8_EXP_1

Thesis:

Argument

India’s rural landscapes are primary populated by tribal communities. These tribes rely on natural resources for their subsistence’s through rain-fed agriculture, livestock rearing, and use of a wide variety of forest produces.
The increase of the tribal populations has caused extensive land use which has resulted in soil erosion, forest degradation, and reduction of soil fertility in agricultural land; these being the result of constant over grassing, bad agricultural practises and deforestation which give way to the destruction of their unique local biodi¬versity (flora and fauna) breaking the equilibrium of the forest ecology and reducing its resilience.
The destruction of the flora (green Bio-Mass) directly disrupts the already delicate Hydro-Geological conditions reducing the rate of natural underground water recharge capabilities of the soil, therefore every year becoming lower during the monsoon season. As a consequence of this the geology becomes un-stable, also increasing the probabilities of land run-off and flooding.
As a result of all these issues unproductive, eroded and decertified areas emerge. These unproductive home of the tribal settlements has force these people to engage in criminal activities such as illegal tree felling, poaching. Also has forced them to migrate to other areas where there are better economic opportunities, losing important unique local traditional tribal crafts, as well as social, cultural and religious practises as well as increase urban density and overpopulation problems.
Abstract
The research attempts to investigate and understand the properties, behaviour and performance of different super absorbent polymers called Hydrogels; in order to develop a strategic implementation and deployment of these polymers through the articulation of new material systems and logics that posses sensibilities of local craft and that respond to local climatic conditions; which can temporarily stabilise the disrupted Hydro-geological conditions. Therefore, becoming a catalyst for the re-activation of the hydro-biological cycle, that is essential for the equilibrium of the local forest ecology and also for subsistence of the local settlements.

Description:
Hydrogels material properties and behavioural responses_ Data collection for Grasshopper.