Thesis: Booklet 2 Water Urbanism: International case studies by Laura Rijsbosch

WATER URBANISM

INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES Master of Applied Sciences and Engineering: Architecture

2010-2011

Authors Stefanie Dens Basil Descheemaeker Pierre Eyben Michiel Geldof Jeroen Provoost Laura Rijsbosch Alexander Smedts Thibaut Visser Evelyne Wauters Promoter Prof. Dr. Kelly Shannon Co-promoter Prof. Dr. Bruno De Meulder Prof. Guido Geenen

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WATER URBANISM

INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES Thesis presented to obtain the degree of Master of Applied Sciences and Engineering: Architecture 2010-2011 AUTHORS Stefanie Dens Basil Descheemaeker Pierre Eyben Michiel Geldof Jeroen Provoost Laura Rijsbosch Alexander Smedts Thibaut Visser Evelyne Wauters PROMOTER Prof. Dr. Kelly Shannon CO-PROMOTER Prof. Dr. Bruno De Meulder Prof. Guido Geenen READERS Alvaro Del Carpio Laura Vescina Pei Wen-Chen Hung Wang Annelies De NIjs Nguyen Viet Thang Dr. Loan Pham Thuy Tuan Pham Anh

PREFACE

The second booklet forms a collection of case studies from across the globe. These case studies are selected based on their conceptual or contextual relevance to the themes of resilience, water and city, and designs presented throughout this studio. This booklet seeks to be a source of information and inspiration. Gathering these in one booklet allows us to learn from each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cases and share conclusions. At the same time, it provides a broader base for the design projects of the studio.

A. Recuperation of the Gallego River ZUERA, SPAIN INAKI ALDAY & JOVER

B. ‘Fluvial del besos’ river park BARCELONA, SPAIN BERT DE SOLA

C. Buffalo Bayou Promenade HOUSTON, U.S.A. SWA GROUP

D. Themed wine centre of Logrono RIOJA, SPAIN NIETO SOBEJANO ARQUITECTOS

E. ‘Torrent d’en Farré’ park ESPLUGUES, SPAIN M. ISABEL BENNASAR FELIX

F. Sidewalk and urbanization of the old city centre of Banyoles GIRONA, SPAIN MIAS ARQUITECTES

G. Architectural University Campus CHENYANG, CHINA KONGJIAN YU (TURENSCAPE)

H. New waterscape in Singapore SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE ATELIER DREISEITL

I. Reintegration of the Manzanares river MADRID, SPAIN TEAM MADRIDRIO

J. Bypass Kampen KAMPEN, THE NETHERLANDS H+N+S 6

OVERVIEW OF PROJECTS K. Red Ribbon, Tanghe river park Qinghuangdao City, China KONGJIAN YU (TURENSCAPE)

L. Palisade Bay: Research New York shore line, US Guy Nordenson AND COLLABORATORS

M. Stroring water and water-related housing in the poelpolder WESTLAND, THE NETHERLANDS WATERSTUDIO.NL

N. Upgrading of the Tan Hoa Lo Gom canal HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM NGO “VILLES EN TRANSITION”

O. Garonne riverfront master plan BORDEAUX, FRANCE AGENCE MICHEL DESVIGNE

P. Fresh Kills parkland STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, USA JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

Q. Floating gardens, Yongning river park TAIZHOU CITY, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA KONGJIAN YU (TURENSCAPE)

R. The Royal Canal Linear Park Dublin, Ireland Agence Ter, Henchion + Reuter Architects , ARUP

S. Parque del Agua- Luis Buñuel Zaragoza, Spain Alday jover & ChRistine Dalnoky

RECUPERATION OF THE GALLEGO RIVER 2001 ZUERA, SPAIN ALDAY JOVER ARQUITECTOS

This project focuses on a piece of land between the town centre of Zuera and the Gallego River, which runs in a north-south direction parallel to the urban centre. The buildings at the border of the expanding city were getting closer and closer to the river, entering high risk area because of the unpredictable behaviour of the riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural course, changing directions sharply at some points, with sometimes even water rapids flowing at practically right angle towards the bank which separates the village from the river. This unpredictable behaviour and the accompanying erosion also created an uninteresting environment to build in, resulting in the use of this area as a free-for-all open-air rubbish tip. For the well-being and improvement of living circumstances at those borders, action was taken.

Aerial view of the piece of land before the intervention, deviding the city of Zuera from the Gallego River

STRATEGIC PLAN In 1990, a small park was constructed at the northernmost end of the river Gallego. Despite the fact that it was at some distance from the town centre, it did represent the beginning of a general and growing awareness of this natural corridor. In 1996, the town council prepared a blueprint which eventually resulted in the project of the recuperation. The objective of the project was to remedy the situation of the land between the town centre and the river and to create a new eastern facade for the town, modifying its orientation by opening it up to the river, which had previously been spurned by the most recent constructions on the townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perimeter. The inclusion in the project of a public space that would be a venue for a range of local festivities and functions, among them the annual bull fight, a deep-rooted local tradition but until now without a permanent space, meant a growing interest of the townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residents in this project that, in its early phases, involved an intense awareness-raising and educational campaign in the schools of the municipality and its area of influence.

Situating the project

LANDSCAPE INTERVENTIONS The bank with an overall height level of eleven meter between the village and the normal water level was redesigned, being carried out with three distinct topographical platforms. Unfortunately a large part of the budget was needed to cleaning up the land, topographic restructuring to connect the terraces, constructing a main sewer to take the sewage to a new purifying plant and the stabilization and planting of the plants. The remaining amount of money however was used to the maximum, by approaching the work that had to be done in a very rigorous way. At one end of the now-transformed former rubbish tip, in an area that is concave in shape and enclosed in a slope that relates the

Aerial view of the project

Getting the maximum out of a minimal, site-specific intervention 9

intermediate river terrace with the lower bank, an amphitheater-cum-bullring was constructed to be used for bull-fighting, open-air concerts, and sports functions, sunbathing, social gatherings or for the pleasure of contemplating the river and its vegetation. The bull pens and the ring itself are located on the lower terrace. All the different elements which weren’t explicitly necessary when there wasn’t a specific activity going on, were made to be easily dismantled, to ensure they don’t get flushed away by the river, sometimes flooding the whole area in a natural way and thereby creating occasional ponds in the new river parklands. Another eye-catching intervention in the landscape is the bridge, connecting the restructured island with the lower terrace. This makes it possible to reach the

small observatory on the highest point of the island and the new nature classroom, which will be used for municipal programs of environmental education, thereby increasing the value of the island as natural reserve. The bridge was constructed in such a way to withstand the pressure of the sometimes much higher water level as much as possible. This was acknowledged by designing the bridge as a u-shaped concrete form over transversal walls that offer the minimum possible edge in the direction of the flow of the river, with openings along its length, thereby facilitating the drainage of water from the intermediate terrace into the reconstituted canal below. The lateral faces of the concrete bridge are perforated so as to offer less resistance to the water when the river is in flood.

Among the work at the lowest level of the river was the improvement of natural drainage by restoring pre-existing run-off channels and sealing off points of direct drainage into the river. Old paths were redefined and new ones were created so as to link up the new routes in the flood-susceptible lower platform with the rest of the park’s itineraries. In the river area, small bridges were constructed and benches installed under particular trees or at the water’s edge. With the cyclical high water of winter and spring that flood the lower river basin, irrigating the land for the summer season, the area takes on a completely different appearance, after which the face of the park changes once more as the water slowly disappears.

Before realisation

After realisation

Normal stream 10

Medium water level Fluctuating water of the Gallego River

High water level Municipal functions on the highest point of the island

Re-orientating the piece of land by creating multifunctional public space

Amphitheater-cum-bullring

Site-specific design for the bridge along the Gallego River

‘FLUVIAL DEL BESOS’ RIVER PARK 2004 BARCELONA, SPAIN BERT DE SOLA

22.10.2001

05.06.2003

04.03.2004 12

Fluctuating path of the Besos River

The Besos River is characterized as a Mediterranean torrential river which borders the northern periphery of Barcelona. The headwaters of Besos tributary begin in the pine forest of the Montseny Park, and the remaining upper parts of the watershed are forested or agriculture. As the river flows downstream, the Besos enters more urbanized areas. After a flash flood in 1962 that was responsible for severe material damage and the loss of lives, the city responded with a strong engineered solution. A large floodplain of 300 meter was barricaded by concrete walls on either side of the riverbed to avoid additional flooding. The high walls marked a kind of no-man’s land in a more marginalized area in Barcelona. The water of the river was also very polluted by industrial sources. Treated as well as untreated wastewater and urban storm water were all going to the river. For ecological reasons and because of a strong demand for public open space, they decided to restore the first 9 km of the river and to construct wetland and a park, the Besos River Park. The wetlands are created to slow down river flows and to reconstruct a more biological water treatment. Unlike the wetlands, the River Park is open for public. On both sides of the river there is a bicycle path and the rest is reevaluated green space. The project is an example of how an area that was initially designed as a floodplain can be given a new public destination. To give people access to flood plains is not without risk. The project has therefore heavily invested in measures to increase the public safety in case of flooding. Electronic billboards and megaphones have been placed throughout the park to warn users of flooding conditions and to facilitate an evacuation.

A sort of no-manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land that became an isolated park

A green park under high-speed infrastructure

BUFFALO BAYOU PROMENADE 2008 HOUSTON, U.S.A. SWA GROUP

In the whole history of mankind, the linear structure of rivers have been used for transportation. But with the increased use of cars and trucks, roads along rivers became huge concrete infrastructures that changed the natural look of the river and its surroundings into an engineered concrete look. The Buffalo Bayou river is lying beneath the urban fabric in a wide riverbed, because of the torrential character. The void has great potentials for being an urban park and connect the city with the periphery in the dry season, whilst in the meantime it could also function as a flood plain. This promenade has been created in extremely challenging urban conditions such as overhead freeways and utilities, steep slopes, limited access and critical

flood elevations. The park is the answer to the required flood control and the need to improve the quality of the water. In the meantime, it enhances urban live by creating a nicer environment. It is an example of a large-scale landscape and waterway infrastructure project that has helped to revitalize an entire community and neutral habitat. Conventional public projects for flood control focuses primarily, if not exclusively, on minimizing flood damage by simply moving storm water faster. These projects do in general not address the quality of the water or the ecological function of a stream. In this project the designers tried to accept the floods and gave the river the watershed that it needs. The characteristics of a stream are impacted by changes in the watershed of the stream and by the impact of urbanization on that. Today’s solution to cope with storm water is to try to slow down the path of a drop of rain from the first time it hits the ground surface. Today the Buffalo Bayou park has an important bicycle and pedestrian link that connects the city with several urban neighbourhoods and commercial areas. One of the challenges of projects like this

one is to choose the appropriate materials and plants. The plants and materials were specially chosen to thrive in the midst of periodic flooding conditions along the Bayou. The vegetation chosen can grow and survive in the shadow of the infrastructure above it. The Bayou and its promenade have to function as a high-capacity floodway in response to the strong season rains. The height of the water can easily raise in three hours from sea level to 10 meters. To make this a nice and livable place, the whole area is well illuminated at night with water resistant lamps. “Connecting an urban populace to the natural resources in the midst builds support for conservation efforts and raises awareness about the ways in which such revitalization projects can restore natural habitat and help detoxify invaluable natural resources such as water and soil. The Buffalo Bayou Promenade project illustrates how urban development and progress can go hand-in-hand with natural conservation and sustainability.”

THEMED WINE CENTRE OF LOGRONO 2005 RIOJA, SPAIN NIETO SOBEJANO ARQUITECTOS

The Wine Centre of Rioja is more a feature of the landscape than a building. Actually it is as much landscape as it is building. A reminder of the vineyards, but much more than just a formal reference. It evokes geometric laws which were unexpectedly perceivable in these vineyard-filled landscape. Without any initial impulse to ‘construct’ a building, the architects imagined how those agricultural features are susceptible to change into a programme, suited for a design. The vinyards, with their seasonal change of textures and colours, create a geometrically patterned tapestry, defining the contour of the building. In this way it is generated from its coverings. Resembling vines raised over the ground, they appear to have been transformed into shiny metallic platforms with grooves formed by inverted beams which are able to reflect vast amounts of light.

Below them, terraced surfaces adapt to the unevenness of the area to naturally define the different elements of the programme. This all gives rise to the appearance of five bodies, forming areas for exhibitions, training, hotel and catering services and car parks. All these features appear as independent pieces of a programme in progress, a programme that is simply being suggested by the project. Given that they are vineyards which can be expanded or reduced, the proposed spaces are not limited to a given shape or size: these spaces are simply the expression of a geometric law which may eventually modify its dimensions or locations to expand or concentrate areas which might be adapted in the future. For visitors, the Wine Centre will appear as a sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces, offering multiple itineraries possible where the land and the wine will be able to transmit the close relationship that binds them. In this way, the ‘building’ represents the encounter of a topographic landscape and urban architecture.

The wine centre of Rioja is more a landscape feature than a building

The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; as resume of independent pieces of a programme

The vinyards: a patterned tapestry of textures and colours

The encounter of a topographic landscape and urban architecture

Before intervention

After intervention

General plan

Sections showing different approaches towards the torrent banks

‘TORRENT D’EN FARRÉ’ PARK 2004 ESPLUGUES, SPAIN M. ISABEL BENNASAR FELIX

This landscape project is a large-scale conversion of a torrent into a public park. This project corresponds to the opening phase of the recuperation of the Torrent d’en Farré as a green area to revitalise the town centre. The torrent is a large, empty space, 1,6km long, running across the town of Esplugues. The total area for development is 12,25 Ha. The global project aims to strengthen the role of the bottom of the torrent as a green corridor, a continuous, unitary element linking the entire route, connecting the area north of the motorway bridge to the south, the current phase with its lake and play area, extending the areas of greatest use up to the bottom edge of the slopes by means of platforms with different types of paving, while retaining the natural appearance of the area as far as possible. In the upper area of the torrent the aim is to retain the flat area with nettles as it stands now, as an adjoining area. The proposal is to create a continuous linear route along the bottom of the torrent with wooden paving along the bottom of the slope while retaining the present vegetation and structure, and a series of walkways and routes providing access to the top of the slope.

In phases 2 and 3, with a unifying vision, the proposal is to create a central pathway of wooden slats that follows the bottom of the torrent, as a walking route and connecting element for the whole area of action, to the north and south; and to create useable platforms with cement paving, powdered stone and sand, at the edge of the linear corridor with its recreation areas and different uses (bar, games, picnic tables,…) In the southern part of the torrent, where it is its widest and the natural topography has been modified by various extractions of clay and subsequent landfill, creating unstable, unconsolidated slopes, the linear pathway along the bottom follows a route marked by new lateral slopes to the west and by a lake at the foot of a vertical cut in the land, at the edge of which is a prefabricated linear concrete element. A landscape project for a torrent as this can bring order to the chaos of contemporary urbanism. It can also bring shape and more structure to the dispersed city. It can connect what was separated and it can articulate and (re)connect neighbourhoods. All the factors (also climate change effects) must be taken into consideration in an attempt to create coherent, inhabitable environment. The objective then is a combination of risk prevention, landscape enrichment and urban planning.

Overview on the public park

Folding the travertine tiles creates city furniture

Revaluation of the water canals

From now on the pedestrian paths are accompanied by the presence of water

SIDEWALK AND URBANIZATION OF THE OLD CITY CENTRE OF BANYOLES 2006 GIRONA, SPAIN MIAS ARQUITECTES

Banyoles’ old town used to be a deteriorated area in which vehicles and pedestrians cohabited around an urban system of narrow streets and old sidewalks. The irrigation canals that originally were clean and used for had become part of the sewer system of the city. Around the Central Square there were also sidewalks in which cars parked randomly. The process was to ‘pedestrianize’ the whole area, removing all the old sidewalks. The new intervention is made with travertine stone which has always been present in the city’s subsoil. On the other hand, the irrigation system is uncovered intermittently across the pedestrian ways. Eventually, it is opened in bigger sections so children can play as if they were in front of a puddle of water. Re-paving the city centre defines a new pedestrian area. The second part of the intervention was to recover the irrigation canals. Originally, these waterways came from Banyoles’ Pond, crossed the city and supplied water to the backyards of the houses. The disappearance of these private gardens generated the progressive covering and degeneration of the quality of the canalized water. The project restores circulation of people and water through the old town of Banyoles, giving them back the itineraries they occupied originally. The tiles of travertine stone generate folds in order to form canals or regulation gates. Breaking the linearity of the pedestrian paths by making cuts in their surface so the flow of water can be felt, highlights the waters’ presence. The old town became a sequence of paths in which the inhabitants have the possibility to enjoy the historical centre. From now on, the pedestrian will always be accompanied by the presence of water...

Bigger sections allow children to play in water puddles

The productive agricultural landscape becomes also a pleasurable social space

ARCHITECTURAL UNIVERSITY CAMPUS 2004 SHENYANG, CHINA KONGJIAN YU (TURENSCAPE)

This project demonstrates how agricultural landscape can become part of the urbanized environment and how cultural identity can be created through an ordinary productive landscape. The overwhelming urbanization of China is encroaching upon much arable land. With a population of over 1.3 billion people and limited tillable land, food production and sustainable land use is a survival issue that landscape architects must address. The site of about 80 hectares (198 acres) forms the new campus of Shengyang Architectural University. The design and

construction had to contend with a small budget and a short construction timeline (six months), but the university still wanted the landscape to provide a strong identity. Kongjian Yu proposed creating productive rice fields (along with other native crops) while fulfilling the need for new functions. The productive campus rice paddy is not only designed to be a campus with small open platforms, spanning the landscape, the campus is also a completely functional rice paddy, complete with its own system of irrigation. Storm water is collected in ponds to irrigate the fields. Frogs are raised to control insects, and fish are cultivated to double the productivity of the field. Sheep “cut” the grass, eliminating the pollution of mowing machines. Student involvement is part of the landscape’s productivity. The productive aspect of the landscape draws both

An interplay of paths and agricultural platforms

students and faculty into the dialogue of sustainable development and food production. Each year a planting festival and a harvesting festival are held on campus, which bring Chinese culture alive. Farming processes become an attraction to the students of the university and the nearby middle school. The crop is packaged as “Golden Rice,” which is sold in the university canteen and presented as souvenirs to visitors. Now Golden Rice has become the university’s identity marker, well-known across universities nationwide. The Rice Campus increases sensitivity about the environment and farming among the mostly urban students. It demonstrates that inexpensive and productive agricultural landscapes can also become, through careful design and management, pleasurable social and usable spaces.

Agricultural landscape as part of the urbanized environment

NEW WATERSCAPE IN SINGAPORE SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE ATELIER DREISEITL

Most of the time Singapore deals with water shortage and is dependent on Malaysia, but during the rain season there is huge volume of water that simply flows to the ocean in the fastest and most direct way. Due to the enormous volume of water in a tropical downpour the dimensions of the drainage channels and canals are appropriately large. Most of the year, the concrete-lined channels seem lost and ugly, forming barriers, surmountable only by bridges, and dividing residents into defined sectors. The smooth and hard surfaces in the channels, together with the absence of flora and fauna, are not very nice to look at. Moreover the biological self-cleaning potential is drastically lower than the potential of a healthy river. Dirt from the streets, paths and plazas goes into the channels without any obstruction. It is no surprise that the canals are therefore considered as dangerous places.

The different waterbodies in Singapore

STRATEGIC PLAN Singapore now wants to develop a more resilient and sustainable water system at the scale of the city. In principle, the task is to manage (infiltrate, evaporate, cleanse, reuse) rainwater where it falls and to ease the pressure on the rivers during peak storm events. The storm water will be decentralized with smaller retention and detention facilities, e.g. catchment areas will reduce peak flows during heavy rain. Channels will also be transformed into rivers that are more resilient against floods. This will help to cut down on surges into the old canal systems during heavy rain. At the same time, the run-off water should arrive clean at the river banks. Therefore they try to collect rain water from the entire city central catchment, which includes hard surfaces, rooftops, roads, plazas and so on and try to harvest the water and release it slowly into central rivers before it enters the Marina Barrage. “It’s a treatment train of bioswales and structures which are integrated in the urban grind and the city.” [Dreiseitl, Herbert; 2010] Creating a new waterscape requires more than the restoration of channels, rivers and reservoirs. Through integrating city planning with developments of private investors and other organizations, a vital network will be brought to life securing the future. The water system will become a new place for encounter and will connect the very diverse societies and ethnic groups who live in Singapore. “Create human interaction, integrate blue-green and people in a ‘vital network’ for Singapore.” [Dreiseitl, Herbert; 2010] A place that was inbuilt can become a more open place with space for nature. These new developments can become a win-win from an ecological and social point of view. “Landscape architecture is a discipline that can bring order to the chaos of contemporary urbanism. It can also give shape and structure to the dispersed city, offering solid answers wherever the debate over the city territory and urban sprawl -with good reason- looks set to monopolize the attention of urbanisms and architects for a long time to come.” [Bava, Henri; 2009] In the big water story fit smaller projects. These smaller projects are important, they are showcases and provide examples of how sustainable water management practices and water-efficiency technologies work in reality. “Small-scale projects are good for creating a sense of hope. They are good learning experiences that plant the seed for something bigger. As innovations, it’s important to learn out of failing. On a broader scale, it’s very important that we discover ways to recycle water, and treat water so it can be renewed. “Water is selfless, extremely transformable, full of surprises both quiet and powerful, and yet remains the reliable carrier of life for all organisms. Its untarnished beauty and elementary power were regarded with respect in many cultures, admired and revered in religions and mythologies. Today we rediscover its fundamental value an essential role in environment, climate and life of this planet.” [Dreiseitl, Herbert; 2010] 27

The canal is making place for a meandering river

SMALL SCALE INTERVENTION: BISHAN PARK The first project that fits into the larger plan is the redefining of the Bishan Park. The Bishan Park is a popular neighbourhood park where the Kallang Canal flows trough. In the new plan, the architects want to transform the hard engineered canal in his original form: a river. The river will not follow the straight line of the canal, but it will be designed as an ecological meandering river. A canal forms a barrier between the park and the people on the other edge of it. To transform the canal into a river, where the people can reach the water during a dry period, the connection between the two has been redefined. During the dry period, the river is very small. Visitors can walk down the slopes to go to the river and to enjoy the nature. When the river raises during the rain season, the park is still open. Visitors can watch the wild river. With this project, the designers aim to create a change in the perception of the river from fear to hope. To stabilize the boundaries of the river, they use a bioengineered technical approach instead of traditional construction engineering. The restoration of the river is complex. During extreme storms in Singapore’s tropical climate, the stream located downstream of the overflow of two large reservoirs can grow from a tiny creek to a powerful and dangerous torrent within half an hour. In redesigning the landscape, erosion, sedimentation and safety issues need to be considered and solutions have to be carefully worked out. The space will be transformed into water playgrounds, cleansing biotopes and focus points along the river. The solutions designed for the banks has to be adapted to high as well as low water levels. To stabilize the new river bank, the old concrete from the original canal is recycled. After he transformation of the canal into a meandering river with a specific biotope, the river will flow slower and the water will become cleaner. “There are many blue spaces in Singapore, if we can turn them into interesting spaces; we are really adding a new dimension to Singapore life.” [Guan, Kheng; 2008]

The different waterbodies in Singapore

REINTEGRATION OF THE MANZANARES RIVER 2009 MADRID, SPAIN TEAM MADRIDRIO

The Manzanares river was channelled in the year 1926, thereby loosing its character of rural space where the inhabitants of Madrid came to swim, fish or do their laundry. From that moment on, the relationship between city and water has been weakened to the reduced scale of a series of smaller public parks. Some of them were by their isolation changed from nice parks to the main rubbish dump of the city. Although, during the second half of last century, some public spaces were opened along the banks of the Manzanares, Madrid’s exponential growth meant that the greater part of the riverfront ended up facing away from the river so that it was practically relegated to the status of being a sewer. This relationship was definitively broken in the 1970s, when the area created by the fluvial flow within the urban space was taken advantage of in order to construct the western arm of the M-30, a motorway ring road used by over two hundred thousand vehicles every day.

seventy kilometers of paths are offered for the exclusive use of cyclists and walkers. Valuable bridges were restored and some of them transformed to pedestrian-only bridges, thereby strengthening the crossriver pedestrian network in the city. The interesting thing in this project is that the city clearly has chosen, besides restoring the social aspect of interaction along the river, to not give back the physical aspect of walking along the river banks. They have build further on the hard engineering practice which started some hundred years ago. In this process the already-existing bulkhead dams were upgraded and extended. Thereby twentyseven rainwater tanks were introduced along the river to accumulate torrential rains. The sewage treatment plants were also revised. All this actions together raised the water level and improved its quality. Two improvements which were very important to intensify the relation with the water and resulted in the construction of an artificial beach that soon will be opened. That large-scale infrastructures play a leading role in the development of a city is a fact nobody will dispute, but that larger infrastructure results in bigger

ease, is an uncertain dream. In the second half of the twentieth century, European cities made huge efforts to construct large-scale infrastructure which, like the M-30, gave greater priority to the flow of private vehicular traffic than to the integrity and continuity of the urban fabric. The temporary, easing results of this interventions became more and more subordinate to the insurmountable barriers they bring with them, and the deep wounds they inflict on the urban fabric. This project shows how important it is to link the isolated green places along the river, to restore the once socially binding function of the river. This largescale structure can then again play the very important structuring role in the expansion of the urban fabric, like it once did. Not only by providing car-related infrastructure, but also pedestrian and cyclists infrastructure. Madrid has in this exercise chosen for an approach in which as much as possible space was given to these pedestrians and cyclists, thereby emphasising the edges of the river. The link with the river is intensified by increasing the river’s level in an artificial way, thereby making the river more visually present.

The Madrid City Council decided in 2004 to regenerate the linear structure of green zones, which were once bordering the Manzanares river, by putting the M-30 underground. The enormous surface of free space which was thereby created in the centre of the city, at least on the metropolitan scale, was going to be linked by a six kilometer long walking path called ‘Salon de Pinos’, connecting the green public parks alongside the river back together. In the generated 750,000 square meters of land, more than 250000 new trees have been planted and over 30

Francisco De Goya - Picnic on the banks of the Manzanares

New pedestrian-only bridges strengthen the cross-river pedestrian network in the city

Type-section of the tunneled M30 ring road

Network of inked parks along the Manzanares River

Masterplan Bypass Kampen

B E E L D K WA L I T E I T S P L A N

P L A N S T U D I E

I J S S E L D E LTA

familie nieuwe dijken van de bypass familie historische dijken Overview new and old dykes around the bypass [H+N+S 2011: 18] -noordelijke dijk -zuidelijke dijk

H + N + S '11

familie IJsseldijk (thv de bypass)

uitzonderingen

familie dijken van Flevoland

Overview landscape round Kampen and the IJssel River

-Revedam en N307 (kunstwerk) -kade stedelijk gebied -dijk tunnelbak Hanzelijn

Z U I D

BYPASS KAMPEN first stage to be finished 2015 KAMPEN, THE NETHERLANDS H+N+S

Due to climate changes it is anticipated that the rivers in Holland will have to handle higher water discharges in the near future. This poses a problem on the IJssel River, which outlet is narrowed by the city of Kampen. In order to deal with this problem, a bypass is planned, which would divert the high discharge of water, away from the city towards the Randmeer and the IJsselmeer. This will decrease the load on the river by Kampen, thereby decreasing the forces on the surrounding dykes and lessening the intricate danger of flood of the city. The bypass at Kampen is the main element in the masterplan for the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;IJsseldelta Zuidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The main goal of the masterplan of the bypass is that it should combine and connect the infrastructural development, the future growth of the city Kampen, the ecological ambitions and the recreational value. This will all be combined into a sustainable and attractive landscape. [H+N+S 2009: 7] In order to deal with the high discharge from the IJssel River, this outerdyke area will be able to be completely flooded. Because of this, the bypass will be completely free from buildings and thus designed as a new natural habitat area and as a part of the network of wetlands in the IJsseldelta. The design of the dykes, which surround the whole bypass, forms an important aspect in the bypass. The new dykes will built onto the century old tradition of dyke building, though their form will be a clear new addition. The essence of the dyke as a high green structure that stands on its own between two different landscapes is the main idea of this landscape structure for the future. [H+N+S 2011: 17] The top of the new bypass-dykes is seen as a stage with a view on two different landscapes. The northern dykes give a view on the city of Kampen on one side and the natural landscape of the wetlands on the other. The south dyke of the bypass provides a section between the wetlands of the bypass and the protected agricultural fields. [H+N+S 2011: 17] The wetlands that form the bypass outerdyke area, can be fully inundated to take on the large amount of water coming from the IJssel River

Section through the bypass

RED RIBBON, TANGHE RIVER PARK 2008 Qinghuangdao City, China KONGJIAN YU (TURENSCAPE)

Located on the Tanghe River bank, the Red Ribbon creates a resilient buffer zone between city and river as the lower reaches of this river had already been channelled, and this process was likely to continue at this site. By upgrading the landscape of the territory that up till than was an amalgam of deserted slums, garbage dumping and irrigation facilities, this project was an answer to the rising demand for recreational space as a consequence of the sprawling city. Turenscape designed a â&#x20AC;&#x153;red ribbonâ&#x20AC;? of 500 metres against the background of a diverse native vegetation, in which various species find their habitat. The infrastructure of the red ribbon integrates 4 meeting points and a walking path with lighting and seating. As the site up to now has been hardly accessible, the red ribbon provides a safe walk, and gives a notion of orientation. The red ribbon is made of fibre steel, which made it possible to implement led lights for a dramatic glow of red light at night. It stand is 60 centimetres high, and its width varies from 30-150 centimetres, being perforated strategically to grow vegetation.

A line of orientation creating a resilient buffer zone between city and river

A save walk and notion of orientation

The project as answer to the rising demand for recreational space

An integration of meeting points and walking path with lighting and seating

A red ribbon running through the otherwise untouched landscape

The proposed â&#x20AC;&#x153;soft infrastructureâ&#x20AC;? to transform the Upper Bay into Palisade Bay. The combination of three principles, on the water, along the coast, and in the communities makes together a planning strategy that proposes interventions which protect the land from flooding and interlink urban structures with landscapes. It leads towards a vibrant culture on the water

Palisade Bay: Research 2007 - 2010 New York shore line, US Guy Nordenson, in collaboration with Catherine Seavitt and Adam Yarinsky

Palisade Bay is a design research done by a team of architects, planners, engineers, professors and students. It tries to give an answer to the increasing challenges of climate change, particularly the consequences of sea level rise. The research focuses on the shoreline of New York where water and city meet each other. They want to imagine “a ‘soft infrastructure’ for the New York-New Jersey Upper Bay by developing interconnected infrastructures and landscapes which rethink the thresholds of water, land, and city.” [Palisade Bay 2010: 24]. Through design and analysis, they have developed a strategy that combines the implementations necessary for flood prevention with the creation of ecological, recreational, agricultural and urban areas. The focus of the research is on ‘soft infrastructure’ to make the city a place that is resilient to, rather than fortified against, the impact of natural disasters. Through GIS and complex numerical analysis of dynamic systems, the damages of storms, consequences of sea level rise and risk assessments have been visualized. These data has helped to determine potential impacts and consequences of climate change. The results of these analyses have been further used to measure the impact of specific interventions. With these analyses the first steps towards design strategies were set.

GIS generated map of topography of the region

Water table experience testing the effect of boomerang island shape and piers of various lengths

One of the ‘soft infrastructure’ strategies handled the edge dividing water and city. Historically, the shoreline edge has been transformed through the fluctuation of the water and the dredging and filling of the shallow-water flats. Nowadays the hard engineered concrete embankment has stopped this transformation at several places. The new strategy of Palisade Bay goes back to the dynamical process and considers the edge as a zone of varying width. This zone contains the transition between water and city. Various design strategies have been catalogued for possible interventions within this zone.

Tracing the historic coastline. The coastline has been reshaped through the years, the biggest changes has occurred with the development of the city

Describing the edge. The following map shows that the line between water and land is never totally defined as a hard or soft edge but as an edge in-between

With this research, design strategies are elaborated to deal with the current issues concerning climate change, but it is more than developing new strategies; Palisade Bay also highlights the hard line that is drawn between the water and the people through the years. “Despite our best efforts, the city and the water remain one organism. As the sea rises and storms intensify, the water will break down the boundary again and again. The question is whether we should build faster and harder to keep it out, or find a way to gently merge ourselves with the water once again, transforming the hard boundary into a continuum, a smooth transition, a commingling rather than a battle zone. This is the challenge to which Palisade Bay rises.” [quoted by Michael Oppenheimer in Palisade Bay 2010: 11].

Redesign proposals for the Manhattan’s southern coastline. The creation of wide landscape areas along the shoreline decreases the force of the storm surge waves and diminishes the potential damage to the city. In Battery Park (1), the creation of a new wetland makes the transition between city and water more dynamic. The area under the elevated highway along the East River just south of the Brooklyn Bridge (2) is stripped from its buildings to create more air and light for the neighbourhood

Catalogue of the design strategies for the edges. The ‘soft infrastructure’ strategy of Palisade Bay considers the edge as a zone of varying width providing the transition between water and city 41

The Poelpolder situated within a landscape of glass

STORING WATER AND WATER-RELATED HOUSING IN THE POELPOLDER 2009 WESTLAND, NETHERLANDS WATERSTUDIO.NL

Traditionally well known for its horticulture, Westland area has become an extreme landscape with 3000 hectares of industrial production in glasshouses. A landscape in which rains cannot reach the soil. Rather it pours directly from the glass roofs into the ditches. Until now an extensive system of water-collecting canals and ditches have ensured an efficient drainage of the land, allowing an intensive use of the area. But as weather conditions are getting extremer due to climate changes, the capacity of the water containment system will not be large enough to accommodate increasing amount of rainwater. Since the area is situated below sea-level and is very densely populated, no idle spaces can be found for temporal water storage. This led the government to commission a plan for a peak storage of 75 000 m続 water In order to prevent from flooding.

Conceptual section of the Poelpolder

The Poelpolder, an 80 hectare polder in the middle of the horticultural region and the lowest point in the area has been chosen as the strategic element for the project. Within this area, all the glasshouses will be removed and dykes will be broken to change the polder into a lake. The 75 000 m続 water storage capacity that was aimed for could be met by the creation of a 22 hectare lake with a limit tolerance of 0,35 meter in water level [Kuipers 2008: 135]. This open water-buffering space will keep the surrounding lands safe from flooding while at the same time providing recreational and ecological functions. Furthermore, the development of an amphibious neighbourhood of 1200 houses will complement the project. The planned area consists of separate sections to be developed in phases, each of which will have its own theme, density and atmosphere. Dwellings in the area will be, wherever possible, oriented to the water. Floating houses, stilt houses, and dyke houses will expand the existing ribbon development in the eastern and western part of the plan. The southern part will be more urbanized, creating an amphibious urban fabric of greater density and harder quays than in the rest of the area. Cement caissons in the water will serve as foundations and parking garages. On the southern tip of the plan, a grid of dykes will ensure accessibility to floating semi-detached houses.

Global plan of the Poelpolder project

The northern part of the plan, which has a lower built density, contains a residential block of floating, three-storey complex flats. These compact buildings allow a higher degree of openness and connection to the landscape. Central within the planned area is the open water body serving both ecological and recreational needs. Stilthouses allow for another kind of interaction 43 with the fluctuating water level

UPGRADING OF THE TAN HOA LO GOM CANAL 2001-2006 HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM NGO “VILLES EN TRANSITION”

Overview of the Tan Hoa Lo Gom Canal

Alternating strips of apartment blocks and semipublic open spaces maximize access and views to the canal

Located in the western part of Ho Chi Minh City, the Tan Hoa Lo Gom Canal is one of the city’s five main waterways, but also one of its most polluted. In the early 20th century it was still used as a major navigation channel connecting the southern part of the city to the Mekong Delta, but today it has lost its significance due to an increasing shift towards roadbased transportation and an intensive urbanization of the area. High urban pressure has forced informal settlements to overrun the banks, and even to build on top of the canal, which in turn has accelerated environmental degradation as domestic garbage and pollutants are dumped into the nearly stagnant waterway. In addition to this, the allocated space for water is increasingly reduced by the process of wetland filling to support further urbanization, causing the dirty water to flood the city in the rainy season. The canal upgrading project had the objective to provide an alternative to the typical tactics of upgrading. Participation

was sought after, and focus was placed on a series of linked strategic urban projects such as: the building of a small solid waste transfer station, low-cost housing resettlement, and an aerated lagoon for wastewater treatment. The issue of the resettlement project was to tackle the main problems of the inner city at once – canal pollution, flood management, slum eviction and rehabilitation – while considering the canal as the backbone of the renewal of the area [ Anh et al. 2007]. Because of the decision to widen the canal, 214 households needed to relocate. Because an important point was to meet the needs of the inhabitants, a variety of housing typologies and financial choices were offered: it was either possible to move into apartment blocks that would be built on the location or to resettle at a distance on a plot of land, or even to take the offered compensation and relocate elsewhere. The first 72 apartments and the community infrastructure were built on a 3.4 hectare plot of land. They were designed as three to four story blocks, with alternating front façades animated by a composition of windows and balconies. In between these blocks, semi-public courtyards accommodate play areas and green space. The project also includes a secured motorbike parking, a hawkers

market, a community house and a pontoon for boats along the canal. To make the apartments more affordable they were designed as small units of 32 to 53 m², with a ceiling height of 4.5 meters to provide more options in organising living spaces such as the construction of mezzanines. According to Hang, “there is no doubt that the living conditions in the apartments are much better than most families’ previous dwelling. In a survey of previous living conditions, it was found that most people were constantly worried about flooding and high prices of unofficial electricity and water.” By designing gradients of collective open space, varying housing typologies and through the study of possible integration with pre-existing urban fabrics, and an increased affordability, this project aimed to prove the possibilities of high-density urban fabric with low-rise typology.

Alternating front and back-sides animated by windows and balconies, blurring public-private thresholds

The new social housing blocks exploit the canal as an attractive front-side

GARONNE RIVERFRONT MASTER PLAN 2004-2005 BORDEAUX, FRANCE AGENCE MICHEL DESVIGNE

The Garonne forms a sharp boundary within the city of Bordeaux. Six hundred metres wide, it divides the historic left bank from the more recent urban sprawl on the right. Directly opposite the historic centre lies a long stretch of industrial buildings, many of which have been abandoned since harbour activities moved away. Agence Michel Desvigne proposed an eight-kilometre long strip of trees along the banks of the Garonne to replace the industrial complexes. By following the contours of the given plots, the park acquires an unnatural outline, plunging inland in dramatic, irregular thrusts.

The existing riverbanks of the Garonne

Desvigne’s proposal for the riverfront

Crucial in Desvigne’s design approach to the riverfront is the integration of the aspect of time. As he puts it himself: “The transformation of the right bank, like any urban change, will take several decades. The municipality will acquire the land for the park, but the release of the lots and the withdrawal of certain uses are mechanisms with a random and unpredictable order. [...] I imagine putting into practice a very pragmatic process of progressive substitutions. Depending on the opportunities, every vacant surface will be planted immediately” [Desvigne 2005: 26]. This methodology is interesting on several levels: because it prevents large tracts of land remaining derelict due to a minority of the required lots not yet having been acquired; because it allows financing to be spread out in a more flexible manner; and because this type of gradual planting of trees creates a variation in the maturity of the riverfront flora. This last aspect is an important component of the design. It is amplified by Desvigne’s vision on the maintenance of the park. He proposes that it be managed as a forestry site, implementing techniques such as progressive thinning and selection, to create a constantly evolving patchwork of groups of trees that are in different phases of their life cycle. It is an interesting component of Desvigne’s work that he combines plants and trees not only based on formal, but also on temporal characteristics. Not only seasonal differences are taken into account, the evolution throughout the entire lifespan is considered. Another example of this type of designing is that Desvigne will often pair a fast-growing type of vegetation that has a shorter lifespan, with a slow-growing, but long-lived type. The first type effects a quick filling of the area, often fulfilling an additional function such as preventing erosion or creating a windscreen, while the second type has time to mature and will eventually succeed

the other. This technique was used by Desvigne and Dalnoky in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelinnes (1992), and in a competition for the landscape around the Millau viaduct (1994). Desvigne labels this type of landscape an “intermediate nature”. The goal is not to return the landscape to its so-called original state: the irregular shape of the park retains the memory of its past functions, and the sharply delineated areas of different sizes and densities show few formal similarities to any virgin landscape. Desvigne’s work is more about cultivation, process, and change over time than about more familiar landscape practices such as formal composition and representation [Corner 2009: 7]. As James Corner puts it: “Desvigne simply does not believe that any landscape - no matter how manicured and mature - is ever really finished” [Corner 2009: 9]. And it could be argued that by staying true to the fluctuations and evolution of nature, his work has more in common with the virgin landscape than those pittoresque, “natural” landscapes which are artificially frozen in time.

The gradual transformation of industrial zone to park

FRESH KILLS PARKLAND 2003-2005 STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, USA JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

Until 2001, Fresh Kills was the site of the world’s largest sanitary waste landfill. Following an international competition in that same year, James Corner Field Operations [JCFO] were appointed to transform this 890 hectare-large landfill into a public parkland. The program is substantial: besides forests, tidal marshes, creeks, and meadows, a wide variety of recreational, cultural, and educational activities must be accommodated.

The site of the old Fresh Kills landfill

Phasing of the planting of plants and trees

Strongly present in the proposed strategy of JCFO is the phasing of interventions. According to James Corner: “[A] site of this scale and complexity can not be “designed” in total, nor constructed overnight. Rather, it must be “grown”, as in seeding, cultivating, propagating, and evolving. [...] Thus, design at Fresh Kills is as much about the design of a method and process of transformation as it is about the design of specific places” [Corner 2005: 15]. The current proposition spans a timeperiod of thirty years. At the end of this period, the plants and trees of the park will have matured. However, this does not mean that the landscape is “finished”. The strategy for the site attempts to facilitate adaptation and modification of landscape and function. Important is that this concept of phasing is not only concerned with the maturing of the park, but is equally about stimulating the evolution of public use and participation. The draft master plan prepared by JCFO in 2006 formulates this as follows: “The

momentum and success of later phases will depend on public appraisal of what is built and opened in Phase 1” [Corner 2006: 50]. Sections of the park are made public in an early phase and expanded gradually, so that public use of the park may grow along with the space made available for it. The phasing also has more practical motivations. For example, considering the site’s previous designation, it is not surprising that the soil is heavily polluted. Replacing the soil with off-site, clean earth would be immensely costly given the expanse of the terrain, and so JCFO chose to purify the topsoil on-site through “strip cropping”. Strip cropping is a technique originating from industrial agriculture. It is

an inexpensive way to improve soil quality on a large scale, but is a gradual process, spanning multiple years. It involves growing three carefully selected crops per year, and rototilling them into the soil to build organic material. What this does is instigate a natural process of soil enrichment, followed by introduction of native grasses and, eventually, trees. When James Corner speaks of Fresh Kills Parkland, he does not refer to it as a landscape, but as a lifescape. He defines this term as “[…] both a place and a process. […] Lifescape as a place is a diverse reserve for wildlife, cultural and social life, and active recreation.[...] Lifescape as a process is [...]

Birdwatching in the revitalized park

a process of environmental reclamation and renewel on a vast scale, recovering not only the health and biodiversity of ecosystems across the site, but also the spirit and imagination of people who will use the new parkland” [Corner 2005: 15]. This process-centric way of designing is reminiscent of Michel Desvigne’s approach. The similarities between Corner’s “lifescape” and Desvigne’s “intermediate natures” become even clearer when Corner states that “[l]ifescape [...] proposes a growth emergence from past and present conditions toward a new and unique future” [Corner 2005: 21].

Two of the boxes ‘floating’ above the water

ecological approach as an alternative to the commonly used system of concrete embankments and canalizations which is the main principle behind the flood policy in China.

FLOATING GARDENS YONGNING RIVER PARK 2002-2004 TAIZHOU CITY, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA KONGJIAN YU (TURENSCAPE)

The design principles of Floating Gardens fit into the new tendency towards a more resilient approach for flood management. The landscape architect proposed an

The project is situated in Taizhou City on the riverside of the Yongning River. The city was not only looking for an alternative flood control and storm water management, they also wanted the landscape architect to design a 21 hectare park that would be attractive for both tourists and locals. The result is Floating Gardens, a park composed of two layers: a natural matrix overlapped with a human matrix. With the natural matrix a natural environment has been created which can serve wildlife and will attract birds. It will also function as extra space for the river during floods. The site is based on a storm water process analysis showing the flood security patterns at levels of 5, 20, and 50 years. Different parts of the park are under water during the dry and during the rainy season, creating a dynamic scenery. The human matrix lies on top of the natural matrix, consisting of a path network that connects several ‘floating gardens’ located at strategic spots in the park. These gardens are boxes that represent historical and cultural stories and are ‘floating’ above the seasonally flooded natural matrix. The idea of boxes is used to introduce a more human scale within the large natural landscape. It is also a response to the problem of identity in Chinese culture. Turenscape has managed to create an accessible and interesting landscape dominated by the existing nature, with minimal design tools. It is a design that serves as an example for ecological recovery of the whole river. This project is part of the main idea of landscape architect Kongjiang Yu, main member of Turenscape, to rebuild an ecological infrastructure as base for future urban development and flood management. 51

LEFT A view of the site before implementation of the park. The riverbank was characterized by a concrete embankment as part of the process of total canalization of the river. RIGHT The riverbank today. The path network crosses the park, leading into the natural landscape and towards the floating gardens.

The Royal Canal Linear Park 2006 -2008 (Project stage 1 tendered â&#x20AC;&#x201C; postponed In 2009) Dublin, Ireland Agence Ter, Henchion + Reuter Architects , ARUP

The landscape design comprises a one kilometer linear public park on the banks of the Royal Canal in the heart of Dublinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new dockland business centre. The six-hectare garden park provides a breathing space in the form of a green continuum that readdresses the relationship between city and water. The design seeks to eliminate the actual separation between the banks and the canal and intends to use the full width of the space to make one singular park [Henchion+Reuter 2011]. The distinction between land and water has been blurred by placing some water basins on the quays and constructing floating gardens as pontoons in the water. With the changing of seasons it is possible to relocate the pontoons, creating different sections in the park. Multiple programs are accommodated,

including green spaces for youth recreation, multi-sport platforms, a kayak club and a skate park, as well as more contemplative spaces and pavilions. As such, the project provides much needed open space through an interesting re-interpretation of the canal as a backbone for park development. It includes inspiring design strategies for the revalorization of neglected water bodies and their structuring capacity for contemporary urban cores. HENCHION + REUTER ARCHITECTS www.henchion-reuter.com AGENCE TER LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS www.agenceter.de

The design consists of a patchwork of various elements such as semi-transparent pavilions, trees and floating gardens on pontoons that are up to 17m long [Spencer Dock eds 2008:1]

DUBLIN + BERLIN

AGENCE TER LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS www.agenceter.de

Legend access canal / water garden / basin lawn plates tree plates ower plates wooden decks sports facilities / playgrounds pavilions

The revalorization of the canal – with gardens located on water and land – renders it as the backbone for the new linear park.

To blur the distinction between land and water, some water basins are placed on the quays and gardens are introduced on the canal.

Parque del Agua- Luis Buñuel

The Parque del Agua rests on the curve of the river where it creates a sequence of scenarios with different water forms from north to south. Water typologies 2005-2008 range from noisy turbulent water through Zaragoza, Spain Alday jover & ChRxistine Dalnoky still ponds to the natural river flow. This constitutes a self-sufficient purification system that supplies the irrigation channels The Meandro de Ranillas is the name of and bathing areas. The park also fulfills its a large area of land created by the Ebro purpose as a meander – a river expansion River basin that forms a natural barrier area. While the more designed parts and between the city of Zaragoza and the the buildings are protected from flooding, a fertile agricultural areas on the banks of large part of the park allows to be flooded. the river [Expo Zaragoza 2008]. This is Redrawing the edges of the park gives rise where the International Expo “Water to a changeable and playful landscape. and Sustainable Development 2008” has chosen to develop its site and a The designers saw the opportunity to peri-urban Water Park, which is the show in the Parque del Agua that landscape finest public legacy of the event once architecture doesn’t have to define strong the Expo was finished and the collection borders unlike architecture. As Alday and of buildings on the site was turned into Jover explain: “the landscape is not drawn, a business park [Arpa 2008].

it expresses the story of a territory and the relationship its inhabitants maintain with it.” The inspiring design strategy addresses changing landscapes, both seasonal and historical. For example, the park takes on the traces of the original plot to install fields, canals, channels or ponds. [Arpa 2008] Simultaneously it has a changeable relationship with the inhabitants and visitors and it expresses the history of the river bank.

The project includes afforestation on the river banks as a way to restore the alluvial forests that had been replaced by agricultural field.

The park is located on the curve of the Ebro River just outside the city centre of Zaragoza.

The design addresses the natural meander of the river and provides an expansion area for the river.

Parque del Agua combines public space with water management and includes purification system based on the principles of aerated lagoons.

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