VOICES BELOW TOWERS -BRIDGING THE GAP “OUT OF THIN AIR” FOR A FUTURE OF INTER-GENERATIONAL EQUITY

Project idea

The 21st century, a time of great change where cities in developing countries envision to reach the sky consequently creates a gap between communities labeled as “under-served”. Mostly in developing countries like Sri Lanka these so- called underserved communities become marginalized and as a result will be left to its own devices. As an initiative to address this evolving crisis a design plug-in model is developed to bridge the cornered communities in the context of the rapidly urbanizing city of Borella in Sri Lanka.
With the aim of Creating a future where voices below towers are heard and accounted for.

Project description

The site selected to address the issue was an abandoned railway line in Borella North acting as an edge to rule out the under-served settlement of Wanathamulla from the upcoming IT park Highrise complex on the other edge of the track.
So, the idea was to explore the ways of bridging the communities through a common element while experimenting on ways to build “out of thin air” where the modern cities also faces a crisis of land scarcity.

Technical information

The design plug-in model was to be developed in stages where the intervention will cause gradual change to the immediate context.
STAGE I - Development of the abandoned railway line as a public realm catering the adjoining communities to
• create place enjoyed by both communities
• enrich an existing abandoned place as a memory lane
• make connections using mixed uses and forms
STAGE II - Modelling the basic steel grid structure as the exoskeleton to plug-in the lightweight community upgraded mixed-use units.
• The exoskeleton is designed in a way to adapt to future changes in terms of density of the built and non-built areas where the areas for green pockets can be expanded for the design to become a part of nature with time.
• The lightweight modular plug-in structures designed using upcycled timber are further personalized by the community involvement to make it “a part of their own”.
STAGE III – The upper level pedestrian bridges are created to link the peripheral communities. And also, the plug-in units are further customized, and color coded according to function to cater the mixed uses of the building.
• Yellow modular units - Catering as IT learning pods for the youth of under-served community and as a service providing center of the IT park complex.
• Grey modular units - Designed as modified as “shop- house” models which are a common built form in Sri Lankan context catering the duo- functions of working and living in a single core unit.
• Magenta modular units - Units modified as studio apartments with rentable office/retail spaces creating an initiative towards a sustainable community development model in the future.