Visible and Invisible: Ecosystem of the Shimla Water Catchment
(Thesis Project)
Information Design, Public Space Design
1/4 scale prototype of the final infographic installation
Our 8th semester thesis project was a three-way collaboration between GIZ (the client, a German development agency), the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department and Srishti Films. The brief was to design visitor experiences within Nature Interpretation Centers at three sites assigned to us in Himachal Pradesh - the Shimla Water Catchment, the Kufri Zoo and the Manali Nature Park.
The Shimla Water Catchment is an enormous catchment area that has been supplying water to the city of Shimla with minimal human intervention since British rule. The multimedia infographic which I worked on with my teammates, Vaidehi Patil and Sakshi Joshi, aims to generate curiosity and inform visitors of the catchment about the same.
The infographic is designed to be installed at the entrance of the catchment where tourists come for treks or bicycle rides. It illustrates how water enters the catchment as precipitation, seeps underground and subsequently emerges out of the aquifers as springs, naturally filtered by soil. The underground cast iron pipes then deliver the water to the city of Shimla, post a second level of filtration at the treatment plant.
In addition to this, the catchment is a sprawling deodar forest which supports a diverse ecosystem of animals, birds, butterflies and various medicinal plants and herbs. The installation thus visualises the interconnections between the vast, visible landscape, and the invisible, underground flow of water.
Final illustration
The illustrations were derived from the Chamba Rumal style of embroidery native to Himachal Pradesh.
Closeups
Digital renders and plans for execution of the installation
Process images - from inital sketches to execution of the final prototype
Aside from the infographic installation, I also worked on creating a logo to unify all of our projects at the Water Catchment.
Some examples of the logo in use
Link to view the entire project documentation ︎
Cargo Collective, Inc. Los Angeles, Calif.