Tank Imaginaries! Rethinking Water Infrastructure Design in Bengaluru

Abstract

Scattered across Bengaluru is a vast network of manmade lakes (also called “tanks” or keres). Over the last fifty years, this once provisional water infrastructure has been disrupted by rapid urbanization. Under the pretext of conservation, many lakes are currently being restored, however this same narrative is also used to limit access, regulate usage, and diminish holistic spaces. This thesis uses Bengaluru to investigate how water infrastructure can become a central protagonist in the city—an organizing force in fostering new imaginations of public space, civic engagement, and ecological awareness. The first written component skewers current approaches to the tanks, suggesting alternative models of polyfunctional use. The second component presents design scenarios for Bellandur lake at different scales, producing typology toolkits and mechanisms of governance for each. Combined, these are presented as an instrument of advocacy for not just redesigning Bengaluru’s lakes, but critically reimagining urban water infrastructure more broadly.