REWA – The Manifestations in Time

REWA – The Manifestations in Time is a design proposal situated within the dispute zone of Nisarpur, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Conceived for villages affected by large‑scale dam construction along the Narmada River, the project explores how riverfront rehabilitation architecture can become a medium of continuity rather than rupture. Instead of treating resettlement as a purely technical relocation exercise, REWA positions architecture as a socio‑cultural framework that safeguards memory, livelihoods, and spatial identity while enabling adaptation to a transformed landscape.

The proposal emerges directly from the lived realities of the villagers of Nisarpur. It reinterprets their settlement patterns, occupational structures, cultural rituals, and relationship with the river to generate interventions that uplift the community while sustaining the essence of the old village in a new location.

Context: The Narmada River Valley

The Narmada River is one of India’s most significant west‑flowing rivers, acting as an ecological, cultural, and economic lifeline for multiple states. Beyond irrigation, drinking water, and hydro‑electric power, the river holds profound spiritual value, shaping rituals, pilgrimages, and collective identity. Over decades, however, dam‑led development in the Narmada River Valley has resulted in large‑scale submergence of land, repeated flooding events, and the displacement of entire settlements.

Within this context, Nisarpur represents a recurring condition seen across the valley—villages that exist in a fragile balance between fertile riverine landscapes and the looming threat of submergence. REWA responds to this tension by reframing rehabilitation not as an endpoint, but as an evolving process embedded in time, landscape, and community.

Understanding Displacement as a Temporal Condition

A central premise of REWA is that displacement is not a single moment of loss, but a prolonged temporal experience shaped by uncertainty, seasonal flooding, and incremental transformation. The project documents the historical timeline of dam construction, reservoir level changes, and flooding events to reveal how villages repeatedly adapt before eventual relocation becomes unavoidable.

This layered understanding informs the architectural response. Rather than proposing a static resettlement layout, the project introduces adaptable spatial systems that acknowledge cyclical change—water levels rise and recede, markets intensify and disperse, and social life shifts between seasons.

Site Reading and Settlement Logic

The proposed rehabilitation site near Nisarpur is analyzed through multiple lenses: geography, topography, hydrology, and existing social infrastructure. The original village demonstrates a compact, walkable settlement pattern closely tied to agricultural fields, markets, and river access. Daily life unfolds within a tight radius where living, working, trading, and social interaction overlap.

REWA translates this logic into the new site by preserving proximity between homes, livelihoods, and communal spaces. The aim is to prevent the fragmentation often seen in conventional resettlement colonies, where standardized housing layouts disconnect residents from their economic and social ecosystems.

Riverfront Rehabilitation Architecture as a Social Framework

At the heart of the proposal is a reimagined marketplace that functions as both an economic engine and a social condenser. Traditionally, the village market operates as a node of exchange, interaction, and cultural visibility, drawing people from surrounding settlements. In REWA, the market is repositioned within the rehabilitation site as a central civic space that anchors daily life.

The architectural language emphasizes porosity, shaded circulation, and adaptable structures that respond to varying intensities of use—market days, non‑market days, festivals, and seasonal fluctuations. This flexible approach allows the built environment to support informal economies while remaining resilient to climatic stress.

Building Typologies and Material Intelligence

The project carefully studies existing house and shop typologies, including mixed‑use dwellings where commercial and domestic activities coexist. These typologies inform new housing models that balance privacy with communal interaction. Courtyards, transitional spaces, and shaded edges play a critical role in climate control and social engagement.

Material choices are rooted in local construction practices—brick, mud, tiled flooring, timber, and simple roofing systems—ensuring familiarity, affordability, and ease of maintenance. By building upon vernacular knowledge, REWA strengthens the community’s ability to inhabit, adapt, and eventually transform their environment independently.

Ecology, Water, and Resilience

REWA positions water not only as a threat but as an organizing principle. The design integrates water bodies, drainage patterns, and landscape contours to manage flooding while reinforcing the community’s cultural bond with the river. Elevated plinths, controlled edges, and buffer zones mitigate risk without severing visual or experiential connections to water.

Ecologically, the project respects existing agricultural cycles and biodiversity. Productive landscapes are woven into the settlement fabric, allowing agriculture to remain a viable livelihood while enhancing food security and economic stability.

Architecture as Mediation

More than a physical proposal, REWA functions as a mediator between opposing forces—development and displacement, infrastructure and inhabitation, permanence and flux. It questions the binary of pro‑dam versus anti‑dam by focusing on the lived consequences of large‑scale infrastructure and the role architecture can play in healing fractured geographies.

By grounding design decisions in ethnographic study, spatial analysis, and environmental understanding, the project demonstrates how riverfront rehabilitation architecture can move beyond compensation‑driven housing to become a meaningful framework for social continuity.

REWA – The Manifestations in Time reframes rehabilitation as an act of cultural preservation and adaptive resilience. It asserts that when architecture listens—to land, water, and people—it can transform displacement into an opportunity for regeneration rather than erasure.

The project stands as an exploration of how time, memory, and place can be translated into built form, offering a sensitive and context‑driven model for communities navigating the complex realities of river valley development.

Project Credits Project by Jane James

Editor’s Choice Entry – UnIATA 2020