Living Wisdom : Conserving Vernacular Agrarian Riverine Cultural Landscape of Asud Baug , Konkan, Maharashtra
Masters in Landscape Architecture
Savitribai Phule Pune University
In this studio theme of understanding ‘cultivated inland riverine fragile landscape ecosystem’ wrt ‘Asud’ as a representative example of a small village in ‘Ratnagiri’, Kokan, Maharashtra, India, aims to propose rural landscape conservation and planning policies, design in context, conserving the vocabulary of design and planning and answer the question of ‘what should be the role of landscape architect in a context specific design’ on a macro and micro level.
The intent of this study is to analyze such unique, fragile river ecosystems, setting of these cultural landscapes, understand the ‘preserved traditional setting’, involvement of communities in shaping, these land parcels as a part of daily life, cultivated landscapes, economics and its relation to traditional practices, demands of the future from the land etc, by studying example of ‘Asud’ as one such village near Dapoli.
Nestling into the ‘Sahyadris’, spread along a seasonal westward flowing river ‘Asav’ and it’s inseparable bond with ‘Keshavraj Temple’, unfolds a story of ‘Asud’ – a small village plentiful in ecology, culture, traditional wisdom, unique landscape character, diverse geomorphology and a legacy in itself.
The studio intends to find answers to the following :
1.Responding to the ‘Indianness’ of such settings in terms of design and planning
2.Future sustainability of the landuse of these villages
3.Role of Landscape Architecture at macro level, contemporary layer and new vocabulary, design and planning approach.