Sem 06 / Settlement Studies
The Shifting Edge: Uppada, Andhra Pradesh

Prasad Khanolkar  

The sixth semester Settlement Studies course, titled The Shifting Edge, offered a nuanced understanding of Uppada, a coastal settlement shaped by the intertwined forces of climate change, shifting livelihoods, and socio-spatial practices. Through collaborative group studies, students examined how recurring cyclones, coastal erosion, and shifting economies influence both the built environment and everyday life of Uppada’s residents. The course encouraged a critical engagement with the relationship between environmental processes and the evolution of the built form, prompting students to question conventional notions of permanence, incrementality, and environment. It highlighted how settlements are not static entities but dynamic landscapes continuously reshaped by ecological uncertainties and human responses.

Rather than viewing Uppada solely through narratives of vulnerability and loss, the course foregrounded the spatial practices of endurance that are embedded in incremental housing adaptations, evolving livelihood strategies, and the flexible use of shared spaces such as courtyards, verandas, and streets. These everyday spatial practices revealed how private and communal lives are negotiated through invisible boundaries, collective memories, and cultural traditions. Additionally, the study of rehabilitation initiatives and occupational transitions demonstrated how communities actively respond to environmental pressures while sustaining social continuity.

Overall, the course reframed Uppada as a site of continuous adaptation and lived resilience, contributing to broader reflections on urbanity at the margins and deepening students’ sensitivity to the complex relationships between environment, society, and the built form.

The work from the module can be found here.

Commons


Adaptations and Extensions


Courtyards