Re:Concrete turns drainage pipes into a Mumbai pavilion

Re:Concrete transforms precast drainage pipes, elements typically buried beneath the city, into an open civic room on Mumbai's coast. Cut, rotated, and suspended at different heights, the reclaimed concrete cylinders become walls, thresholds, seating elements, and circular light wells. The competition-winning proposal explores whether concrete can enter a second architectural life without first being crushed back into aggregate.

Re:Concrete received an Honorable Mention in Buildner's international Concrete Pavilion Competition, which invited architects and designers to reconsider the architectural, environmental, and expressive potential of concrete, one of the world's most widely used building materials. The project begins with a contradiction: while concrete is valued for its strength and longevity, precast components can be rejected, over-ordered, decommissioned, or made obsolete long before the material itself reaches the end of its useful life. Such elements are commonly crushed into aggregate, eliminating the form, energy, and manufacturing work already embodied within them.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

The project proposes an alternative approach by retaining the existing form of these components and using it as architecture. Designed as an unbuilt public pavilion on Mumbai's coastal edge, the project transforms reclaimed precast drainage pipes into an open and inhabitable civic room. By bringing this infrastructure above ground, the pavilion makes visible the material systems that normally remain concealed beneath the city. Components originally designed to carry water become spaces for gathering, resting, exhibition, and contemplation.

The pavilion utilizes

• Standardized precast concrete pipe sections measuring approximately 2.1 meters in diameter and 2.5 meters in length.
• A selection process identifying surplus, rejected, or decommissioned pipes that remain structurally suitable for reuse.
• Selected sections retained as complete cylinders or cut longitudinally into curved segments.
• Elements rotated, paired, and assembled at different heights to generate a varied spatial configuration.

At ground level, the curved sections function as walls, thresholds, framed entrances, and informal seating surfaces. Elevated cylinders form suspended volumes and circular light wells. Gaps between the components frame views toward the sea, while sunlight passes through the raised pipes and moves across their concave surfaces throughout the day. The changing light alters the perception of the concrete interior, producing a sequence of compressed passages and open clearings.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

Source: designboom