The Urban Flow
IAD: MA
Anushka Ravikumar
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Design Studio 02
Spatial Concept
TO SWIM. TO BREATHE. TO BELONG.
Once a vessel of industry, Nottingham’s canal becomes a new public artery a swimmable landscape for movement, memory, and renewal.
The Urban Flow reclaims the canal not with concrete, but with water fluid, shared, alive.
Swimmers pass under brick bridges, beside moored boats, through reflections of past and future.
At its core, the Canal House glows, offering warmth, steam, stillness. A ritual hub for body and mind.
More than a design this is a public experience.
A rhythm of rest and revival.
A liquid thread that stitches the city together.
To move through water is to move through time.
To flow is to connect.
Research
In this project, I’ve explored how swimming is more than movement, it’s an emotional and physical journey. Through my illustrations and spatial sequences, I’ve tried to capture the sensory experience of diving in: the rush of cool water, the pressure pushing against the body, and the stillness found beneath the surface.
Water becomes a force sometimes resisting, sometimes carrying a metaphor for urban life and the internal flow of the mind. The concept of water pressure reflects the tension between control and surrender, effort and release. My drawings seek to express this balance, showing how people don’t just swim through water they swim through atmosphere, memory, and emotion.
