BACK TO THE RIVER INNOVATION STUDIO & SASAKI & BACK TO THE RIVER MISSOURI RIVER OMAHA NEBRASKA
All the design and graphic works in this book were done by Nijia Ji unless noted in grahic caption
WHO
worked on theprogram
Back to the River
THE FLOOD
In 2011, record snowfall in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Wyoming along withi near-record spring rainfall in central and eastern Montana triggered the Missouri River loods. The looding threatening several towns and cities along the river from Montana to Missouri, include Omaha. The lood was anticipated to last from June through August.
“Flooding is a normal natrual phenomena, but it became abnormal when it kept for hundred days.� Jim Becic Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District
from top right_ig: animal body loating in the river. bird’s eye view of south omaha under looding missouri river looding aerial map
WHY people get away
f rom the rive r
NEBR NEB
OMAHA
SOUTH OMAHA
South Omaha has huge sizes of vacanted brownield along river, large size of factories and industrial land keeps people away from the river.
Most part of commericial area in South Omaha are away from the river.
During the looding, our site was under water for more than 100 days.
with the great geo-location, out site is close to several transportation hubs, and state parks. The city zoo is also located just beside the site. The site should has great develoing poteintial, but limited by lack of infrastructure and serious looding issue. Most of the time, as the photos above showed, the site is almost empty.
LEARN PRESENTS
there are lots of the sites around the world have simial problem our site has. however, those sites identiied and dealed with problems as opportunities, and developed pretty well. those projects could be presents for our site to study, and through those projects, hopfully come up with a system, which could help identify our site better.
RESIDUAL SPACE REDSIDUAL
STRUCTURAL
SPACE, ‘JUNKSPACE’ ANTI-SPACE OR BORDER VACCUMS ARE PREVA-
LENT IN OUR CURRENT URBAN FABRIC.
THE 20TH
CENTURY DESIGN METHODS
DEALT WITH THEM AS AN INEVITABLILITY BUT WITH OUR BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC SYSTEMS, AND THE NEED FOR URBAN RENEWAL, CITIES ARE FINDING THESE LEFT OVER SPACES AS A SOLUTION TO MANY PROBLEMS THAT AFFECT OUR URBAN/GLOBAL COMMUNITIES.
TRANSPORTATION INFILL THE PORTLAND
STREETCAR
SYSTEM
PROVIDES
STREETCAR LOOP TO CONNECT DOWNTOWN
A
PORTLAND, AND SOUTH
NORTHWEST, LLOYD, CENTRAL EASTSIDE WATER FRONT. THE STREETCAR SYSTEM WORKS WITH BUS, LIGHT RAIL, AND AERIAL TRAM AS A LARGE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM OF THE CITY. THE SYSTEM GIVES
DEVELOPMENT
POTENTIAL
TO
BUILD
E SPAC AL U D SI RE
OPEN
SPACES, PARKS, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, AND IT ALSO PRO-
L IL F N
NEW STRUCTURES
TRA NS PO RT AT IO N
I
VIDES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR LANDSCAPE URBANISM.
CHANNELIZ ATIO NO F
NEW STRUCTURES NEW STRUCTURES ARE INNOVATIVE WAYS TO TRANSFORM OUR IDEA OF A BRIDGE OR STRUCTURE INTO SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFER-
NETHERLANDS IS A WIDE
CONCRETE
STRUCTURE
SURROUNDS
THE
ALL-WOODEN
BRIDGE TO SUPPORT PRESSURE-EXERTED FORM THE RIVER ON EACH
STE WA
SIDE.
CULTURAL WASTE WASTE IS VIEWED BY MOST PEOPLE AS SMELLY, DIRTY, AND UNUSABLE BY THE CONSUMER, BUT IN TODAY’S WORLD WE NEED TO BE THINKING OF NEW AND CREATIVE WAS TO RE-USE THE NON-ORGANIC WASTE WE USE. NEW BIOFUELS ARE BEING DEVEL-
M IS N A
FORCED
A DESIGNED STEEL REIN-
OPED AND PLASTIC WASTE IS ALSO BEING MANUFACTURED INTO A MORE SOLID, CONCRETE LIKE FORM, WHICH CAN BE USED FOR STRUCTURES SUCH AS ROADS AND BUILDINGS.
E URBANISM DSCAP LAN
IN
UR B
THE MOSES BRIDGE
BRIDGE BUILT BELOW THE WATER LEVEL.
AGR ICU LT U RA L
ENT.
AGRICULTURAL URBANISM OFFERS A STRATEGY FOR SOUND URBAN GROWTH AND RETROFIT THAT CAN SUPPORT A HIGHLY PRODUCTUVE, ULTRA-EFFICIENT AGRI-FOOD SYSTEM TO CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY TO FEEDING THE PEOPLE OF A CITY, REDUCING THEIR ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT AND ACHIECING URBAN SUSTAINABILITY.
RECEDENT NETWORK STUDY GROUP MEMBERS: AARON RANEY, JASON ZEMAN, NIJIA JI, YUE ZHAO PRECEDENT STUDIES ALLOW US TO ANALYSE REASEARCH AND PROJECTS TO DISCOVER NEW POSSIBILITIES IN THE LANDSCAPE. EACH TEAM MEMBER DID THEIR INDIVIDUAL PRECEDENT RESEARCH AND BECAME AN EXPERT IN THEIR CATEGORY. THE CATERGORIES WERE DECIDED BY OUR TEAM PRIOR TO THE STUDY. FROM THIS POINT, OUR PRECEDENT TEAM BROKE DOWN EACH CATEGORY INTO ITS ESSENCE AND BEGAN TO MAKE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE CATEGORIES. THE NETWORK THAT IS CREATED STARTS TO UNVIEL NEW IDEAS ABOUT MISSING COMPENENTS IN A LANDSCAPE.
OUR HOPE IS TO APPPLY OUR MATRIX TO OMAHA AND COUNCIL BLUFFS IN ORDER TO SEE AREAS OF
IMPROVEMENT AND INNOVATION.
LANDSCAPE URBANISM LANDSCAPE URBANISM
POSITS A PROCESS OF CITY DEVELOP-
MENT THAT PLACES LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AS THE FORMATIVE STEP IN URBAN DESIGN RATHER THAN THE LAST. SCAPE
URBANISM
ARCHITECTURE’S
WALDHEIM
AND
EXPANDS
INQUIRY
THE
AND
JAMES CORNER
SCOPE
OF
INTERVENTION.
LAND-
LANDSCAPE
CHARLES
HAVE HELPED MAKE LAND-
SCAPE URBANISM BECOME ACCEPTED AND PRACTICED IN CITY PROPOSALS.
CURRENT
LANDSCAPE URBANISM PROJECTS USE
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE TO BUILD A FRAMEWORK, AND FOCUS ON IMPROVING LIVING QUALITY.
CHANNELIZATION OF RIVER AFTER THE CHANNELIZATION OF THE MISSOURI RIVER, MANY ECOLOGICAL HABITATS WERE LOST AND THE RIVER FLOODED MORE EASILY. PROJECTS SUCH AS
SHENYANG ARCH. SCHOOL
IN
SHENGYANG, CHINA
BISHAN ANG MO KIO PARK SINGAPORE HAVE REVERSED THIS TREND, AND ELIMINATED THE CHANNELIZATION, WHICH HANDLES FLOODWATERS IN ITS OPEN SPACE. THE PARK ALSO IMPROVES THE WATER QUALITY BY USING BIO-FILTRATION THROUGH PLANT LIFE.
SHENYANG CITY
IN
NORTH CHINA
COMMISSIONED THE DESIGNER
TO CREATE A NEW SUBURBAN CAMPUS FOR TURAL
UNIVERSITY. THE
SHENYANG ARCHITEC-
CONCEPT OF THIS DESIGN SEEKS TO USE
RICE, NATIVE PLANTS AND CROPS TO KEEP THE LANDSCAPE PRODUCTIVE WHILE ALSO FULFILLING ITS NEW ROLE AS AN ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING.V
FR IV ER
WATER QUALITY THE UNITED STATES
HAS BEEN DEVELOPING WAYS TO CLEAN OUR
CLEAN WATER ACT OF 1972 AND THE WATER QUALITY ACT OF 1987. TO IMPROVE THESE EFFORTS, ORGANIZATIONS HAVE DEVELOPED PROWATER BY PASSING NATION WIDE LEGISLATURE SUCH AS THE
W
ER AT
GRAMS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF WATER BY USING INFILTRATION
IN ADDITION, THE MISRIVER WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT USES THE WASTE PULLED FROM THE WATER AND CONVERTS IT INTO ENERGY.
Y IT AL QU
BASINS OR PLANTING URBAN VEGETATION. SOURI
MODELING ODING FLO
LAFAYETTE GREENS DETROIT, MI THIS
COMMUNITY GARDEN FILLS A PARCEL OF CITY LAND LEFT
2010 DEMOLITION OF THE HISTORIC LAFAYBUILDING. THE LOSS OF THE LAFAYETTE BUILDING LEFT THE
VACANT AFTER THE ETTE
FLOODING RESILIENCY THE
CITY LOOKING TO FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND CITY INHABITANTS
RISE IN SEA LEVEL, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND URBANIZA-
TION HAVE INCREASED THE FREQUENCY AND STRENGTH OF TODAY’S FLOODS.
IN
ORDER TO CHANGE THIS TREND, WE
NEED TO RELY ON THE NATURAL PROCESSES TO CONTROL THE FLOODING.
THIS
UNHAPPY WITH A DEPRESSING EMPTY LOT.
LAFAYETTE GREENS
THE
PROGRAM FOR
EVOLVED TO INCLUDE THE USE OF SUSTAIN-
ABLE MATERIALS AND PRACTICES WHEREVER POSSIBLE, SPACES FOR PUBLIC USE AND ENJOYMENT, FUTURE AND ONGOING PUBLIC ART PROJECTS AND A FUN EDUCATIONAL
CAN INCLUDE THE TRANSFORMATION OF
UNUSED SPACE INTO WETLANDS, RESIDUAL SPACE INTO BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, OR TURNING TRANSPORTATION CHANNELS INTO WATER CHANNELS.
WHEN
DEALING WITH
NAT U R AL PR O C ES S
FLOODING, MIMICKING NATURAL PROCESSES AS BEST WE CAN WILL BE THE BEST WAY TO REDUCE FLOOD DAMAGE.
+ D
THE HOFBOGEN ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
NATURAL PROCESS + DEVELOPMENT THE MISSOURI RIVER BASIN PROJECT WAS AUTHORIZED BY THE FLOOD CONTROL ACT OF 1944 AND WAS MEANT TO CONSERVE, CONTROL, AND INCREASE USE OF WATER RESOURCES IN THE MISSOURI RIVER BASIN. THEY INTENDED FOR THE PROJECT TO BETTER CONTROL FLOODS, CREATE GREATER TRANSPORTATION, GENERATE POWER, PRESERVE AND ENHA NCE FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT, AND REDUCE STREAM POLLUTION. IN REALITY, THE PROJECT DID THE EXACT OPPOSITE. SINCE CONSTRUCTION, THE WATER QUALITY HAS GONE DOWN, FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITATS ARE BEING LOST, AND IT HAS INCREASED THE FREQUENCY AND STRENGTH OF FLOODING.
THE HOFBOGEN
PROJECT IN
ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS A
RENOVATION PROJECT ON AN OLD ELEVATED TRAIN TRACK.
IS A COM-
MERCIAL STRIP AND ELEVATED PARK ARE INCORPORATED WITHIN THE OLD ARCHED STRUCTURE BUILT IN
1907. THE DESIGN PROROTTERDAM AIRPORT
VIDES CITY HEATING BY CONNECTING THE
AND DEVELOPMENTS AROUND THE CITY USING INDUSTRIAL WASTE HEAT. THIS STRATEGY CAN RADICALLY REDUCE
CO2 FOOTPRINTS IN
EXISTING URBAN FABRICS.
WATER
TRINITY RIVER CORRIDOR PROJECT DALLAS, TX THE TRINITY RIVER CORRIDOR
DESIGN PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH THE
CHARACTER AND MEASURE OF SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE LARGEST GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE
UNITED STATES. THE
PROJECT IS A
9-MILE
URBAN PARK, FLOODWAY AND TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT.
THE SITE IS A VAST FLOOD PLAIN IN WHICH 80 PERCENT IS RESERVED FOR LOW-MAINTENANCE LANDSCAPE THAT CAN NATURALLY WITHSTAND FLOOD EVENTS SUCH AS PRAIRIE GRASSES, WETLANDS, AND RECREATIONAL LAKES.
NT ME OP EL EV
OVERFLO W
RIV ER
S LD
EDUCA TIO N
on the site
M NIS BA UR AL UR
OPPORTUNITIES
AG RI C U LT
L INA M R TE
DEPOSIT S
BARRIER
AL CAN
BRO WN FIE
ITAT HAB
the diagram trying to identify the development opportunities based on site existing condition. haveier solid line represents larger opportunity. The site is as a barrier to the city to missouri river, because of several exisiting condition such as overlow area, brownields and so on. but these disadvantages have chances to be used as advantages.
HOW to get people back to the river
lood as a natrual phenomenon could be controlled, but could not be stopped. by creating wetland system along the river, increasing water storage ability to release the overlow condition, also provide a terrace riverfront to treat looding as a landscape. rebuild riverfront system as not only wetland, but also educational, recreational destination to attract people back to the river.
CONCEPT people get away from the river
artiical terrace wetland + natrual wetland create natrual wetland on the existing state park on the iowa site, actually extend the width of the river, increase water storage ability of the river to release the long time overlow condition. In the same time, the natrual wetland could be new recreation place for both sides of people. provide artiical terrace wetland o n the urban side so the design language could it into the urban fabric. the artiical terrace wetland create several level for looding, and also provide diferent level of recreation.
before
after
natural wetland
artifical terrace wetland
riverfront wetland system
Jan asparagus flowers eggplant watermelon sweet corn sweet potato broccoli cucumber
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
artiical terrace wetland provide artiical terrace wetland on the urban side so the design language could it into the urban fabric. the artiical terrace wetland create several level for looding, and also provide diferent level of recreation. The terraces will used as urban argriculture land, combine with school curriculum and city urban farming programs, it will become a place for education and recreation.
natrual wetland create natrual wetland on the existing state park on the iowa site, actually extend the width of the river, increase water storage ability of the river to release the long time overlow condition. In the same time, the natrual wetland could be new recreation place for both sides of people.
SOW
Mainte nance
Harvest
City
Curriculum
Recreationv
B AC K TO THE RIVER