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UN-SINK
Redefining Ground Level Through Celebratory Water Spaces
Cornell University, Fall 2023, Studio
In collaboration with Veronica Paulon (M'Arch)
Instructor: Farzin Lotfi-Jam
Indonesia’s coastal islands face a climate crisis, with large-scale land submersion projected by 2100. Jakarta has sunk up to 5 meters in the past few decades due to unequal water access, forcing communities to install thousands of illegal groundwater pumps. These, along with heavy industrial pumping, have severely depleted the aquifers, accelerating land subsidence.
UN-SINK proposes to mitigate land subsidence-induced flooding with three main goals:
- Drastically minimizing groundwater pumping by providing universal access to clean water through rain catchment, treatment, and public fountains.
- Restoring Jakarta to its original land levels by artificially replenishing aquifers through Injection Water Wells retrofitted from previous groundwater pumps.
- Integrating engineering response with local water rituals, fostering a renewed relationship with water.
The proposed system of four interventions address land sinkage, water access, and cultural continuity by merging technical infrastructure with cultural experience. While highly theoretical, UN-SINK builds on rigorous research to bridge speculation and reality, aiming to provoke discourse and invention.
















