Architecture Bulletin | Going beyond the headlines | 5-min Read
The Story in a Minute: If you are anything like me and you literally wander around our “Aamchi Mumbai streets,” you must have seen a lot of concrete pipes buried along the roads or peeking above them, carrying water somewhere. But, them? A Pavilion? That too overlooking the sea? Ah! I wasn’t even able to picture it that way; all until I saw Re:Concrete!
So, Re:Concrete is basically an unbuilt pavilion proposal by Kaixin Su, Taoyu Han, Jialu Hou and Shivani Rastogi that sort of reimagines surplus, rejected or decommissioned precast concrete drainage pipes as a modular public space on Mumbai’s coast. In fact, it even received an Honourable Mention in Buildner’s International Concrete Pavilion Competition this year in March.
And it’s not like the designers simply crushed the pipes into aggregate & modeled them. Rather, they took efforts to retain the existing cylindrical components, cut, rotate and combine them at different heights. Some became walls; others changed to thresholds, seating, suspended volumes and circular openings for daylight. And it could all be eventually dismantled and reconfigured as per the available usable pipes!
So while Re:Concrete is still only a proposal, it really questions if materials are getting a second life; them being repurposed, like Pliny Fisk III thought & them reducing waste. And honestly, I think that’s what makes this little pavilion proposal worth talking about.
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Banner Image Sketch Reference & Copyrights: Kaixin Su, Taoyu Han, Jialu Hou, Shivani Rastogi
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What Is Re:Concrete Mumbai?
So, Re:Concrete in Mumbai is basically an unbuilt pavilion proposal by Kaixin Su, Taoyu Han, Jialu Hou and Shivani Rastogi. Design Boom’s coverage says that it’s sort of a reversible and modular arrangement that transforms Mumbai’s surplus drainage pipes into a sustainable and iconic civic pavilion. Like, the scheme eventually asks whether architecture can reuse its concrete again in its raw form, rather than as an aggregate.
But what I feel, however, is that it’s a project to make us rethink about material reuse. See, concrete pipes may become surplus, get rejected or like, decommission long before the material itself reaches the end of its useful life. Yet, conventional recycling breaks the component, discards the form and even the manufacturing effort invested in it. Re:Concrete however, tries to maintain the tubular pipe shapes & repurposes them without any other intervention.
And in doing so, the proposal treats the reuse as a design decision rather than anything else. In fact, even Realty Today’s report notes how the designers built their concept around the existing geometry & dimensions only. So, that’s actually worth taking away for me; like being sustainable by rethinking the existing.
Quick Note: Re:Concrete eventually received an Honourable Mention in Buildner’s International Concrete Pavilion Competition. The brief there was to reimagine concrete as a versatile, tactile material and push the edges of modern concrete applications in general.
How Does a Drainage Pipe Become a Pavilion?
You know, at Re:Concrete, a drainage pipe becomes a pavilion due to the ardent positioning, orientation and sectional vision by its designers. They basically didn’t treat each pipe as a standalone object. Instead, they used both whole cylinders and longitudinally cut sections to form modular, combined and negative spaces that people could move through and occupy.
Then, as Design Boom’s project coverage describes, the team cut, rotated and suspended those pipes at different heights for better architectural depth. Like, they retained the enclosed, tubular geometry of some pipes, while cut and chiselled others for openings and dimensions. Thus, they could achieve a complete brief with passages and seating places within the same form.
Moreover, even the precast pipe sections were literally 2.1 X 2.5 mtrs; basically large enough to create informal seating, entrances and even thresholds. So the designers could create circular openings with elevated cylinders, sea-views through the gaps and bright reflections across the concave surfaces. Together, these placements create a composition that alternates between enclosure and openness without conventional solid walls throughout.
The Glass like surface allows you to quickly jot down items you need to buy, and erase with marker cap duster and rewrite as needed.
What Would It Feel Like Inside Re:Concrete Mumbai?
See, from what I can imagine, I feel that Re:Concrete might give us this great balance between refuge and prospect. Like, we all tend to value spaces where we can feel protected while still seeing what lies beyond, right? So, Re:Concrete’s curved surfaces might create that sheltering effect, while still being visually connected to the sea.
Even the pipes might make us more curious! Like, their circular forms and varied orientations might create changing sightlines; So, the visitors may discover new views as they walk through the structure, rather than understand the space all at once. Then, there’s the material too! Like, concrete usually feels heavy, permanent and imposing. But when designers separate the pipes and arrange them at different heights, that visual heaviness sort of breaks into smaller elements. So inside, Re:Concrete might feel less imposing than its material suggests.
Now of course, these are my interpretations; not psychological responses. Still, I eventually think that Re:Concrete could be more of a place where people feel curious, comfortable and inclined to stay, like the Barbican Conservatory.
Why Does Re:Concrete Mumbai Leave Its Pipes Exposed?
Re:Concrete Mumbai, as you all know, doesn’t try to make reclaimed concrete look good. Instead, it sort of embraces the pipe’s industrial character, dimensions, thickness, joints, cut edges, weathering marks, everything. Like, these become a part of the pavilion’s architectural expression only.
But honestly, I feel that we can really have a practical argument here. Like, reusing concrete pipes in their existing form could reduce the demand for new raw materials and avoid processing, handling and dust in general. So, it’s more affordable and easy to scale, just like what Tallinn Architecture Biennale’s proposing this year.
Next, the aesthetic’s the same too! See, we all know that concrete is heavy. But then a pavilion should feel visually light too, right? So, one, the designers created gaps to break the structural mass. And two, they increased the indoor reflections to sort of balance the visual weight and openness rightly. Thus, the industrial look isn’t something to correct; It in fact, connects architecture to its original components.
Also, Re:Concrete has a modular, dry-assembled system. That means, it has retained the flexibility to dismantle and reconfigure. If fewer suitable pipes are available, the structure can shrink; if more become available, it can expand. Individual components can also be reused elsewhere. And this flexibility would have gone if we had to add the surface treatments and finishes each time, right?
Quick Note: I personally think that the potential savings and environmental benefits of Re:Concrete would still depend on transport, cutting, structural testing and assembly. But even then, the proposal makes a strong case for designing around reclaimed materials, visual language and assembled construction strategy.
Why Mumbai’s Coast?
As you all know, Re:Concrete is made in “Aamchi Mumbai,” an area with expanding infrastructure, dense urban development and ongoing transformation. Hence, first, the designers are actually bringing an otherwise overlooked urban part into view via their discarded drainage pipe module.
Second, as Design Boom’s coverage says, the project reimagines service-based, i.e drainage pipe infrastructure as a civic space. And, even that shift is relevant in Mumbai where the infrastructure’s typically functional & the coast offers a place to pause, gather and experience the city from a different perspective. It contrasts it a bit too; like the pavilion breaks down the superficial definition of luxury and helps people encounter functional material differently.
However, Mumbai obviously introduces practical considerations too! Any built version here would need to be really durable against exposure to moisture, salt-laden air, wind, breakability and what not. And since Re:Concrete remains an unbuilt proposal, its performance in these conditions has yet to be demonstrated.
Can Re:Concrete Mumbai Actually Be Built?
Re:Concrete Mumbai is an unbuilt architectural proposal. Thus, its design concept still needs to prove itself through structural engineering, material testing and construction planning. Like, reusing precast concrete drainage pipes is good, but then a pipe that works underground cannot automatically serve as a safe, exposed architectural component.
So one, the designers would need to assess each pipe for its condition, structural capacity and suitability. And two, they might need to solve the following technical challenges too:
- Structural Integrity of Reclaimed Pipes: So, each pipe would require strict conditional assessment and structural testing to identify cracks, deterioration and other defects. Plus, it might need capacity testing under different loads and support conditions too!
- Cut-edge Stability & Reinforcement: See, longitudinally cutting a pipe obviously changes their structural behaviour. Hence, engineers would first need to assess these sections for stability, reinforcement or edge strengthening, whichever necessary.
- Lifting & Installation: The pipes are huge and heavy; So, the construction plan must consider the lifting equipment, transport routes & placement costs, especially for the suspended components.
- Reversible Connections & Assembly: The team needs to study & reinforce all the joints for stability, details and tolerances under the pavilions’ expected and dynamic loads.
- Coastal Durability: Finally, the engineers would need to assess the moisture exposure, salt-laden air and wind for the durability of the concrete, cut edges, foundations and the connecting hardware.
But then yes, Mumbai’s existing drainage infrastructure provides a relevant context for this discussion. There’s the Andheri subway drainage improvement project for example! However, pipes recovered from any such network would still require inspection before reuse; their previous function alone cannot establish their suitability for a pavilion. So Re:Concrete is eventually a promising proposal, but needs some technical restructuring before building. And yes, I might have put these points forward, but I guess the designers might have already thought about them too!
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Editorial Note: Architecture Bulletin isn’t here to repeat press releases. Every story is independently researched using official documents, project information and trusted industry sources. We then expand the story with additional context, analysis and editorial insights so you don’t just know what happened; you understand why it matters.
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Disclaimer: Re:Concrete Mumbai is a conceptual pavilion proposal, not a completed building. This article draws on published material from Designboom, The Realty Today, Architecture + Design and Ghar.tv to examine the project’s design approach and potential. Its feasibility as a built structure remains subject to technical assessments, site-specific requirements and further project development.
Citations & Credits
- https://archinect.com/news/bustler/10870/concrete-pavilion-competition-winners-explore-the-material-s-potential
- https://architecturecompetitions.com/concretepavilion/brief
- https://www.therealtytoday.com/news/architecture/used-concrete-drainage-pipes-reimagined-as-a-modular-pavilion-in-mumbai/
- https://www.designboom.com/architecture/cut-rotated-suspended-concrete-pipes-reusable-pavilion-mumbai/
- https://www.architectureplusdesign.in/aplusd-dispatch/2026/09/10/mumbais-buried-pipes-reinvented-as-a-modular-civic-pavilion/
- https://www.ghar.tv/blog/can-mumbais-discarded-concrete-pipes-become-public-architecture/artid8334
- Banner Image Sketch Reference & Copyrights: Kaixin Su, Taoyu Han, Jialu Hou, Shivani Rastogi
