Robyn Perkins, MLA’08, selected as runner up for the 2008 Metropolis Next Generation® Design Prize for her proposal to address Mumbai's flooding problem
Mumbai’s biggest problem is its distribution, control and protection of water. With a storm water system over 70 years old, and monsoons maxing 944 mm in 24 hours, Mumbai’s floods shut down the city annually.
Mumbai has the densest population worldwide, reaching a population over 14 million people. 8 million of these people don’t have running water. 10% of the population waits over 10 hours for clean water. On a daily basis, Mumbai meets only 84% of its water demand.
Mumbai is currently going through major redevelopment, focused on rebuilding and densifying colonies and slums. Because so much of the city is being torn down and rebuilt, now is the crucial time to implement new water systems.
Robyn's project address flood mitigation at a regional level, housing redevelopment and water management on a site level, and most importantly, it investigates solutions for the lacking water supply on an individual level for colonies. On a block level, her project uses modern techniques combined with Indian models to provide spatial solutions which work with Mumbai’s culture, maintenance, and implementation. Each block becomes self contained in terms of water management, and self sufficient in terms of water supply.
For more information see the Metropolis Magazine Website.
Welcome to the Department of Landscape Architecture
With the continuing expansion of our cities and suburban areas, landscape architects increasingly serve not only as designers, but also as advocates of landscape rescue and conservation. They are called upon to create landscapes that respond to the broad range of human habitation in diverse cultural and ecological contexts. The profession of landscape architecture is rich in scope, ranging from the design of urban landscapes such as New York City's Central Park, to the reclamation of brownfields, to the ecological planning of large tracts of land such as the regional watershed management of the western United States.
Landscape architecture instruction at the GSD fosters students' inventiveness and creativity and cultivates the skills required for informed decision making. Students are encouraged to draw from historical precedents, art, design theory, civil engineering, and site analysis. Instruction also emphasizes the process of land planning and ecological analysis and the study of social, economic, legal, environmental, and policy issues affecting the design process.
The design studio provides the core of learning and inquiry; instruction and research emphasize critical analysis and a breadth of understanding in design, visual studies, theory, history, professional practice, and scientific research. The students' experience is also enriched by interactions with other GSD departments and with the Harvard University Art Museums, the Arnold Arboretum, the Harvard Forest, and Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. Cross-cultural and multidisciplinary perspectives on design problems and practices are offered by visiting faculty from other nations and other professional backgrounds.
Niall Kirkwood, Department Chair