to conserve rainwater, increase biodiversity and modulate microclimate.