Sh*tscape: Mumbai’s Landscape In-Between

A growing number of the world’s population has little or no access to sanitation. This is particularly prevalent in India, where over 750 million people are without adequate sanitation facilities. Few designers have attempted to grapple with this ‘dirty’ subject. Sh*tscape: Mumbai’s Landscape In-Between proposes the making of an entirely functioning landscape built from human excreta. It will recover the ‘soil’ from the settlements while extracting the beneficial flora from the forest and, in turn, utilize both as a generator for a new and evolving landscape.

Introduction

Sh*tscape, Mumbai’s Landscape In-Between focuses on the Appapada Quarry in the northern Mumbai suburb of Malad East. It addresses the issue of informal settlements and sanitation at the western boundary of Sanjay Gandhi National Park. This project will propose the making of an entirely functioning landscape built from human excreta. It will recover the ‘soil’ from the settlements while extracting the beneficial flora from the forest and, in turn, utilize both as a generator for a new and evolving landscape. It will be directed at relieving the conditions of poverty where those living in this peri-urban zone will be the agents of change as they participate in the creation, processing and profits of this landscape.

The Appapada Quarry separates the established neighborhood of Malad East and a hillside of informal settlements.  In the middle of the quarry is the large Appapada Maidan, used by kids and adults from varying parts of northern Mumbai.  Several areas in and around the quarry environs are used for toileting by the local populace.

Insertion

Sh*tscape proposes three major introductory insertions: constructed trench-like composting toilets, a stone pathway traversing the quarry wall and stone ‘tanks’ for the retention of water. Other minor insertions should include a slow-sand filter for availability of potable water, a grove of both coconuts and bananas to help begin the functioning of the landscape and pit toilets for use during the monsoon season. 

Extraction

With water, improved soil, food supplies and the resiliency of the local population, this landscape can evolve throughout time to accommodate more varieties of produce and the potentially profitable growing of timber and Ayurvedic plant material. Additions to the water and toilet systems can be made as required by the local community as it grows and formalizes.

If this landscape is to be a success, it will need not only the inputs from the community, but their ingenuity in adapting the plan to their own uses.  As such, it is hoped that this landscape could be maintained through multi-family networks, much like a village system.  This project is designed as a prototype scenario which, if successful, could be repeated elsewhere along the western edge of the park.