Student Presenter(s): Hitakshi Agrawal, Rasika Deosthali
Faculty Mentor: Jeannette Sordi
Department: Architecture and Design
School/College: School of Architecture & Design, New York City

Terrestrial biosphere has been irreversibly altered by humans due to rapid urbanization. Every psychological and bodily human practice leads to global transformation such as increases in agriculture, industries, migration, mining, wars, etc. which has a footprint. These transformations have led to the evolution of human life in controlled environments, rather than engaging with the natural system which now is the major cause of climate change. Can we design something which is not there forever i.e., temporary or cyclical?

Human negotiations to deal with these situations result in the reclamation of land from the sea. This further has consequences such as frequent floods, land sliding, etc. which are a part of climate change. To tackle these, we have to be of the approach REUSE NOT RECLAIM.

Mining is one of the most widespread and invasive land uses that causes land degradation. Mining is one of the major issues where nonrenewable resources are being extracted which are diminishing quickly. It leaves land infertile and the environment uninhabitable for years which exceeds the number of years it was mined for. Centuries of mining and extracting resources from earth has led to the formation of numerous abandoned towns.

These towns could be revitalized into a living, thriving habitat. The question here that arises is when we can develop a technology to extract the ground can we not invent something to bring it back when the extraction is done. If humanity was capable of affecting the land it can also fix it.