butterfly reserve
architect at architecture brio, mumbai 2012
A 75 acre Butterfly Reserve is proposed in the endangered Himalayan butterfly hotspots, currently under urbanisation danger. A lush variety of nectar and feeding plants revive the population and variety of the butterflies. Interventions are minimum and include a scientific research centre, tourism & research pavilions and an observation tower, sensitive of the social and physical environmental impact. Just as a butterfly perches tenderly on a flower barely touching it, so do the interventions with minimal lightweight timber frame structures on light steel columns that touch the ground, prefabricated to reduce disturbance at site. The entrance tower structure is the culmination of the Reserve as a constructed ecology. Based on tensegrity and balance, biomimicry is at play in the form of camoflage and display. The butterfly is a reminder to make changes when the opportunity arises. Change and transformation are inevitable for us all, and the journey through the park encourages this in the hope of a better environment.
*all images courtesy Architecture BRIO