The project

Background (Nature):
Thoreau in his book “Walden” describes the lake as “the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is the earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.”
In an urban sprawl, this ‘earth’s eye’ is the restful space of nature. The urban lake is increasingly becoming the recreational wilderness for citizens who spent most of their time inside artificial environments.
The word lake is used loosely to describe many types of water bodies – natural, manmade and ephemeral including wetlands (Reddy and Char, 2004). Bangalore has many lakes that are formed in the low lying areas which are mostly rainwater fed. Some of these tanks were constructed by the founder rulers of the city for water supply while
others were formed naturally. Over the years these lakes have become a part of the urban landscape and cultural memory of the city.
The public spaces are usually seen as landed areas that serve some functions for the urban dwellers to congregate, utilize for recreation or other purposes. In an urban setting the lake is both a commodity and a space.
The lake is public not only in terms of the actual material – water and the lake banks as a commodity – but also in terms of the aesthetics of being a visual public space or a natural artifact .As a commodity, the lake, its water, the water surface and lake banks are used as resources with different access and ownership rights3. Its boundaries imbricate over public and private property. As a space, it has multiple functions – it is an ‘artifact’ of nature, it has aesthetic, visual value in its very existence, it is a backdrop for recreation and shared experiences for the community and a stage for economic activity.
References
1 Thoureau, David Henry,(1960), Walden and the Civil Disobedience.
2 Reddy, M.S and Char N.V.V, 2004, Management of lakes in India retrieved from the website
www.worldlakes.org/uploads/ Management_of_lakes_in_India_10 Mar04.pdf on Jan.9, 2007.
3 Schlager; Edella and Elinor Ostrom, 1992, “Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A
Conceptual Analysis” Land Economics Vol. 68, No. 3 (Aug., 1992), pp. 249-262