Ecosystem – Centric Design

The importance of design being Ecosystem – Centric has always been a powerful driving force for me.

I am fascinated by the fact that ecological design is creativity deeply grounded in genuine needs of the landscape and its inhabitants, and Beforest, over the last few months has allowed me to push myself and explore its potential in these landscapes.

At the Collectives, the endeavour is to listen to the land and identify the appropriate response that helps each landscape reach its potential in Biodiversity, while providing for water, food, and power security. The estates are varied and every intervention approach needs its own study. There’s so much to learn and try out! United Designers and Biome are worthy partners in this endeavour and I have been privy to many insights through this association! 

As the teams are building and being woven together, there’s more conceptual clarity over the timelines and implementation plans for the work to proceed. As we have all come to know, execution is a long process – but there’s never a boring day!

Being conceptually different – at Beforest every decision needs to be weighed by the ecological as well as the financial cost involved. Finding the right balance is taking us through trials-and-errors and constantly challenging me to stay present and evolve my process. 

We are in exciting times with the food forest for The Hyderabad Collective being designed. The hydrological layer is what I’m most passionate about. This involves understanding drainage, soil porosity and characteristics, and where we can harness it best for the agrarian zones. This critical layer decides the base design of the land which is then wide open for further creativity with growing food – be it nurturing bees, plants or other creatures to creating the experience of an edible garden for a morning walk! 

I’ve been given the opportunity to direct this process and that has been very special over these months. The best aspect has been the team’s open mindset, that allows me to contribute new ideas and take risks while building my capacity to learn. This is what makes me feel alive.