related edges

The built form of the site has been changing over the years in a constant effort to withstand evolving environmental conditions; this change and development of the built form are quite evident in the settlements. It is not only the environmental aspect that changes the characteristics of local built form, but also the economics of each settlement and its dependencies on its fishing industries.

What is the landscape? The landscape consists of mostly stagnant water, with calm ingress and egress of tides in the backwaters within which small landforms have been occupied for fish cultivation with some land being dredged from the waters to provide space for built form.

The rise of large-scale fishing industries has resulted in many ponds using more sophisticated systems to control water conditions. This has allowed fishermen to cultivate throughout the year, and not have to cultivate paddy during the monsoon The localities with larger-scale fishing taking place tend to have larger residences, which suggests an indirect relation between the scale of water and built form as well.

With the depletion of the wetland to be taken up as paddy fields and cultivation ponds, the breathing of the influx of water has been restricted which has led to floods. This constant flooding, though becoming the norm, has resulted in harder edges being formed around the landmasses surrounded by water, and in more recent years, has resulted in the built form having far higher plinths as means of negotiations