Innovative, Resilient Designs
Huzefa Rangwala and Jasem Pirani
In its endeavour to explore relevant technological tools to be able to adapt to changing environments and deliver unique solutions through collaborations, Mumbai-based design studio MuseLAB launched its dedicated research arm MuseX and has come up with innovative designs including algal cultivation, a prototype for a market on wheels inspired by the humble cart and a design proposal for a human-centric public toilet system…
Huzefa Rangwala and Jasem Pirani founded MuseLAB in 2012. It is an end-to-end design studio; offering a bespoke and leading-edge approach to design. With a precise focus on unique and highly customized environments, interiors and furniture.
MuseX is there research arm which seeks to find solutions to our collective problems through unique technological tools and collaborations.
For us at MuseLAB, design is a constant dialogue between the built and the unbuilt, the inhabitable and the habitable, the realized and the desired. Our approach is often pluralistic where we try to find the balance between diverse thoughts and ideas. The studio is held together by ideas, beliefs and shared humanistic values. We refuse to adhere to any defined set of boundaries. We believe in creating with passion and building on the cultural context for the wellbeing of our society. Whether it is the way in which we respond to challenges; by tailoring our solutions to the quantitative and qualitative requirements. Stories excite us. Through each one of our projects, whether it may be through architecture, interiors or products and furniture we are looking to inspire and share a story.
In the last quarter of 2019, we heard from our first ‘museling’ Bhakti Loonawat who planned to return to Bombay after completing her Masters in Advanced Architecture from IAAC. She had some ideas in mind and wanted to further build on her research-based experience in Barcelona. We too were itching to further explore materiality and deep dive into research-based projects.
After many video calls and over copious cups of Starbucks we in early 2020 launched MuseX– our studio’s dedicated research arm. Through this conscious effort, we are looking to explore relevant technological tools to be able to adapt to changing environments and deliver unique solutions through collaborations. At present, through MuseX we are exploring algal cultivation, a prototype for a market on wheels inspired by the humble cart and a design proposal for a humancentric public toilet system.
Mahim Junction
‘Mumbai is upgrading’ has become the ubiquitous slogan for the massive infrastructural additions that our city has undertaken in recent years. However, this statement has been true for decades if not centuries in the organic nature of growth that is characteristic to our city. As its economy and population swell, we create new flyovers and routes in the hopes of managing the persistent deluge, but often leave behind opportunities to optimize existing infrastructure through deliberate design. One such opportunity presents itself at the Mahim Junction, the starting point of the Mahim Causeway which is one of the primary routes connecting the island city to the mainland. The junction is a busy intersection of major roads adjacent to public amenities like the church and school, so it sees constant and contentious interaction between vehicles and pedestrians. In light of the success of redesign proposals for chaotic junctions led by organisations such as WRI and NACTO, we attempted a reimagining of the Mahim Junction incorporating smoother traffic flow and safer pedestrian access.
Through diagrammatic illustrations, we have tackled the following issues:
• Creating continuous footpaths to reduce pedestrians from crossing over
• Breaking the length of crossings by providing median refuge islands
• Regulating erratic pedestrian movement by providing crossings at shorter intervals
• Geometry correction of jagged edges to regulate and smoothen traffic flow
• Introducing a round-about to prevent bottlenecks and impose natural geometry t traffic flow
• Interconnected plazas to house the seasonal and daily crowds that gather at this junction
The Market on Wheels
It is a resilient delivery system made from circular materials with built-in safety and sanitization considerations. COVID-19 has affected the world we live in and our outlook on normalcy. In stepping out of lockdown there is a dire need to rehabilitate and reinstate the new normal. A pandemic triggers a ripple effect and doesn’t just lead to loss of life but loss of livelihoods as well. Market on wheels not only creates a resilient delivery system but also allows to sustain the livelihood of a vendor while still protecting their health and safety. The design is inspired by the humble hand-cart, an accepted method of delivery in the Indian subcontinent and most of Southeast Asia. The reformed cart is a compact modular mobile system that transforms into a stand-alone kiosk.
Made of bamboo, the container modules of the cart are securely placed on a metal base frame. The canopy is held up by bamboo poles. Solar panels are mounted atop the canopy that has retractable awnings providing shade for both the customer and the vendor. Its tiered modules slide open to allow for the display of groceries while providing physical distancing between two customers, and the customers and the vendor.
The idea is to separate the two main functions: the selection of products and the checkout process. The cart even has a sanitization point incorporated within each of these zones. It also has refrigerated
containers that will allow for the supply of dairy products and help in keeping the produce fresh. The self-checkout area allows for a contactless exchange between customer and vendor.
Algal Micro-forest
It is an urban furniture that harnesses the ability of algae to act as a greenhouse gas sink. Our natural forests are being fast replaced by concrete jungles and we can no longer ignore the pressing environmental issues that we have created. We believe that the next step in preservation may lie in partnerships with some tiny representatives of the natural planet that we endanger, namely, algae. These unassuming members of the plant family hold the awe-inspiring potential to compete with their massive cousins on equal footing, often surpassing them in resilience and efficacy. We are therefore inspired to try and harness their capabilities to create a modular piece of street furniture, the ‘Algal Microforest’ that can act as effective carbon sinks integrated into the built urban environment.
The tree-like rig of the Algal MicroForest is designed with a metallic frame holding up six hexagonal panels, a form designed for modularity. Each hexagonal biosystem attaches to the mainframe at a slightly different height and is completed by a removable metallic covering. The external face of the lid bears a photovoltaic film to power the LED lights which provide sustenance and allow the algae to propagate. The intervention harnesses the superior abilities of marine algae to absorb CO2 from the environment, thereby sequestering large amounts of CO2 into biomass which can also be used as biofuel and animal feed. This makes algal cultivation a promising solution for the reduction of greenhouse gases in urban environments where reforestation is necessary but unviable due to space constraints
Public Loo (Saajha Saamudayik Shauchalaya)
It is a toilet module designed upon ideals of community ownership, technological innovation and circular materiality. Access to adequate sanitation is still a pressing problem. The challenge of unplanned urbanisation is evident in our slums. Since providing individual toilets to slum residents is not viable, our solution proposes a shared community toilet. The design is positioned at the intersection of three frameworks– human-centricity of the design, use of available technology and materiality with a low environmental impact.
Self-driven usage schedules attempt to impart a sense of ownership within the community for the toilet assets assigned to them. Other humancentric aspects include the reduction of touch points across the premises in order to address the health and safety concerns of the community. Waste management is heavily stigmatized therefore recently developed technology is leveraged to direct toilet resources (human waste) into a circular economy system. This system utilizes a waterless source-separating toilet to collect waste and process it to create valuable
products such as biochar and organic fertilizers. It also helps monitor the health of the community and track the spread of disease.
Contextual material such as terracotta pipes manufactured in Dharavi and recycled plastic panels have been used to lower building impact through materiality. A network of similar shared community toilets is envisioned to support one another by sharing toilet resources and generating revenue from the creation of innovative products. The toilet can then become a catalyst for social change bringing about safer sanitation practices and
management of resources within the community.
MuseTRIBE
It is a Channapatna-inspired unit created for an art installation that dismantles into stackable toys for children. Channapatna is an endangered craft which the pandemic has pushed to a precarious brink. Many craftsmen have been forced to take up odd jobs like mango-picking due to loss of income. Their biggest challenge is the lack of direct access to the market and design innovation which would allow them to assimilate into contemporary culture.
MuseTRIBE is therefore a project intentioned towards empowering this community of craftsmen by creating a public installation in direct collaboration with them. However, unlike most installations, the life of this project doesn’t end in a warehouse or landfill. At the end of its duration of display, the installation disassembles into modular toys which will be distributed to underprivileged children with the help of an identified organization. A simple gesture to ensure that the installation lives on and the craft is one step closer to finding purchase in everyday life.
The installation comprises of stackable toys strung upon transparent threads to create a screen that wraps around the staircase at Mill Owner’s Association in Ahmedabad for the RAW Collaborative exhibition. The toys are made from a lightweight and tough, ivory wood (Wrightia Tinctoria), locally known as Hale Mara. It is locally acquired, seasoned and cut into smaller planks which are then mounted onto a lathe and carved
and shaped into the proposed forms. The toys are coloured using vegetable dyes and finished in lacquer so as to be smooth and rounded, with no sharp edges. As a result, the product is safe for children to play with.
The Courtyard of Knowledge
It is an exercise in building a school with a community, an act in the present that gives them agency over the future. It aims to provide the people of Marsassoum an adaptive premise which allows them to partition and coalesce spaces to create volumes as their needs may dictate. Along with a public access library block and its spatial adaptability, the school premises aim to be an asset of relevance to the community at large and not just to students. The details that come together to build it make it a tapestry of not only sociological engagement but also technical innovation.
On the technical front, the project explores the use of computational weather tools to optimize planning, sun-shading and cross ventilation. The project also seeks to expand the local vocabulary of construction by introducing two new systems. The first is a modular steel jointed bamboo frame structure and the second is brick masonry slabs which would enable the locals and LBMS to envision double-storey structures in future projects. The project also takes an active approach towards sanitation and water management, by introducing the Ecosan dry toilet system and preserving opportunities for groundwater recharge respectively.
The lightweight bamboo structural framework with steel joints supports the roof and provides the substructure onto which the retractable and roll-down fabric partitions are attached. The tessellated metal roof is designed to direct water into the earth-bed of the peripheral plantation and the brick inlayed courtyard spaces. Pergolas of split bamboos span the gaps between the triangular protrusions of the roof in order to create a semi covered walkway between the classrooms and the courtyard.
Design is at the forefront of our practice.
Our team is a collective of architects, interior designers and furniture designers. As designers, we strive to strike a balance between our strengths and weaknesses and believe in the power of collaboration. As a team, we are always curious and constantly exploring ways by which design can simplify, advance and enhance lives and our environment. For us, every challenge is treated as an opportunity which is given careful thought and consideration. We use both intuitive and traditional methods of analysis to identify the tangible and the intangible. By a systematic process of conceptualization, schematic design and design development we look to provide pure and focused experiential design. Each project irrespective of scale and typology is conceptdriven and relates to a central narrative.
As a practice, we at MuseLAB are continuously seeking to explore, learn and find solutions.