Water Works: The Ganges of the future

26 May 2016 - 02:00 By YOLISA MKELE

''Ideas change history" - the phrase is a little trite but its truth is self-evident. If the idea of communism had not taken root, there's a good chance the world would not have spent decades on tenterhooks due to the threat of imminent nuclear destruction.From an architectural perspective, an idea can spend its life being a fanciful Lego project on steroids, a life-sized vanity purchase for the 1% or a prestige project that could possibly change the lives of millions.Wits student Vedhant Maharaj's masters thesis - Yantra, Infrastructure of the Sacred and Profane, falls into the latter category - which is why he won this year's Corobrik Architectural Award recently. The award, now in its third decade, is presented to a talented young graduate on the brink of making a name for himself or herself in this competitive profession.Named after a Hindu cosmological and religious symbol, Yantra is Maharaj's innovative attempt at merging both the poetic and the practical into a structure that could benefit the millions of people who use the Ganges River in India every year.The project is essentially a water purification "sanctuary" on the banks of the river. If it were to become a reality, it would filter water from the polluted tributaries feeding the Ganges through a combination of artificial and man-made processes.In addition it would include an underground research facility focusing on water filtration research.The plant would also serve a social purpose by providing a bathhouse and ablution facilities, which are a major concern for the women who flock to the river but are forced to bathe fully clothed as opposed to their scantily clad male counterparts."For me this idea is quite real. For my thesis I developed a business plan that could tap into both private and public funding for it and with another two layers of work it could be built. If you look at history, everything worthwhile started with a radical idea," said Maharaj.The project was, in part, inspired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's grand plan to clean the increasingly polluted Ganges River, which holds deep cultural and spiritual significance for the populace."The point of the challenge was to address and develop designs that benefit the 'majority world'. I call it the 'majority world' because people speak about the developing world or the Global South but these are places where the vast majority of the world's population live," said Maharaj.The sanctuary is also designed to deal with the large water level fluctuations that come and go with monsoon season.Mpho Matsipa, Maharaj's co-supervisor, said that Yantra could provide water that was safe for human consumption while respecting the rich architectural heritage of Varanasi.Said Matsipa: "He demonstrated both a nuanced and layered understanding of sustainability, technological and social innovation encompassing daily spatial practices on the Ganges River, larger scale developmental processes in India, heritage in the built environment and everyday spatial practices, and the complexities of religious plurality in India."Whether or not the project becomes a reality is another story, but Maharaj remains committed to trying to develop infrastructure for the "majority world" in ways that are both practical and poetic.If Yantra is anything to go by then he may be able to tick changing the world off his bucket list...

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