Tiles of Cau Mau
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The majority of the Meekong Peninsula is below sea level. Large sections of costal mangrove forest formerly functioned as a natural breakwater. The mangrove thrives in a habitant that is alternately saline and pure and traps sedimentation within its roots to form elevated flood barriers as well as filter sea water. However, due to urbanization and the increased turnover of land towards agriculture use, the mangrove habitats have been mostly depleted.
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Landscape
Known commonly as the “rice basket� of Vietnam, Ca Mau has recently shifted its agriculture from rice paddies to shrimp aquaculture as rising sea levels cause the intrusion of brakish water, a practice that has caused additional environmental degredation. With the agricultural and urban demands of a growing population, combined with the loss of land due to sea level rise, the Meekong Peninsula requires land for housing, farming and aquaculture while preserving its natural mangrove habitats.
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City
The shape of the Tetrapod and Dolos breakwaters allows for components to be stacked and nested in one another so as not to displace when subjected to extreme tidal forces. However, while the irregular forms of the breakwaters help prevent the erosion of coastlines they often compromise accessibility and use of the coastline in addition to being criticised as a being an unpleasant visual obstruction. The breakwaters unintentionally create semi habitable spaces in between their structures that, though hostile to the human presence, provide shelter for costal marine life.
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1917
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Mangrove - 1917
1951
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Mangrove - 1951
1990
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Mangrove - 1990
2013
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Mangrove - 2013
2030
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Mangrove - 2030
2050
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Mangrove - 2050
The site for the new development is an 8 km wide zone southwest of the city covered by shimp aquaculture and faarming residences.
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RIVER
Ecological Corridor Freshwater
Irregular Axis
The center is the lowest lying region of the site and is at the confluence of several smaller canals and rivers that provide controlled irrigation for the existing rice fields and shrimp farms. The urban strategy acknowledges the inevitability of flooding at the center of the site and is phased so as to bisect the site diagonally into two equal halves by constructing a natural waterway that flows according to the topography of the region yet runs parallel to both the axis of the main street of the existing city and the canal at the southernmost edge of the new site.
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RIVER
Ecological Corridor Freshwater
Temporal Flooding
The center floods periodically depending on the season and behavior of the Mekong River. The newly constructed river acts both as flood outlet and ecological corridor which connect opposite corners of the site for the unimpeded migration of native species. The temporal flooding and variations in wet and dry along the banks of the ecological corridor provide an ideal environment for the mangrove species to thrive. The build up of mangroves along the river creates a flooding barrier that assists in land sedimentation. Combined with the cut and fill procedures involved in the digging of the new river, higher ground is created as ideal foundations for construction.
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RIVER
Ecological Corridor Freshwater
Landscape Accretion
The mangroves bordering the ecological corridor also function as natural water filters that purify the wastewater from upstream. The saline intrusion from the south due to rising sea levels is mitigated by the mangrove trees that naturally filter salt. Thus the site is divided into two distinct regions. The region south of the mangrove forest which is prone to saline intrusion is devoted to shrimp farming, which is best suited for brackish waters. The region north of the mangrove forest is protected from the saline intrusion and the freshwater is used to cultivate rice fields.
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CANAL
Urban Corridor Brakishwater
Straight Axis
The canal is the extension the existing city and a transportation corridor that connects the city center with the outlying regions of the new site. It is a straight line, the shortest distance between points that establishes a new axis between the old city and the new development. In contrast to ecological zone of the river, the canal contains brackish water and vehicle traffic. The canal is intended as a heavily traversed transportation corridor for both small boats and large cargo. It passes over the river as a water bridge, giving traffic a view of the region from the center of the new development.
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CANAL
Urban Corridor Brakishwater
Permanent Flooding
Land from the center of the existing city is removed and the downtown region is permanently flooded. Water is at the heart of the social life of the city and its inherent fluidity allows for the constant turnover between programs and events. The floating market, which had once been the main zone for the exchange of goods and services, is revived – it is divided into nine distinct zones that float independently of one another and can only be accessed by boat.
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CANAL
Urban Corridor Brakishwater
Urban Accretion
The canal is the infrastructural armature that sponsors the electrical grid and urban growth of the new city. The main causeway of the canal is divided from the adjacent side canals by thin islands planted with mangroves that are both informal park and barriers that prevent the wakes of large boats from overturning smaller traffic and flooding housing along the water. During holidays and festivals, the 8 km stretch of the canal is cleared of traffic and used as the race track for traditional khmer boat races
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ROAD
Transportation Corridor Pavement
Government Plan
The transportation network for the most part appropriates the government proposed highways for the new site with the addition of a 2 km diameter ring road at its center which diverts traffic from the protected center of the new city. The roads are adjusted so as to negotiate the new region, with the main national highway that connects North and South Vietnam intersecting the edge of the ring road.
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ROAD
Transportation Corridor Pavement
Ring Road
The new city development surrounds an uninhabitable void at its center that is defined at its periphery by a ring road which simultaneously facilitates transportation across different regions of the site and acts as a buffer to urban expansion in order to preserve an ecological zone which can be circumambulated and observed from the road but not intruded upon by the human presence.
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Like the traffic circle at the center of existing Ca Mau, the ring road doubles as an infrastructure that makes its center point both an object for viewing, and a zone that is difficult to reach due to the threat of constant vehicle traffic. The circle implies the center and gives a recognizable form and identity to the overall plan of the new development.
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Traffic Circle
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The tile is the module of the neutral 2D grid paved as government infrastructure that is both graphic signifier and accessible pathway of the urban domain. It is the individual that appropriates the tile and releases its use to one outside of its intended context. This is a practice that occurs whether or not it is designed for. However, like breakwaters, the tiles can be designed as a kit of parts that the citizens of Ca Mau can use as building blocks to construct and divide space.
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The typical 30 x 30 cm tile is redesigned to be more easily used by individuals in building walls and structures for their residences while at the same time graphically referring back to the overall form of the city as a type of proliferated infrastructural propaganda. The tile is scaled optimally so as to be small enough to be easily moved and transported yet not large enough so that they do not require too much maintenance or labor to set in place.
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The telephone pole is an overburdened infrastructure in Vietnam. It not only structures the mass of cables and wiring that provide electricity and internet to the public realm, but has the responsibility of hosting informal advertisements and random items that are placed upon it by individuals acting on their own. The telephone pole, as a column, may be used to physically structure walls, floors and roofs, in addition to providing Internet and electricity to appliances which can be plugged in directly.
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Extended family units are joined to neighboring rice plots and sharing water and utilities. Each unit is a self sufficient duplex and contains their own water collection and waste disposal. Tile walls define regions for building and area for water garden and family activities separate from productive zone of the rice farm. The duplex units can expand to accommodate subdivisions of rice farms and additional family units.
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The social sphere of the duplex is that of a condensed clan in which neighbors share amenities within an inhabited edge of their rice paddies. The dwelling is set back from the road in the middle of the rice field to allow residents a degree of privacy that references a somewhat American Midwestern ideal of the farm. The tile roads connect these seemingly isolated units to village hamlets where community social events take place.
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The combined aggregation of tile and telephone pole is an informal kit of parts for an organic process of city building to occur. Tiles provide continuous space for civic activities to occur. Various forms of urban organization can occur within the system – parks and green space is created by removing tiles from certain areas – the tiles that are removed are used to build walls, ramps and stairs. Areas for street vendors, rice threshing, cafÊ, exchange of goods on top of generic plane. Village residences built between telephone poles and lifted above the ground to allow for a continuously traversable public platform at ground level.
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