CENTRAL PARK
KIMSDU Campus, Karad

Project Type
Landscape for a Nature Park for an Institute

Site Area
2 acres

Status
Completed in 2022

Client
Mr.Vinayak Bhosale, KIMSDU

“Ancient trees are precious. There is little else on Earth that plays host to such a rich community of life within a single living organism.”

— Sir David Attenborough

It is very rare that one is confronted with a site which is inherently so beautiful, that you are stumped ! In your mind you think, but this is perfect, it really doesn’t need us to intervene. And so a journey begins, where one wants to do as little as possible and not leave ones footprint anywhere.

The Mr.Majestic – THE Ficus Religiosa aka THE Pimpal becomes both- the show-stopper and the pivot. Everything happens around the existing trees – the paths and the seats, with materials that are very natural and warm. A simple place of interaction, study and contemplation in the middle of a medical college campus to be used by students was thus conceptualised.

The entire site is in the shape of an inverted dish with hard rock below. The existing soil cover was merely 150-200 mm deep. The topography is kept as it is and spaces carved sit on their natural level. Trees had a shallow root system, and the roots had grown sideways and not down ( hard rock). Those were identified and were stabilized with some additional soil and a small kerb. New plants came with their own soil. Apart from that no other soil was introduced. The lawn was existing, only disturbed areas were replanted. Jeevamrut and cowdung manure was fed to the trees. They gained a good green foliage thereafter. A spray of a mixture of JA and onion peels in water was used to cure the trees of any pests.