Centre for visual and digital art: redevelopment of indraprastha thermal power station, New Delhi

Abstract

The impact of industrialization is widely accepted to have profound social, economic and environmental effects. Industrialisation, and the urbanisation that accompanies it, has been the largest single driver of change in the human habitat and continues to be so – notably in Brazil, India and China. Each structure designed, is created with the intent of satisfying a required service for a definite period of time, but what happens when that time has passed? There are a mass of buildings that lay inactive. These buildings hold true heritage of place. In India, there is an abundance of derelict site in cities. Without program these spaces are not seen as assets to their communities. The nation’s capital itself has four defunct power plants sitting along the river Yamuna that cover a significant amount of land at the very urban core of the city. This thesis explores the un-tapped potential found in these underutilized vacant spaces as a conduit for contemporary recreation and community involvement. The site chosen to reinvigorate through careful adaption is one of the four defunct power stations in New Delhi, Indraprastha thermal power station which was closed down in October 2009 due to economic and environmental concerns. After the closure and the dismantlement of the structures, One Structure remains which has been treated as spatial resource and has been given new purposes.