Transitional Territories Studio 2017-2018. MSc4 End-of-the-Year Exhibition Book by taneha kuzniecow bacchin

North Sea Landscapes of Coexistence

Preface

Geert van der Meulen New Netherlands The Netherlands

136

Qing Ma Haringvliet Towards A Dynamic Balance South-West Delta, NL

254

Xiaoyue Hu Environmental Research Center Thames Estuary, UK

362

Deniz Ustem Luctor et Emergo Wadden Sea, NL

156

Neil Moncrieff A non-straightforward archipelago South-West Delta, NL

268

Hu Ye A New N-S (North-South) System Thames Estuary, UK

370

Joanna Kosowicz Waiting Wadden Sea, NL

170

Karlijn Scholtens The Old Man and the Sea South-West Delta, NL

282

North Sea Landscapes of Coexistence

382

4 Geographies Norwegian South-West Coast Wadden Sea, North Netherlands Dutch-Flemish Delta, South Netherlands England South-East Coast

Elise van Herwaarden The Mongstad Experience Norway

Julia Holtland A blue scape of reflection Wadden Sea, NL

182

Jan Cyganski Everything Remains Transformed UK

294

Gerben van den Oever Inter Naturas Norway

Malou Visser Borderscape Wadden Sea

194

Alexandra Farmazon Reverse Risk Thames Estuary, UK

302

Mihai Turtoi Ark of Solastalgia. Prisoners at Sea. Norway

Yichuan Huan Renature the ends of Netherlands Wadden Sea, NL

206

Ailsa Craigen Past to Present to Past Thames Estuary, UK

321

Jie Wang Resilient Energy, Energetic City Norway

Aikaterina Myserli Re-Natured Economy South-West Delta, NL

216

Nafeesa Hamza Taking Back Control Thames Estuary, UK

332

Year-log 2017-2018

Shaoning Wu Adaptive Livability in Bergen Norway

103

Efrain Fajardo Navigating between authorities South-West Delta, NL

238

Junzhong Chen Reverse to Reboot Thames Estuary, UK

343

Yelin Zhang Sharing fluid grounds Norway

115

Wenxin Jin Ecotourism South-West Delta, NL

245

Niroopa Food from the Empire Thames Estuary, UK

354

Delta Interventions Studio 2017-2018 North Sea: Landscapes of Coexistence. Transitional Spaces, Infrastructure and Power. In collaboration with RCA Royal College of Art, London AA School Architecture, London UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education Het Nieuwe Instituut Joint Design Studio with Dalhousie Architecture School â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Halifax/ Canada

Coordinators dr.ir. Taneha Kuzniecow Bacchin dr.ir. Hamed Khosravi Instructors/ Mentors Architecture & Urbanism dr.ir. Taneha Kuzniecow Bacchin dr.ir. Hamed Khosravi Architecture ir. Stefano Milani dr.ir. Nicola Marzot Urbanism dr. Fransje Hooimeijer dr. Diego Carmona Sepulveda ir. Kristel Aalbers ir. Filippo laFleur Landscape Architecture dr.ir. Inge Bobbink dr. Steffen Nijhuis ir. Denise Piccinini Building Technology ir. Sjap Holst Student Assistant Elise van Herwaarden Graduation Sections Urban Design Architecture & Public Building Environmental Modelling Landscape Architecture Policy Analysis

Students Architecture Ailsa Craigen Deniz Ă&#x153;stem Efrain Fajardo Ibarra Elise van Herwaarden Fathima Nafeesa Hamza Gerben van den Oever Joanna Kosowicz Julia Holtland Karlijn Scholtens Mihai Turtoi Xiaoyue Hu Urbanism Aikaterina Myserli Alexandra Farmazon Jan Michael Cyganski Jie Wang Junzhong Chen Neil Moncrieff Niroopa Qing Ma Shaoning Wu Ye Hu Yelin Zhang Yi-Chuan Huang Wenxin Jin Landscape Architecture Malou Visser Water Management Geert van der Meulen

La mer, la mer, toujours recommencĂŠe! Paul Valery, Le cimetiĂ¨re marin (1920)

That sea forever starting and re-starting

North Sea Landscapes of Coexistence

A territorial perspective Historically, the North Sea has been a contested territory. While bordering the mainland Europe it has been often turned into a platform for geopolitical affairs with the UK as well as the Nordic countries. Such strategic role has manifested itself in various military, religious, economic, and social ties and divides, which has consequently made the North Sea a confliction common ground. The ongoing refugee crisis or the Brexit are only very recent examples of such a long history. As a result, the sea is not seen anymore a periphery of Europe but rather a central territory and a point of departure through which the idea of Europe would be defined or challenged. Therefore, in the North Sea: Landscapes of Coexistence Studio we celebrated these controversial aspects of the sea, not anymore as an extra-territorial space and a limit to the land, but rather as the main point an autonomous entity through which the political, environmental, economic and societal questions could be addressed. In this way any spatial proposition, whether landscape, urban or architectural, was challenged and revisited through the lens of the North Sea as a referenced territory for new spatial interventions. Students were encouraged to redefine the role of the territory of the sea and particularly its land borders/ coastal cities, addressing the complex, yet not so visible, spatial, juridical, environmental and geopolitical natures of the North Sea.

Seascapes Hiroshi Sugimoto, North Sea. Barriedale (1990)

The consideration of the sea always involves conflictual tendencies. Commonly, the sea is regarded as a mythopoetic source instigating in the individual a vivid imagery, the desire of an unrestrained freedom towards the unknown, the need of adventure, and the vital hope of imagining oneself in a better place and condition. At the same time, this projective existential approach is always combined with or, it is activated by - opposing forces in which the sea conversely represents a danger - a menace revealing men’s vulnerability and epitomising an obstacle to be overcome to fulfil men’s desires and needs. The understanding of the nature of the struggle established between projective ideas and desires associated with the sea, and the underlying opposing forces that governs it, can generate an elementary consciousness guiding both research and a creative approach on the sea. It can be argued in fact, that in the definition of the conflict directed by individual but also collective expectations, and involving both spiritual and material aspects, emerges the particular notion of the sea as a resource, ultimately connoted by a positive dimension. Over the last few decades, however, and especially in recent years, the sea seems to have lost the positive perception, as well as its inspirational power, and begun instead to be associated as an explicit threat of which rising of the sea level due to climatic changes gives a clear picture. Analogously, a negative perception of the sea is reinforced by the effects of the globalisation processes directed by transnational investments, and involving the exploitation of its stock/resources (the sea life and its subsoil), the increasing dependence from constantly changing logistic/economical routes and consequently also from physical infrastructures marking/carving the sea bed, and leading to the remodelling of the shore and of the land. Last but not least, the negative perception of the sea is instigated also by the more recent phenomenon of the massive migration seen as an explicit threat to nations’ stability and cultural identity, but that in any case are also producing recognizable effects on the territory, such as proto-infrastructural elements and informal settlements. As a direct consequence, the natural and political limits are systematically questioned and marked by often undecipherable signs, while, at the same time, these overwhelming pressures - paradoxically – discourage any projective approach that address them. This worrisome scenario and implications described above appear impenetrable to the vision and knowledge of the architect. In fact, it cannot be underestimated that the effects - both endogenous and exogenous – produced by these undergoing transformations affects all the scale of the built environment.

Furthermore, it could be also argued that the very conventional system of relationships binding the notions of territory, city, and architecture (intermediated at a various level by the infrastructure, and by normative-professional apparatuses) appear less and less capable to govern and direct the transformations operating in it. As consequence, emerges the need of challenging this disciplinary categorisation and to explore new approaches that necessarily involves at the same time research aspects and the creative dimension of the projects. Therefore, beyond the salvific rhetorical approach towards environmental challenges and a nihilistic renounce of confronting them, the studio advanced a third, fictional, approach in which research and design are indissolubly bind and characterized by an explicit exploratory dimension. More specifically, the North Sea region was investigated according with four interconnected themes: Imagination Inhabiting Space and Time / Temporalities Re-Nature Design with Nature / Performative Design The Limits of the City From Cities to Urban Systems / Territorialism Ecologies of Power Political Ecology of Urban Form / Economies of Scale

4 Geographies

Norway. South-West Coast. Map Macro scale.

Norwegian South-West Coast

The first focus zone of the D-I 2017-2018 Studio is the located at the northern border of the North Sea; South-western Norwegian coastline, starting from the city of Bergen, at the up north, down to Kristiansand at the mouth of the Skagerrak strait. Bergen was the one of largest cities of Scandinavia until mid-nineteenth century (it is now the second largest city of Norway), when Oslo grew much faster and became the focal point of trade and business in the region. The historical significance of Bergen was not limited to its role within Scandinavian economy but also it has been one of most strategic cities in the northern European territory. It is not surprising that Bergen was the first city to be occupied by the German forces on the first day of the WWII, on 9 April 1940. It marks the northern border of the North Sea as the geopolitical platform through which the idea of Europe has been historically signified. Similar to the UK East Cost, the Southern Norwegian coast was once part of the North Sea Empire; a form of power based of the exceptional territory of the sea, where the land was the boundary and the sea was the main â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;landâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Kristiansand marks the south end of the study area; the fifth largest city of Norway that is strategically located right at the mouth of the Skagerrak strait. Because of its important geopolitical position, the city served as a military stronghold for many centuries, controlling the access to the Baltic Sea through the strait. Skagerrak strait, marking the southeast end of the target area, is one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s busiest shipping routs that connects the North Sea to the Baltic Sea via Kattegat waters. Such heavy traffic has had negative impact on the ecosystems of the region, endangering both human and non-human habitats of the sea and its bordering lands. The pollution caused by numerous vessels as well as the climate change are the main two factors that have threatened the ecologies of the area. However, contrary to most part of the globe, where the climate change threat to low-lying lands and cities is well known, Scandinavia and the Norwegian coastline faces the opposite problem. Surprisingly over the 20th century Norway has experienced an overall sea level fall while others underwent a limited rise. Melting of ice sheets in the Nordic region has lifted a massive weight from the Scandinavian territory; it has caused the rebound of the solid Earth. This process of vertical land motion, known as post-glacial rebound, is ongoing and will be affecting the Norway coastal zone more dramatically in the future. This does not mean that the Norwegian coast does not face any problem; one of the immediate effects of such phenomena is the lowering the ports. Some of the harbours have already planned to deepen their ports to offset the land rise in order to accommodate existing ships and to let in larger ships to dock in the future. For a country that whose economy has been fundamentally based on maritime trade, ports and harbours are the most strategic parts of the territory. The Norwegian coastal zone is shaped primarily out of various geomorphological conditions where water and land meet: series of peninsulas, island, fjords, and rivers flanked by high mountainous landscape. On one hand it provides the county with a rather long coastline, on the other hand the highlands leave limited possibilities for smooth transitional zones between land and the sea. Relatively low flooding risk, cold weather and long coastline, have made the Norway and Sweden favourable destinations for future mega data centres. Facebook for example has

built its massive data centre in Luleå, Sweden. Mark Zuckerberg has called it a keystone in the global cyber infrastructure. The shift from hard logistics to cyber infrastructure could become an extensive future trend that would affect not only the economy of the northern border of the North Sea but also its environment and the territorial form. Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of the Norwegian coastline is Fjord. Fjord is a narrow inlet of the sea; it is created when large and persistent sheets of ice cut a valley. Melting of the ice sheets mostly results in glacial erosion, shaping steep cliffs and high solid walls along the narrow body of water. When fjords reach to the sea it submerges with the lowered hilly landscape and creates archipelago of islands. These landforms are known as Skerries. These range of islands are usually arranged parallel t the coastline that makes a protection for the fjords and limits the access to the inland through water. Historically this coastal form has been one of the geographical advantages that protected the naval forces of the Nordic countries, especially Norway’s, from the external attacks. Hardabgerfjord, the second largest fjords of Norway and the fourth largest in the world, is located within the target area of the studio. The fjord stretches 179 kilometres into the land and reaches to 860 metres deep at some point. It is known today as one of the most visited tourist attractions of Norway, which together with fish farming has driven the economy of the region as well as the country. However undoubtedly the main economic engine of the country is oil and gas industries. May 1963 is a turning point in the Norwegian economy. On that date Norway asserted its right on the natural resources in its sector on the North Sea. It had been already predicted that there are large oil and gas resources in the North Sea. It did not take so long when in August 1969 the first oil reservoir was explored. The development of the Norwegian oil economy was driven by the oil boom of 1970s and grew much faster that it was expected. Since then Norway has become one the world’s leading oil and gas producing countries specialized in offshore exploration and extraction industries. In 1972, three Norwegian petroleum companies were merged and Statoil, the largest operator in the Norwegian continental shelf, was founded in order to monopolise the rights on the offshore resources and to facilitate the oil industry in the national and international levels. It was headquartered in Stavanger on the south-western coast of the country, however most of its activities were placed in offshore plants within the North Sea waters. Extensive resources of gas and oil in the Norwegian waters of the North Sea has made this part of sea into one of most busiest energy hubs, extracting, processing and transporting oil and gas to the other part of Europe as well as the world. Loads of mega offshore infrastructure have been installed and kilometres of pipe have laid under the sea water. Today, the total length of the Norwegian gas pipeline network is roughly similar to the distance from Oslo to Bangkok. In addition, several pipelines connect oil fields on the Norwegian continental shelf with onshore oil terminals. The map of underwater pipelines shows how the North Sea works as a logistic platform for energy transportation, and when it is combined with shipping infrastructure, cyber network and transportation routs, sea becomes an

interconnected web linking all corners of the North Sea coastline together. Because of its flourishing economy and relatively low population, Norway has become once of the main destinations for migration worldwide. The migrant groups vary from labour force, to refugees and asylum seekers. Recent wars and conflicts in the Middle East have raised the numbers significantly.

M.J.R. Simpson et al, ‘Sea Level Change for Norway; Past and Present Observations and Projections to 2100,’ NCCS Report no. 1/2015 (Norwegian Centre for Climate Services, 2015), p. 117. Read about the Swedish cases here: http:// www.independent. co.uk/environment/ climate-change/swedenthe-land-of-the-risingcoastline-8373787.html See ‘Scandinavian countries are attractive sites for server farms,’ PRI, 1 June 2012: https://www.pri.org/ stories/2012-06-01/ scandinavian-countriesare-attractive-sites-serverfarms James Vincent, ‘Mark Zuckerberg shares pictures from Facebook’s cold, cold data center.’ The Verge, 29 September 2016: https://www. theverge.

Wadden Sea. Map Macro scale.

South-West Delta. Map Macro scale.

The Netherlands Wadden Sea South-West Delta

The Netherlands, held between the dynamics of the North Sea and the Rhine, Maas, and Scheldt Rivers of the Delta, where both its’ Landscape and its’ culture reflect the changeability of the ‘ground’. Set between densities of waters, salt and sweet; and between definitions, land and water, the Delta is not fixed, but flows, which enables travel, diverse ecologies and too a malleability of the ground. These facilitate an ease of establishment, with the access to food (an abundance of wildlife (bird/ fish)) and the river/sea for travel, trade and commerce, and were its’ foundations. “Places … constructed through, as Clifford (1997) would say, routes as well as roots…” . The Netherlands, a culture and a ’land’ that is constructed, its’ locations established in terms of routes and later roots, made it a logistical hub for trade between Europe and the world. This connectivity, a porosity that reflects the ‘land’ itself, held, ‘in place’, through a continual process of addition, adaption and maintaining water levels through displacement and pumping. The Netherlands long history of ‘living with water’ having ‘pulled their country from the sea’ is deeply embedded, it is what they ‘hold’ in common, its’ social contract to uphold. With, Climate Change issues and the fact that a large portion of Holland lies well below sea level, an invasion, from the North Sea is pressing.

Naming and Constructing The Netherlands, and the Dutch identity, like the country’s physical existence, is historically entangled with the landscape in a way that is true of few other nations. It is a land where even its name, ‘the Netherlands’ tells a story - a low lying place, a nation that is nether land nor water, a land that is hard to get to, or between ‘titles’. These suggest a land – the Delta landscape – that is in a state of flux both in terms of natural and cultural processes. Here, land is continually formed, culturally, ‘scaped’ or ‘schop’ or shoveled land, put up against the sea and therefore a constructed thing. Holland then, a land made from ‘shoveling’ and ‘holtz’ -‘holtz’ land, as constructed, its’ edges reinforced by ‘holtz’ /wood, and described as found – a land of dark swamp, peat bogs and low lying fluvial forests a top natural river levees, steps of marine clay, and sand ridges, created by thousands of years of natural processes (geology, hydrology and ecologies). These overlapping descriptors convey relationships between ‘finding’ and ‘founding,’ where meanings are based on what is as is the act naming and constructing are as well. These interconnected meanings, fluctuate, take hold and are adapted, and like the Delta landscape itself; they are informed by and inseparable from a combination of forces and processes; imperfect balances and a striving for its’ opposite.

Fixity and Flux The Delta then is held, loosely between ridges. Some ridges are natural others cultural, both are constructed through processes. Its’ westerly ridge is old and geological, of Aeliotic Clay deposited in the Holecene period, can be found in Den Heder/Textle Island and further out from shore in the south-west. Between these two outcroppings, newly formed and forming ridges - the dune – are shifted by the sea tides and buffeting by the North Sea winds. Inward lying, on the Delta’s eastern edge another older mass of sand was formed through sea insurgence and glacial action, which creates a sort of ‘ledge’ or large shelf or shelp , subtly

inclined toward the sea. This ledge is crossed by rivers (the Scheldt, Maas and Rhine) that meander, creating natural levees/embankments by the deposition of sediment along the Rivers edges. These natural ridges create a set of protective edges where settlements attached and through mimicry others edges were too, constructed, ‘making’ land through shoveling- land ‘schop’ where mounds/ twerpen, ditches/canals, dikes/ embankments and dams, resulted in towns/ cities that carried their construction in their name such as Antwerp, Amsterdam or Rotterdam. These, ground works then, are “arguably the first and most fundamental act of topographical construction. Every terrain that has been transformed is the foundation of a broad range of human purposes. This in reality forms the bases of most cultural practices” and as Leatherbarrow suggests here, are the base of all cultural formation.

Flood or Control Through the centuries, the Dutch culture has prevailed against water and the North Sea enabled through careful organization, persistence and speculation, which have facilitated invention, both in terms of the ‘construction’ of infrastructure and in terms of the linking of land with the ‘commodity’. So land, peat, water and real estate are by knowledge (Science/Art/Religion), and like each could be bought and sold. Ideas imported, as an economy model, both about control and about allowing openness /freedom. These dualities to are embedded as well in the place, the sea, its wind and water, were in fact ‘the lands’ biggest resource. This harnessing of givens i.e. wind and water, the resources of the place, were the key to the success of the Netherlands in the seventeenth century and onward and are still important today. Infrastructure investment, in the Netherlands dates back to the early 12th century where water boards both state and national were put into effect. Windmills were integrated into parks, along with later, pumps and steam engines, which were developed together with Agriculture/Real Estate developments, gardens and theme parks. This history of organization around infrastructure and economic driven flood protection – like for instance the water boards development infrastructural projects that protect Holland from the Sea creating a three-tiered flood protection/mitigation system, which combined Sea Dikes and River/ Ring Dikes and Storm Gate, etc. in conjunction with (other stake holders/interested parties) the nature reserves, tourism and industry, etc. The Netherland faces the North Sea, its coastal edge lies Westerly between Belgium to the South and Germany to its’ North. The coastline is 451- 1,914 km long consisting of sandy beaches and sea dikes, which are public and create a layered protection of the cities and behind them. Its many harbors, including the International Port of Rotterdam, and other smaller ports, enable both protection and porosity for Rivers outlets and tidal inlets along the edge of the delta pan. Nev¬ertheless, behind the dune and along the river delta are Holland’s main cities, in which about 17,028,00 (2016) people live. This area is situated between 0.6 to 2 meters below NAP and more than 4 meters below the level of an average storm and without ap¬propriate coastal protection it would flood every year. If

there is a rise in Sea Water Rise, due to climate change then there must be even more alternatives, that take pressure off some of the big infrastructures, a layered approach where multiple smaller scale interventions take water off the river system temporally are planned in. Investments in these alternatives such as ‘make way for the river project’ and re: thinking urban centers ‘Green and Blue Infrastructures to reduce run-off loads and like in times of war, a temporary flooding of their lands. So here perhaps a partial retreat, a temporary submerging of portions of the countryside, in order to keep safe urban settlement. History and Nature both gives us lessons, the St. Elizabeth flood in the 15-century destroyed much of the center of the country around Dordrecht, the decision to rebuild only parts was based in reason, a balancing of economies, so the area of the Biesbosch was left, standing as both remembrance and as a buffer. Today, a planned retreat in the Overdiepse Polder, suggests the design and creation of landscapes for such a purpose, where again the temporal occupation of the Delta landscape, based in strategies that are not new but old, could be developed. As well other strategies ‘working with Nature’ have reshaped the coast with the Sand Motor, and now the Mud Motor projects, which work with and build on the natural dynamics of flows and sediment distributions, but here are amplified. Each has its effects and consequences.

The Coast/Edge The Netherlands Western and North-Western Coast can be divided into three geological – ecological zones: a) the Northern Area which consist of a line of Barrier Islands that protect a Coastal-Delta known as the Wadden Sea which extends up the coast of German-Denmark; b) the Middle Area consisting of a Dune Landscape, pairing historically and currently Public amenities, the Beach, Amusement Park, Recreations/Spa/Restaurants and Entertainment with Infrastructure (Sand Machine, Sea Dikes, Ramps/Bridges), programming of multiplicities; and c) the Southwest which has the unique condition of sharing a water way to the port of Antwerp Belgium. The Northwestern Edge and The Southern Edge (Similarities and Difference) Geographical these are middle landscapes between the Sea and the River. In the Northwestern this in between landscape is the Wadden Sea, which is a protected UNESCO zone. It is a fragile ecological area and important habitat for migrating birds, an attraction for Eco-Tourism. This Northern edge is more exposed battered by the wind and waves, which threaten the delicate ecological balance through sea inundation as well the Ports/Harbors (Groningen’s bid for Clean Energy Hub) which means investment but at what cost? The Southern Edge is more protected although these ‘finger-islands’ linked through a set of larger Infrastructures, which protect Holland from the Sea (i.e. the Storm Gate,etc.) and the main out flow of the River Delta to the Sea. Here conflicting interests: nature preserves, archeological (Romans Ditches/Twerpen Mounds) remains and national boundaries - Flemish port of Antwerp in Belgium, which is accessed through Holland. The Flemish, have as well a different attitude toward the Sea, their coastal edge, a wall/embankment, is privatized and their dense urban centers are back behind a polder landscape. The Dutch, more socially

Larsen, J., J. Urry and K.W. Axhausen (2005). Social networks and future mobilities, report to the Horizons Programme of the Department for Transport, Department of Sociology, University of Lancaster and IVT, ETH Zürich, Lancaster and Zürich Stilgoe, John R. What is Landscape?, MIT Press 2015 Idea from, Christophe Girot, Four Trace Concepts, in Recovering Landscape, Essays on Contemporary Landscape Architect, Princeton Architectural Press 1999 Stilgoe, John R. What is Landscape?, MIT Press 2015 Leatherbarrow, David, Leveling Land, James Corner’s Ed Recovering Landscapes: Essays in contemporary landscape Architecture. Princeton Architectural Press 1999.

minded, have organized against the commonly held threat of the North Sea, with water boards and layers of protective infrastructures. Therefore the conflicted held between ideals of control and protection or flood and retreat, and developmental interests make for challenges, but also invention or re-invention, or possibly a return of a previous coastline of islands?

The image of the boy with his finger in the dike is still with us today, in unpacking this image, we see that with human endeavor and ingenuity comes safety from the terrors and strength of water from the North Sea and the Rivers. Humans can control this. The Dutch have for the most part proven this to be true. Today they continue to seek solutions that are both economic and socially organized. Will the ideal(s) of land’scape’ and its embedded cultural adaption enable it as a country to prevail as flood around it, or will it reinvent itself as a island nation that it once was? This is yet un-know, and only time can tell.

Thames Estuary, UK. Map Macro scale.

UK East Coast Thames Estuary

The UK east coast – from Suffolk coast in the north down to the Dover right at the mouth of the channel– marks a distinctive region in the North Sea coastline that is of the D-i Studio’s interest for multiple reasons. This area includes the Suffolk Coast, Essex Coat, and The Greater Thames Estuary that comprises not only the shoreline and the tidal Thames, but also represents a long history and a coherent assemblage of multiple dynamic systems: human habitats, preserved natural areas, exceptional coastal processes, geomorphological features, economic zones, logistic infrastructures, and geopolitical affairs. The area was historically known as East Anglia; formed around the year 520, East Anglia was one of the seven AngloSaxon kingdoms of England that later became united under the King Æthelstan on 27 July 927, when the Kingdom of England was founded. Although the East Anglia had been almost part of the political establishments confined by the geographical boundaries of the island of the Great Britain, but perhaps one of most striking part of the history of the region is when the East Anglia became part of an extra-territorial power that united parts of (what is known today as) Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and England under the empire of the North Sea. The North Sea Empire was a thalassocracic domain; a state primarily founded on the centrality of maritime realm both in its territorial definition and its power structure. Cnut the Great was a Danish prince who won the throne in the year 1016. His vision for shaping an empire was driven by the extensive maritime power of the Vikings who where ruling the territory of the North Sea at the time. He managed to put together the lands around the North Sea under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, as well as by sheer brutality. Cnut laid siege to London in April 1016. After the English troops were utterly defeated in the Battle of Ashingdon (18 Oct 1016), Eadmund accepted a peace settlement on the Isle of Olney and divided the kingdom with Cnut, who received all of the country north of the Thames. Cnut died at Shaftsbury, Dorset, on 12 Nov 1035. Cnut was accepted as a real power in the 11th century Europe and was respected by both emperor and pope. After him the North Sea Empire lost its centripetal force and gradually fell apart. Nevertheless the 30-year of the North Sea Empire marks a turning point in the history of the North Sea as well as Europe when the sea became a ‘common ground’ binding the bordering lands together. Under Cnut the Great, England enjoyed peace and prosperity. English trade profited by the ruling power of Cnut over the Baltic trade route and benefited from his extensive maritime logistic network. Beyond the wake of the Viking age, North Sea has been always a contested territory as well, conditioning economic, religious, political and social relationships between the mainland Europe and the Great Britain; from the long history of the Roman occupation of the England to various periods of Anglo-French and Anglo-Dutch wars, to recent events such as seaborne Operation Overload or Operation Neptune (D-Day), that led to liberation of the German-occupied western Europe during the WWII, or even the very recent migrant crisis and the Brexit that one again marked the North Sea as a quarreled ground. Such dense history of ties and divides is also conditioned by very peculiar geopolitical landscape and landform of the sea and its bordering territories.

Geological and Landform features The targeted zone is mainly comprises layers of clay and sand best known as London Clay. These layers are formed into two distinctive geomorphological features: soft coast around the Thames Estuary, and high cliffs along the coast of Suffolk and Essex, ranging from 6 to 10 metres. In-between there are saltmarsh, low cliffs and mudflat lands that connects the estuaries to the highlands. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The surface deposits are largely recent estuarine sediments, ranging from the fine silts of the saltmarsh, grazing marsh and much of the foreshore, to coarser sands and gravels on the more exposed parts of the coast, with occasional shell banks which are a scarce but characteristic feature of this coast.â&#x20AC;? Due to recent rising sea level and increasing land erosion the saltmarshes are being disappeared in the north part of the region. These phenomena have not only pushed the human and natural habitats to further to the inland but also have reportedly caused numerous disasters, such as destructions of coastal towns, harbours and infrastructures. Environmental threats Besides general environmental issues such as the sea level rise and water pollution in the North Sea, the UK east coast suffers in particular from extensive coastal erosion. The territory of the east coast, from Suffolk coast to Dover has been recognized as the most vulnerable areas with the highest flood risk. Tidal surges wash over the shores in an exceptionally fast process; in some parts cliffs are being washed away up to 3.5 metres per year. Various techniques of flood defence and coastal protection have been implemented along the shores, however the threats to the coastal cities, harbours, and infrastructures are still considerable. Such massive land erosion has not only hit the urban areas and harbours but also put at risk the economy and industry of the county as well, since the logistic infrastructures and the naval routs are affected. The coastal erosion together with the rising sea level and climate change (natural and man-made) has resulted in gradual sinking of England, but perhaps more dramatically, has caused coastal squeezing and therefore the shrinkage of the country. Recent underwater imaging techniques have revealed ruins of cities, roads, and buildings after being lost to coastal erosion along the history. There are multiple river estuaries along this area where the high land reaches the mudflat areas and slat marshes. Certainly Thames Estuary is the most significant zone, both environmentally and strategically, as it reaches to the heart of London as the most important urban, economic and political epicentre of the territory. The Thames estuary is one of the largest inlets on the coast of the Great Britain and constitutes one of the major shipping routes of the county as well as Europe. Historically the East UK marks the dawn of British Empire when companies, such as the British East India Company, were set to expand the territory of the motherland all around the glob. The Thames Estuary indeed was one of the busiest trade hubs reaching to all four corners of world from the America to Africa, Indian Peninsula, Australia, and East Asia. Such long history not only touches upon an extensive economic exchange and trade network but also weaves into dark times

of colonialism, genocide, piracy, wars, and larger geopolitical conflicts across the glob. In his novel Heart of Darkness (1899), Joseph Conrad captures beautifully such significant, yet tragic, history. The story is a about a voyage from London to Congo in the heart of Africa, as part of the British network of Ivory trade. The author makes a poetic parallel between London and Africa as places of darkness. The central character of the book is a young sailor, named Charles Marlow, who is in fact representing the author himself. He narrates the story of how he became the captain of the steamship, aboard to his friend on a ship docked at the mouth of the River Thames. “Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, When I grow up I will go there. […] True, by this time [that I was a grown up] it was not a blank space any more. It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery—a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness.” The narrative skilfully describes the space of the port at the Thames as well as the steamship that sails to a ‘blank space’. It also criticises the horror of the west at the time of colonialism driven by the maritime logistics, which, to some extents, is still visible today wrapped in new forms of economic exploitation and soft colonialism. The East UK region still play a very important role in the economic structure and the trade networks of the North Sea. It hosts the busiest logistic hub of the UK, Port of Felixstowe (known also as the Port of Britain), located at the Haven Gateway, Suffolk. It deals with 42% of Britain’s containerised trade. It is linked to the English Midland with extensive networks of roads and railways that serve the entire country. The port is planned to expand in order to handle the container capacity of 6million TEUs a year by 2020. It is also moving towards a fully mechanized and automated logistic centre that would enhance the efficiency and performance of the port. Extensive infrastructures of the UK’s southeast coast are not limited to the economic hubs and shipping centres, it had also played a very important role during the Second World War, as anti-aircraft defence belt and military platform serving the allied forces, together they can be studies as WWII architectural heritage to be preserved and re-functioned. Of those remaining buildings, perhaps the most interesting ones are the abandoned offshore forts sunken from the mouth of the Thames Estuary and spread to the north towards the coast of Suffolk. The most famous ones are known as Red Sands forts built in the Thames Estuary and Rough Sands forts off the coast of Essex and Suffolk. Red Sands is composed of a group of seven octagonal forts previously connected to each other by metal walkways. While the Rough Sands is individual concrete two-legged platforms that functioned both as radio transmitters and anti-aircraft

See “The Oil and Gas Pipeline System’, http:// www.norskpetroleum. no/en/production-andexports/the-oil-and-gaspipeline-system/ See http://www. migrationpolicy.org/ programs/data-hub/ charts/top-25destinations-internationalmigrants See ‘Cnut’ entry on Archntology.org: http:// www.archontology.org/ nations/uk/england/ anglosaxon/canut.php Greater Thames Estuary Coastal Natural Area Profile, A report by English Nature, Essex, Hertfordshire and London Team, Published in October 1997, p. 5. See ‘East Riding coastal erosion’, Guardian 24 June 2014. https:// www.theguardian. com/environment/ gallery/2014/jun/24/ east-riding-coastalerosion-in-pictures See ‘Dunwich underwater images show ‘Britain’s Atlantis’’, BBC News 10 May 2013. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness available online at: https:// www.gutenberg.org/ files/219/219-h/219-h. htm See the Expansion plans at the port of Felixstowe, available at: https://www. portoffelixstowe.co.uk/

stations. During mid-1960s some of these offshore spaces were occupied by independent radio stations, mostly known as pirate radios, that were broadcasting 24/7 pop and rock music resisting against the monopoly of BBC programme. The emergence of pirate radios was a turning point in the reception and promotion of the 60s not-yet-so-famous music bands such as the Beatles and The Rolling Stones. In more recent event one of those platforms, known as Sealand has been used by a group of young hackers, known as Cypherpunk Community since 2000; they have stored their servers and data centers that allows free downloads of data (music, movies, software, etc.) outside the law of any country. The Sealand has been also in negotiation to host WikiLeaks and Pirate Bay servers in recent years. During the last four years the Channel and British territorial waters on the southeast UK has been once again subject of discussions and debates. Recent war and political unrests in the Middle East have forces millions of Syrian and Iraqi people to leave their homes behind and to seek refuge in European countries. Such large amount of migration, referred to mostly as refugee crisis, has received different reactions from the arrival countries. The UK government has been challenged on how to deal with such humanitarian crisis. As a result the migrant issue became one of the main criteria based on which the UK government has decided to close its borders to Europe and thus to leave the European Union. This procedure known as Brexit has put the North Sea once again a focal point in the dynamic between the mainland Europe and the UK; this time as a rigid border.

Graduation Projects Delta Interventions Studio 2017-2018 North Sea: Landscapes of Coexistence Transitional Spaces, Infrastructure and Power

The Mongstad Experience Norway Elise van Herwaarden Architecture

The oil industry might be the most obvious system causing the North Sea to be a disputed territory in recent times. One of the main participants in this dispute is Norway: a country extremely wealthy, thanks to oil revenue. In oil’s supply chain, the Mongstad refinery plays a crucial role. Situated in a fjord in western Norway, it’s conveniently located in close proximity to both the North Sea and Norway’s urbanized regions. Reclaimed marshlands have served as Mongstads foundations, from where it directly and indirectly leaves its polluting traces. During its relative short life so far, it has had a heavy impact on land and water. Even though the oil industry is of major importance for the wellbeing of Norway’s inhabitants, they lack awareness of the processes and consequences involved with this business. Mongstad clearly represents this situation: in a geographical sense bordered by either mountains and the sea, on top of this the territory is completely fenced off. Compared to other oil refineries worldwide, Mongstad is an interesting case. While having a capacity of 12 million tonnes of crude oil per year, groundbreaking research is conveyed on-site. In Technology Centre Mongstad and its adjacent test facilities, CO2 is being captured from flue gasses, and prepared for storage elsewhere. Whereas Mongstad’s role is deeply rooted within the Norwegian welfare system, its functional future is extremely uncertain. The oil industry has to change, and Mongstad’s aim of being a ‘sustainable’ pioneer in the field allows for three possible future scenario’s: Business as usual. The refinement and accompanying processes still take place, but as planned, CO2 from the refinery will be extracted to be processed elsewhere on the site. Transformation of the refinery. As in the case of Porto Marghera, the refinery will still function as an energy production facility, but in a ‘greener’ way. The current structures will be used, and, if needed, extended. Loss of function, but exploiting the potential of the site in a geographical and infrastructural sense. The project I set up should be adaptable to these scenario’s. This means it has to be modular, being able to grow and shrink according to time, event and place. Considering the supportive function of the project, this means the outcome is an architectural infrastructure. The project dealing with these scenario’s should be employed in a directed field, within which the future life of the site can unfold¹. This field is a strict line. It crosses from the hills towards the water, straight through Mongstad’s borders. While reconnecting nature over exploited land, an axis arises. Heavy labour and core production taking place at one side, while research and room for future development can be found on the other side. This axis is Mongstad’s new spine: opening up the territory, emphasizing the natural environment, but most of all: supporting a more appropriate productive future.

1 Stan Allen, Infrastructural Urbanism (1999).

Mongstad from above. Collage of aerial pictures Meso scale - Mongstad, Norway.

Mongstad in the near future. Conceptual drawing Meso scale - Mongstad, Norway.

Collage Meso scale - Mongstad, Norway.

Project section.

Project as seen from the hills. Collage Micro scale - Mongstad, Norway.

One module in axonometry. Axonometric drawing Building scale - Mongstad, Norway.

Inter Naturas Norway Gerben van den Oever Architecture

Research in the field of climate change, requires access to, and knowledge of data in the specific subject. The research we - as graduate students - started off with amounted to a general, but deep understanding of the changing environment, borders, cultures and landscapes in and around the delta areas surrounding the North Sea. Building up our research through mapping, there was one question that would repeatedly come up; where does the data come from? Although the question was aimed at the sources upon which the research was done, the question for me went further than that. It became part of my research into the question, What is the source of climate change data? The first step was to look into the sequence in which we as humans translate the raw data into something we call knowledge. In other words, giving context to raw data and giving meaning to information to create knowledge. Although this is an existing sequence, the concept provides the base upon which I further developed my research. Besides the basic sequence in which raw data is being turned into knowledge or wisdom, I found a similar sequence connecting the natural landscape as we know it, to the digital and immaterial, artificial world of data. German artist and landscape architect Hans Dieter Schaal worked around this theme in his 1978 essay and accompanying sketches, Paths and Passages and Spaces. The book is a synthesis of his previous work on continuous spaces and the fluid dynamics between the natural and the artificial. In his book he describes one of his drawings as a landscape, ‘a path from a scientific-technical environment to a romantic environment’. To me, it establishes a certain relationship between “nature”, or as Schaal calls it “romantic”, and the artificial environment, or the scientific-technical environment as Schaal refers to it. First, Second and Third Nature In Garden Perfections: The Practice of Garden Theory, John Dixon Hunt identifies the cultural landscape (agriculture, urban development, roads etc.) with Cicero’s “second nature.” In De natura deorum Cicero wrote ‘We sow corn, we plant trees, we fertilise the soil by irrigation, we dam the rivers and direct them where we want’. In short, by means of our hands we try to create as it were, a second nature within the natural world. This second nature is based upon transforming and framing the landscape by the use of physical borders. “First nature” or wilderness, is the realm of the gods, but it is also the raw material for second nature. John Dixon Hunt thinks that Cicero’s formulation would have been in the mind of Jacopo Bonfadio when he wrote in 1541 to a fellow humanist that gardens make a ‘third nature, which I would not know how to name.’ Later in the century, another humanist Bartolomeo Taegio also used the term “terza natura” or third nature, in describing gardens. The third nature is therefore based upon having total control over nature, in what and how we exhibit nature through the human controlled design of a garden. Using the concept of the first, second and third nature as an analogy, I am translating the concept of the second nature to an adaptive nature from which we no longer extract agricultural resources, but rather extract data. Secondly, I look at the third nature no longer in terms of the garden that Cicero describes as the manifestation and exhibition of nature, but rather as a curated exhibition of the extracted data. The Fourth Nature With the concept of the first, second and third nature defined, the question arose of a possible fourth nature. This would be an environment furthest away from the first nature; the natural environment as we know it in the first, second or third natures no longer exists. In the fourth nature, it is assumed that every part of the natural environment is translated into the digital environment and therefore, the natural environment is no longer present. It is important to understand this to make the inevitable step between the state of the natural environment and the state of the digital environment.

introduction of the second nature. Axonometric drawing Building scale - Harstad, Norway.

introduction of the third nature. Axonometric drawing Building scale - Harstad, Norway.

introduction of the fourth nature. Axonometric drawing Building scale - Harstad, Norway.

Framing architecture through nature. Collage Building scale - Harstad, Norway.

Framing nature through architecture. Collage Building scale - Harstad, Norway.

Experiencing the second nature. Collage Building scale - Harstad, Norway.

Experiencing the third nature. Collage Building scale - Harstad, Norway.

Experiencing the fourth nature_pt. 1. Collage Building scale - Harstad, Norway.

Experiencing the fourth nature_pt. 2. Collage Building scale - Harstad, Norway.

Ark of Solastalgia. Prisoners at Sea. Norway Mihai Turtoi Architecture

The Anthropocene is a term that characterises the proposed geological epoch that began when human activities had a significant impact on the terrestrial ecosystem. The global urbanisation resulting from industrialisation has become an integral part of our urban context and has transformed into a complex system that includes vast production spaces and supporting networks. The North Sea, with its high density of human activities due to its geomorphological characteristics, is one of the most occupied and exploited seas on Earth, most recently exhibited in the form of oil and gas production. The North Sea is a heavily industrialised space, and therefore it could be argued that is part of the urban context. With the urban context expanding and now encompassing the seas, is there any piece of land truly isolated? Islands are defined as any piece of land that is surrounded by water, objects “lost in an endless extension of uniform element”. Islands are isolated, remote and separate. An island is always elsewhere and in perpetual transition. They can break away from a peninsula, they can exist close to a continent or can be solitary in the middle of the ocean. An island can be part of an archipelago, it can be colonised or it can be mythical, a truly detached land, never to be reached. Utsira (“ut” = out/offshore) is the smallest municipality in Norway and also the island furthest to the mainland. It’s geomorphology and position would place it as belonging to The North Sea. However, all activities surrounding the island - extraction, transportation, production of oil and gas - place it in the anthropic sphere, embedded into a system condemned to substitution. Characterised by a certain degree of autonomy, both social and technological (energy self-sufficiency), the island will redefine its relationship with the mainland in the postoil era that is to come as its current state of uncertainty is bound to change. Solastalgia describes a form of psychic or existential distress caused by environmental change or the threat it could potentially cause; a certain loss or lack of solace and the sense of isolation connected to the present or future state of one’s territory. Solastalgia is not about looking to the past, nor is it about seeking another “home”. It is the “lived experience” of the present and anxiety for an uncertain future. The project will attempt a sensitive reading of the maritime and insular territory as a potential urbanised space, and will try to integrate an architectural project within a large-scale spatial and temporal reflection by exploring the notion of habitat as sea, designed for people.

Utsira coastal landscape. Edge. Drawing Macro scale - Utsira, Norway.

States of an island. Drawing Conceptual scale - Utsira, Norway.

States of an island. Spatial + temporal reflection. Plan diagram Conceptual scale - Utsira, Norway.

Masterplan. Site plan Meso scale - Utsira, Norway.

Prison. Section North Building scale - Utsira, Norway.

Building 1. Drawing Building scale - Utsira, Norway.

Building 2. Drawing Building scale - Utsira, Norway.

Building 3. Drawing Building scale - Utsira, Norway.

Building 4. Drawing Building scale - Utsira, Norway.

Resilient Energy, Energetic City Norway Jie Wang Urbanism

Climate change is happening globally and is becoming more and more serious now. The temperature rise, sealevel rise, land shifting, precipitation pattern change and extreme weather all increase the potential of risks like coastal flooding, pluvial flooding, landslide, snow slide and so on. In Norway, considering the dynamic landscape, the situation is more complex. The western part of Norway is experiencing more rainy days and precipitation than surrounding countries. In mountainous areas, the temperature will rise more than average. Thus glacier volume and extent as well as mountain permafrost areas will decrease. Not only the species in Alpine regions will be threatened but also the ski tourism will be reduced. In south-east Norway, the temperature will also rise more than the global average with agriculture and summer tourism likely to benefit. To mitigate climate change, energy transition is put forward as the most effective way to control greenhouse emissions. As the member of COP21, Norway is promising to become climate-neutral in 2050. But this kind of measure requires a change of energy system as well as social, economic and spatial alterations, especially for Norway who has historically benefitted from the petroleum sector. Even more, the combination of climate change and transitional energy systems will threaten the whole urban system and people will finally become the victims. But on the other side, considering the main climatic change and geographical condition of Norway, more water from sea, river and sky also brings the opportunity to accelerate energy transition. Actually, Norway has already devoted itself to low-carbon energy. New tech-knowledge systems are applied to energy generation for example using electricity exclusive hydropower to generate energy and access to new energy forms such as wind power and flexible hydropower. Norway has a good beginning in the production and usage of energy in the new field and is likely to serves as a paragon whose successes other countries with respect to resilient energy systems under climate change. Therefore, the project is intended to explore a new vision for the coastal areas to attain better resilience levels by adapting urban system considering climate change effects and integrating with the potentiality of requested energy transition. The energy sector in transition is utilized as the tool to explore how to diminish the impact of climate change, meanwhile to reduce the vulnerability of urban systems and even convert the risks from climate change impacts into an opportunity for evolutionary resilience. The main approach developed is an adaptive evolutionary resilience strategy which is contextualized as a common goal from climate change effects, energy transition in a broad scope of social-economy and urban transformation by design. The model proposed can be concluded from four layers. The first is to prevent harbor flooding against storm surge by district flood defenses and coastal flood protection. Second is modificating the existing infrastructure or building new infrastructure to ensure effective functioning under future climate conditions. The sewage system helps to discharge water and store rainfall. Meanwhile, other water energy generators are combined into energy systems to get the most from exceeded water and turned into power for cities. Then, existing buildings are retrofitted to be more resilient or to build resilient new buildings, which makes the urban structure more flexible and adaptive. Last but not least is planning efforts and operational governance which increase the ability for neighbours, communities, cities and regions to thrive and reach a new level of resilience under future climate conditions. Under that approach, the city will be safe, energetic, climate-proof and dynamic. The coastal areas are protected by flood protection and the inner land has an efficient sewage system in the face of extreme precipitation. The energy transition will be accelerated by a large amount of renewable energy generation, mainly via water energy, like wave and tide energy, micro-hydropower on the route of flow, rainwater collectors and solar, wind energy. These are the components that provide the basic conditions for city life and support a sustainable development of the city. The change of social-economy structure, daily demand of energy, living and working environment according to the climate change encourages people to embrace a new sustainable lifestyle in the future.

Current risks and urban systems. Axonometric drawing - exploded Macro scale - Bergen, Norway.

Sections Macro scale - Bergen, Norway.

New blue-green structure in Bergen center.

Birdseye Meso scale - Bergen, Norway.

Flexible design in Bergen.

Spatial & programmatic sections Meso scale - Bergen, Norway.

New coastal life & new urban life.

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Adaptive patterns for risks and energy transition in Bergen. Patterns Micro scale - Bergen, Norway.

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Adaptive Livability in Bergen: Active, Attractive and Adaptive Norway Shaoning Wu Urbanism

Specific Climate Changes in Bergen Sea level rise: 50 cm with a probable range of 20-70 cm Storm surge level: increase up to 221-276 cm (by 2100) Precipitation increase 25-30% (next 50 years)

Climate change and other challenges such as energy transition and social transition in Bergen mean the urban structure and spatial qualities would be influenced and the lifestyle of people might also change. In order to sustain or improve the current level of livability of the city, certain policies and interventions through spatial planning and design would be necessary. This project firstly redefines the new livability of Bergen in 2030 and related strategies and goals that could adapt to the main challenges. Then improvement of the urban structure and systems is designed to allow developments that conform with the requirements of the new livability. Design options and guidelines are provided to support the system design. Firstly, New Livability of Bergen in 2030 is designed and concluded through the analysis of challenges, central structure, and the goals and visions proposed by the municipality: Active, Attractive and Adaptive. The design of the new livability and its indicators (standard) aims to enable the city to manage the three great challenges towards 2030 while enhancing the livability of the city. It also aims to upgrade the condition of the city with more efficient urban structure and systems and a social atmosphere to welcome the future demands for sustainable development. The design part of the project focuses on the design of the urban systems at the city centre level. New density and functions, mobility system, drainage system and blue-green infrastructure are designed based on the analysis of the current urban structure, the challenges, and the strategies in order to achieve the goals of the new livability of Bergen in 2030. Key interventions and routes are assigned and designed to facilitate the functionality of the various systems, and strategies or patterns that could contribute to the goals of the new livability are demonstrated as guidelines for future development in the city centre, especially in the port area. The shared vision of flood management systems could enable regular and comprehensive assessment through cooperation and partnership, and adjustments on the systems and guidelines based on the feedbacks. More detailed design of the port area is conducted to test and illustrate how the different systems could be integrated and applied at the local/micro scale. The design consists of two parts: fixed projects and more flexible guidelines. While fixed projects are proposed as essential compositions (foundation) of the designed new systems such as key facilities or routes, patterns of open surface water, coastal defense and urban green space with evaluations are provided as more flexible guidelines for subsequent development in the site. In summary, the project is conducted for the development of the whole city under future risks and challenges, and to ensure high-quality and suitable livability for people who live or work in Bergen in 2030. The implementation of strategies and designs proposed to achieve the new livability requires cooperation and partnership among various actors, including government, public and private sectors.

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Central Structure, Risk & Vulnerability. Analytical mapping Territorial scale - Norway.

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System Design-Key Facilities. Axonometric drawing Meso scale - Bergen, Norway.

Current: National Post office building

connected with the university building bought by the municipality for educational use

Current: warehouses

Current: large block office building

Current: warehouses

where rain water accumulates

special location and special view

Previous coast line

close to the ring road and the port

special location and special view

Analysis Design

B C

City Library & Open Museum Park

Water Factory

Conference Centre

The Playground

City Library supported by Bergen University that provides educational and public functions, with an open museum that reminds the history of marine post and port industry

water factory that collects grey water and rain water, purifies using the livng machine, and redistributes back to the neighbourhood

national or international conference centre supported by Bergen University that addresses climate change issues

playground for adaptive urban design as if the area is not reclaimed

TU Delft Central Library

Water factory in Emmen Zoo

Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany

Floating pavilions in Rotterdam

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Port Regeneration-Systems. Analytical mapping Micro scale - Bergen, Norway.

Museum Park

at W er

uar Sq e

Bo ul

sw Bio ale

Floating Lab

te ut G nd Po

Flexible Projects

longitudinal flow

1st dyke 2nd dyke

rainwater flow water connection

flooding area N

200m

Key facilities & coastal defense

200m

Open water system

200m

Water collection and convey

Section Micro scale - Bergen, Norway.

Complex System.

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Complex System

cooperation with Bergen University and other research institutions

open water on ground floor

ground floor open for public use

Conference Centre

support from conference centre, the university and water factory

test field for floating structure or other water adaptive structure

Floating Lab

boulevard connecting to the library

Defense Zone

encourage public participation and educational use

collect and purify and redistribute water in the area

Water Factory

connection with rain water collection facility in the defense area

connection with Water Factory

next to the main road

Bioswale

new tram line and bus route

pedestrian and cyclist friendly

Ring Road

provide knowledge and technical support

opportunity for extension and cooperation and communication

Bergen University

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Coastal Defense with Urban Functions. Sections Micro scale - Bergen, Norway.

1st dyke

flooding area

Road/Street - Connectivity

Buildings - Functions & density

Public space - Social value

Green space - Ecological & social value

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2nd dyke

safe zone

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Sharing fluid grounds Norway Yelin Zhang Urbanism

A Landscape of Co-existence Building upon the Unstable “New Land” Along the Coast of Stavanger

With the sustained impacts of climate change, and the corresponding effects of post-glacial rebounding, a persistent sea level change continues to affect the countries within the North Sea territory. These changes could indicate new threats or opportunities to human society. According to the synthesised datas of historical, current mean sea level from satellite altimetry, and projected sea level based on findings from the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), in the specific case of Norway, people should not worry about the influx of sea water to their community. For the vertical uplifting of Earth’s crust after the melting of continental glaciers released the loads is even more decisive than the rising rate of sea level. While the sea level along the coastline of Norway keeps on dropping for centuries, a long and narrow area of marshland which connects the sea and inland mountainous areas revealed. It could be a new opportunity for human settlements, but in the meantime, it is definitely not just living space, or potential urbanisation field for humankind. The land which used to be washed and filled with sea waters was a habitat for maritime species, and good harbour for small fishing vessels of fishermen, is now dominated by rocks, salty marsh vegetations, organisms, seabirds, and occasionally visited by human beings. Thus, I wish the city we live in could act like a crocodile, she should have the quality of the amphibious. In this case, the boundary of ‘land’ and ‘sea’ blurs in a harmonious scene of sharing the same space among all the species through time. Time would be the witness of this natural succession on this ‘fluid ground’. This scope of co-existence between human and nature could be a futuristic and sustainable mode for us to live with changes.

It’s the dream we carry in secret that something miraculous will happen, that it must happen – that time will open that the heart will open that doors will open that the rock-face will open that spring will gush – that the dream will open, that one morning we will glide into some little Harbour we didn’t know was there.

Poem by Olav H. Hauge Translated by Robin Fulton

Drops in the East Wind, 1966

Photograph Micro scale - Norway south-west coastline.

Remote homeland (dune).

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Don’t give me the whole truth, don’t give me the sea for my thirst, don’t give me the sky when I ask for light, but give me a glint, a dewy wisp, a mote as the birds bear water-drops from their bathing and the wind a grain of salt.

Poem by Olav H. Hauge Translated by Robin Fulton

Don’t come to me with the whole truth, 1966

Photograph Micro scale - Norway south-west coastline.

Deserted belongings.

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Photograph Micro scale - Norway south-west coastline.

Remote homeland (fjord).

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Photograph Micro scale - Norway south-west coastline.

Urban shelter.

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Landscapes of Coexistence. Collage Conceptual scale.

Although one would never know a place completely even if he lives there for a lifetime, with the simple idea to know my project site better, I took a cycling trip along the North Sea Road from Bergen to Kristiansand. What impressed me most was the vast, vacant, breath-taking landscape along the coastline. And that was almost all I have seen along the way. Sometimes I could feel this overwhelming solitude cycling along the empty seashore, across silent woods, passing by a deserted lighthouse. The only thing that reminds me of human existence was the distant sound of truck engines. I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help but think, what if the experiences and memories of different species could be telepathic? Just by stepping into the territory they once lived. Perhaps hundreds of years ago, this was a wonderland for fishes, other maritime species or mammals. Then humans took their place. The only thing that lasts forever is the natural succession.

Conceptual section diagram Macro scale - Norway south-west coastline.

Biotypes on site.

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Biotype change pattern. Axonometry Conceptual scale.

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Biotype change pattern. Axonometry Conceptual scale.

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Biotype change pattern. Axonometry Conceptual scale.

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Biotype change pattern. Axonometry Conceptual scale.

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New Netherlands The Netherlands Geert van der Meulen Water Management

Throughout history, only catastrophic floods led to transitional flood measures. Now we have arrived in an era where knowledge could be capable of predicting and being ahead of the catastrophe. Globally sea level rise is observed but the deeply uncertain character of future sea level rise results in a plausible range varying between 0,26 - 2,43 m sea level rise for 2100 and 0,50 - 15,52 m for 2300. However deeply uncertain the forecasts may be, one thing is certain: it is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ and ‘how’. In preparation for this future, the issue’s complexity should be embraced. Complexity is the new normal and the complexity of future climate change conditions has never been bigger and the capacity to intervene and act has never been greater. The challenge arises to seek innovation and set aside the established standard, existing frameworks and agreements based on assumptions made in the past. Global cooperation is crucial but for the management of flood risk the world turns their eyes to the Netherlands. The country’s renowned water management holds opportunities to further intensify its exemplary position by exploring game-changing strategies. This research addresses flood risk management in this low lying country facing ecological, economic, technological and political challenges as sea levels climb. In anticipation of extreme sea level rise, the Dutch process of flood defence and coastline shortening can be carried through. Another viable option however, is a more gradual zone between land and water, facilitating a life with water rather than struggling to defeat it. In reviewing both options, the overlay of systems facilitates the establishment of a framework which distinguishes elements based on their pace of transition and offers a multilayered image differentiating regions with an emphasis on either population and the productive landscape or nature and the natural landscape. This dichotomy structures the proposal for the New Netherlands transitional territorial outline by harmoniously applying a superimposed coastline and a dynamic coastline respectively. Tipping points and lead times of flood defence measures assess the physical feasibility of transition. The main constraints, however, are posed by societal limitations emerging from the levels of flexibility and acceptance of a society. In the Netherlands, societal limitations result in the current incremental character of improvement of the water system, further increasing transfer costs, path dependency and the difficulty to shift to the required transitional strategies to outpace catastrophe. Enabling development of a long-term sustainability perspective, linked to desired societal transitions, can guide accelerated social innovation in the short term for which design plays a crucial role. Design embodies the power to address the new complexity of a future with extreme sea level rise by inspirationally and aspirationally thinking through spatial and temporal scales and creating a narrative capable of convincing, informing and uniting people around complex decisions leading to action and opposing the resistance-giving standard. Design has the strength to initiate the essential collective behavioral change. The acceleration of the necessity of change and the visualisation of futures that successfully mobilize the longing for change are the most relevant tasks we can formulate for the current generation. As the current generation is the first to experience climate change to these extents and at the same time the last able to act, this is to moment to use that power and strength of design and for the Dutch to maintain their position as pioneers in addressing the water management challenges.

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Sea level rise projections [m] with high, mid or low emissions.

Sea level rise projections [population exposure] with high or low emissions. Infograph

+ 12

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2100

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sea level rise projections [population exposed]

The territorial outline of the Netherlands with + 10 m sea level rise without flood defence. Projective mapping Macro scale - The Netherlands

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Projective mapping Macro scale - The Netherlands

The layers approach defines a framework emphasising either the productive landscape or the natural landscape based on their pace of transitioning.

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Projective mapping Macro scale - The Netherlands

The territorial outline of the New Netherlands, capable of coping with extreme and accelerated sea level rise.

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Transition Image A visual summary of the New Netherlands coexisting with extreme sea level rise scenarios. Composite drawing Conceptual scale

Modified with a lock system to maintain accessibility for the port with extreme sea level rise.

New Netherlands and the beauty of the deluge. Paul Signac - Port of Rotterdam, 1907 Painting digital manipulation Micro scale - The Netherlands

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30 dredge boats and an accompanying set of excavators needs to work all year round to cope with extreme sea level rise.

New Netherlands and the beauty of the deluge. Children of the Sea - Jozef IsraĂŤls, 1872 Painting digital manipulation Micro scale - The Netherlands

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Sea dikes and dunes need to be enhanced to a height of 31 m and a width of 277 m.

New Netherlands and the beauty of the deluge. Fishermans wives in the dunes - Richard Roland Holst, 1893 Painting digital manipulation Micro scale - The Netherlands

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New Netherlands and the beauty of the deluge. Trailing suction hopper dredger - Marnix Goossens, 2008 Photography

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Luctor et Emergo Wadden Sea, the Netherlands Deniz Ustem Architecture

‘An island without an island’ Luctor et emergo (I struggle and emerge) is an interpretation of the long-standing tradition of the Dutch battle against water. The project traces the myth of “making new land” by investigating four major themes adopted from a recent publication ‘Sweet and Salt: The Water and The Dutch’. These four themes are perceived as a thematic backbone of the Dutch waterscapes. Therefore, the intention was to analyse the Wadden Sea and the island of Schiermonnikoog by using the themes: conflict, concord, profit and pleasure. After the investigation of these four themes, the motive here is to project them into the future by using a scenario method. The project envisions a future when the West Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog is left to nature and slowly disappears into the currents of the North Sea. According to this scenario, the intervention narrates a new myth “guarding the water” by using the typology of a fort. The scenario has four chapters and each of them narrates a different moment of the island. Chapter 1 - The Pontoon (Building the Hydraulic Machine) The island has no concrete industry to build solid and durable constructions with concrete and the logistics are quite problematic due to a lack of proper roads for vehicles and the limited weight capacity of only 30 tons per day that can be carried to the island . Because of these problems, the construction was decided to be made by pontoons and the dredging of a canal on the island. After constructing the canal, pre-cast pieces of concrete are carried onto the site. After the construction of the hydraulic machine is completed, part of the dredged canal is again closed by natural forces and the sand. And the rest of the canal is used for transportation of people and goods. Chapter 2 - The Hydraulic Machine The Hydraulic machine consists of eight major components to produce fresh water by using freshwater lenses that are formed under the dunes of the Schiermonnikoog. At first, the water is collected by water wells and sent to the water towers. After being collected in the tower, the water is pumped to be filtered. After the water is purified, it is sent to the cistern with the aqueduct. The Cistern is placed at the end of the road of exile which remains on the south west of the fort. The cistern has a massive body and an underground ‬space where the final processed water is collected below the ground surface. As the island changes within the forces of the Wadden Sea, the dunes are getting lower and the water lenses below them are getting smaller. At that moment, the fort started to pump the salt water inside and begins the desalination process. Chapter 3 - Sand Machine When the landscape gets extremely dynamic the polder, where the islanders are mostly settled, is flooded. Then, the island is divided into two by the separation of the eastern peninsula from the mainland. Within the effect of these events, the hydraulic machine has a secondary function to resist the forces of the sea. The machine starts carrying sand from the east to the west to keep the ground safe and rigid. In other words, from where the sediments are eroded to where sediments are deposited. Some more people are charged with filling the river barges with sand, crossing the canal and leaving it in the places exactly where the erosion is hazardous. Chapter 4 - The Dead Souls (The Inhabited Infrastructure) One day, during the dredging processes of the sand from the eastern peninsula they discovered the archaeological remains of an old monastery which was built and disappeared hundreds of years ago. This creates huge enthusiasm among the public and the archaeologists. Initially only a group of archaeologists arrive at the fort to preserve and reconstruct the remains of the old monastery. They inhabit the abandoned parts of the hydraulic machine as a workspace and a shelter. After the reconstruction of the monastery, they find some other remains around the territory of the fort. These other found artefacts were also the remains of the buildings which used to be settled on the island before it disappears. Then the archaeologists completely colonised the island, to find and reconstruct the remains of lost artefacts from the disappeared island. Eventually the fort becomes an infrastructure for the dead souls of the island Schiermonnikoog.

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The Batle - Last 175 years of island Schiermonnikoog movement. Site plan Macro scale - Schiermonnikoog.

1840

1930

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2005

2010

2015

The Battle (1)

0,25 km

1,5 km

1,6 km

1,7 km

1,4 km

1,3 km

2,3 km

3,4 km

3,8 km

5 km

Last 175 Years of Island Schiermonnikoog Island moves approximately 1,2 kilometres in the last 5 years.

Conceptual drawing Conceptual scale.

4 Myths: Conflict, Concord, Profit, Pleasure

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PROFIT

P r o fi t b y r e l e a s i n g

my t h

“Protect and Prosper”

P r o fi t b y p r e s e r v i n g

CONFLICT

PLEASURE

CONCORD

lichtboei

kogelton

drijfbak

belboei

Nav i g at i on i n t he Net herl ands

spits

stompe

“Cyclical L ife”

top teken

meerboei

onszand

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Water tanks Plan and Section Micro scale - Schiermonnikoog.

1 . Wa t e E

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Caustic soda softening. Plan and Section Micro scale - Schiermonnikoog.

2.Caus Soft

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Powdered activated carbon dosage. Plan and Section Micro scale - Schiermonnikoog.

3.Powd tivated Do

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Cascades and postfilters. Plan and Section Micro scale - Schiermonnikoog.

4.Casca Post

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Waiting Wadden Sea, the Netherlands Joanna Kosowicz Architecture

The Atlantic Wall bunker ruins stand on the coast, abandoned and falling apart. There is a kind of beauty in this scene. Contradiction between the rough concrete volumes defeated by asoft, ephemeral and seemingly delicate mass of water was the beginning of the research. Analysing the biggest territorial scale -the North Sea- the notion of “clashes” re-appeared. Historically, the North Sea was always an area of conflict. The constant fight between nature and the people trying to harness its power is it its very essence. In this context Atlantic wall seems to be the most contemporary example of the conflict on the area of the North Sea. Remains of Hitler’s plan stretch along the whole coast and in that sense are a direct translation of the territorial scale of the “war” into the architectural one- of a singular building- a bunker. Yet, the conflict around the Atlantic war was in fact deemed to be a failure from the beginning. From the 15 000 bunkers planned only 6000 were realized by 1943. Then, suddenly, without any actual battle, the war ended. Observing the horizon was the only task of the soldiers until the war came to an end. The “absence” of the war is the essence of this narrative. Conditions of waiting, observing and experiencing the present moment surrounded by nature became a base for guidance and exploration. Being part of theWadden Sea protected area, the location on the island of Terschelling emphasizes the contrast between the solid bunkers and dynamics of nature. Wadden Sea Islands are known for beautiful constantly changing dunes, inhabited by rich fauna and flora and influenced by regular tidal flows. One of many strong points on the island is the one located just next to the sea-shore, on top of the highest dune was chosen. It consisted of several buildings that were spread around that dune, serving primarily as an observation point. Now, many years after the bunkers were placed there, some still remain. The passage of time and power of nature has however, changed them. They’ve became ruins. Some walls fell apart, some volumes tilted and moved, some were covered by the sand and overgrown by the grass. The “present ruinous state” of the remnants of the Atlantic Wall was understood here as the fundamental and relevant experience of the history itself and the starting point for the design. Instead of protecting against the forces, the project tries to use them as the main actors in the architectonic setting. The dominant, always present, unstoppable forces of nature are the base for design decisions. The way of dealing with the knowledge was a strongly intuitive approach, mixing scientific knowledge with atmospheric perception of the nature. Inspiration for dealing with the composition, landscape and the ruins of the bunkers was taken from the archaeological excavation sites- the calculated geometric intervention against the vast masses of land in search of the “treasure” was to be used as the main concept in the design. The project relates to the landscape and experience of walking through the dunes. The wild nature is interpreted into rational concept. The different spaces and their architectonic qualities lead the visitor through subsequent spaces, constantly referring to the context. The ritual experience begins by leaving the village or the parking area and entering through one of two gates. From a distance, only some of the bunker ruins and the skylights protruding through the sand are visible. Only when cutting through the ground and the building inside are the dimensions of the places revealed. The main buildings are almost all underground and are developed by taking from the architectural language of the bunkers. The project tries to anticipate the flows of nature and takes the future time into consideration. Even though the building has a function to serve people at the beginning, it doesn’t have to be occupied all the time. It is a monument and its future role is to be there, in the constant condition of anticipation. Following the story of the bunkers that were left on sand to become ruins the concrete buildings are also going to stay and slowly deteriorate. The cycle will close waiting for yet another chapter.

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Building complex axonometry integrated within the landscape. Axonometric drawing Building scale - Terschelling.

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Plan level 0. Floor plan Building scale - Terschelling.

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Amphitheatre. Collage Building scale - Terschelling.

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Workshop area. Collage Building scale - Terschelling.

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Wall with the stairs. Collage Building scale - Terschelling.

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A blue scape of reflection Wadden Sea, the Netherlands Julia Holtland Architecture

Since the industrial revolution we have become estranged from the sea. We became opponents instead of working together, and put up high walls to protect ourselves from the vagaries of an unpredictable sea. Somewhere along our path of progress, we lost our human connection to the sea. Before the sea became something we secluded, it was known for its reviving properties. In our increasingly intense society of busy cities and never ending incentives from globalization, leading to stress and burn-outs, there is a need to rebalance our cities and ourselves. Taking into account future projections for sea level rise, sea defence systems will have to grow intensively if land below sea level is to be kept habitable. This will result in a cumulative gap between the sea and the human system. Combined with the ever increasing amount of re-urbanisation, a whole new level of pressure on the border between coastal cities and the sea will arise. An example of this is the city of Den Helder. This city is disconnected from the sea by an eleven meter high dike, protecting the country from inundation by acting as a geographical anchoring point for the Netherlands. The project focuses on actively leaving the city behind, projecting itself on the water in the solitude created by the dike, to return to the city revived again. The dike is presented as a public space, turning it from a border into a threshold before entering the territory of the sea. Transgressing this border generates a route of reflection from the rigid and intense city, into the wideness and freedom of the sea. The project consists out of a bathhouse, a swimming pool, a restaurant and a public roof and viewing point. These are connected by a series of different routes. First the visitor leaves the city and enters the tower of entrance, here orientation is lost by the spiral stairs leading to the bridge. The bridge turns crossing the dike into a deliberate act of transgressing the border. The bridge ends in a high central space which is focussed on the changing, the liberation from obligations and stigma. This space splits into two elements, each with their own direction. From this space three routes lead through the diverse functions relating to the water, each in their own way. At the end of the two elements, one finds oneself surrounded by the water. One element reaches for the view and the endless horizon of the sea, while the other frames the touching of the water. After this experience of projecting oneself into the water, the visitor can return to the city revived again or linger a bit longer on the public landscape of the dike and benefit from the qualities of the sea.

Analytical mapping Territorial scale - Wadden Sea.

Dynamic shoreline.

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Analytical mapping Territorial scale - Wadden Sea.

Coastal squeeze.

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Edge condition. Sketch Building scale - Wadden Sea.

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Reaching for the water. Axonometric drawing Building scale - Wadden Sea.

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Framing the wildness of the sea. Conceptual drawing Building scale - Wadden Sea.

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Borderscape Wadden Sea, the Netherlands Malou Visser Landscape

The dike is a spatial interim in the dialogue between human at land and natural forces at the Wadden sea. Standing on the dike gives me a feeling of conquest but also of separation. It stands out as a green wall between two worlds and stretches in the wide, open landscape as far as my eyes can see. This narrow edge has once been marshlands, a gradual transition between land and sea. Now, the dike abruptly excludes the exchange of the natural phenomena between them. Seawards, the tidal gullies are hardly visible as the sedimentation is too high. On the otherside, on reclaimed land,straight ditchesregulate the fresh water level to serve the big agricultural plots. The modernisation of the last centuries has led to a functional coastal landscape in the Northern Netherlands with hardly any ecological, economic and social development along the dike. Instead, people have turned their back against the sea and forgotten the existence of, and potential coexistence with it. A dialogue is a continuous process. The increasing tidal volume and effect of salinisation caused by relative climate change asks for a new perspective on the edge between land and sea. To what extent will we hold on to the belief that the dike as a thin, rigid line will protect us in a sustainable way against change? In my project these effects are notseen asthreats but as a stimulusto deal with uncertain outcomes in spatial design and to aim for coexistence. Creating a gradual transition zone will increase the level of resilience and establish ecological and social development. Looking at natural ecologies, the edge is after all the zone of the highest living activity. Making the dike more permeable has many gradations but in all cases the existing landscape with its traces will be taken as found. Using site-specific differences in topography, soil type and greenblue infrastructure (either shaped naturally or culturally) and the generic processes behind them, will help to locate the suitable level and type of permeability. Revealing and reintroducing natural phenomena in different forms will make the narrative of the coastal dynamics in this landscape legible again.

Conceptual mapping Territorial scale - Wadden Sea.

Repositioning the sea dike in the borderscape of the Northern Netherlands.

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The loop of water as the founder of exchange. Conceptual drawing Conceptual scale.

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Multi-functionality within the outlines of the borderscape as a way to deal with change. Scenario mapping Meso scale - Wadden Sea.

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Multi-functionality within the outlines of the borderscape as a way to deal with change. Scenario mapping Meso scale - Wadden Sea.

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A garden to create awareness of the potentials of exchange processes in a borderscape by making them aesthetic and experienceable in the smallest space. Collage Micro scale - Wadden Sea.

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Renature the Ends of Netherlands Wadden Sea, the Netherlands Yichuan Huang Urbanism

“God created the world but the Dutch created the Netherlands.” Nowhere proves this saying better than the coastal cities, regarding their high urbanization and the environmental uncertainty they are exposed to. Again and again, what natural counterattacks reveal is how vulnerable the man-made living environment is under climate change. It becomes obvious that we can’t sustain either built environments or societal development without the support of nature. For traditional port cities like Den Helder, the shrinking marine industry and rising flood risk are solid proof. As a result, I propose a ‘design fiction’ to challenge this man-managed culture with Nature-based Solutions (NBS); and yet, on the other hand, the state-of-the-art Dutch coastal defense technique - Building with Nature (BwN) - is researched to make the vision more practical. In the storyline, a catastrophic flood event is fabricated in 2053 and 2116 (in memory of the 1953 and 1916 floods) to facilitate imagination of a reconstructed future, challenging the business-as-usual scenario. After all, since climate change is so unpredictable, perhaps what nature-based design should respond to is to prepare for flooding. Based on the premise that disturbance is part of the natural dynamic, flooding can also bring opportunities to the region if it is anticipated. My motivation is to leverage flooding as a trigger that raises awareness so as to accelerate coastal transformation for adaptability. In the process towards the prospective 2116 scenario, coast-front landscape becomes an infrastructure to substitute industry-dominated landuse with nature-based re-development. Successful BwN cases build up supportive practical knowledge in my project to address risks with ecosystem services (ES)- flood regulation services of marsh and blue infrastructure in particular. However, what I aim to research through the design process isn’t only the performance of ES as a solution to environmental threat, but also the value that can be created to strengthen socio-economic resilience. That is, design is experimented with as a method to reveal natural capital, in order to support my hypothesis that economic growth and environmental quality can be reciprocal and should be sustained simultaneously.

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North Sea dynamics and the rise of port economy. Analytical mapping Territorial scale - North Sea.

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North Sea flood of 1953 and recurrance rate. Analytical mapping Territorial scale - North Sea.

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Fictional image of 2053 dike breach. Conceptual drawing Meso scale - Den Helder.

Collage Meso scale - Den Helder.

Collage of coastal development and management.

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Re-Natured Economy South-West Delta, the Netherlands Aikaterina Myserli Urbanism

τὰ ὄντα ἰέναι τε πάντα καὶ μένειν οὐδέν Ta onta ienai te panta kai menein ouden “All entities move and nothing remains still” Heraclitus, c. 535 – c. 475 BC

In the light of climate change, ecosystem derangement and debasement of local economies in the name of globalisation and free trade, capitalism has almost exhausted its source of nourishment: Nature. Within today’s globalised urbanisation, cities seem to be better linked to the planetary system of production and trade than to their surrounding context. However, going beyond the widespread –and very popular- myth that humans act as destructive agents of the pure and delicate nature, instrumentalising the landscape to support various production models has always been the way to build human economies and societies. Today’s rupture with nature is still manifested in the antithesis between Economy and Ecology, as two opposing notions. The concept of placing humanity within natural processes [or, in the other way around, defining humans as custodians of nature’s ecological heritage] has strong supporters in the field of urbanism and landscape, and strict critics in practice. That being the case, the question is this: which are the new ecologies of the Anthropocene that could transform negative outputs of our current economic model [pollutants, waste flows] into inputs of new productive landscapes? The Dutch-Flemish Delta is used as the test bed for a new projective ecology, where pollutants causing eutrophication (nitrogen, phosphorus, CO2, algae) are captured in order to facilitate processes that generate value out of them (food production, energy) and trigger a shift in economy that will both reshape the deltaic landscape as well as set the foundations for a bio-based economy in the future. At the core of the proposal lies the transformation of underperforming crops (mainly arable farming, grasslands and flowers) into algae crops in enclosed tubular systems that do not require fresh water but contribute to wastewater treatment and convert discharged nutrients into valuable [bio]products. This is a huge advantage over traditional agriculture, which uses vast quantities of fresh drinking water and releases, through the extensive use of fertilisers, huge amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen in the water. Apart from enclosed algal systems, the proposal investigates the creation of new wetlands by re-flooding polders with high saline soil and non-profitable crops; establishing macroalgae ponds in their place may function as a model of filtration “layers” for agricultural and industrial discharges which would highly reduce the level of pollutants in the water and could bring back benthic and pelagic species that are forced to migrate at the moment. In general, the idiosyncrasy of a system where pollutants are subverted into resources requires, on the one hand, the transformation of local industrial systems from linear to circular –closed loops of flows, semi-open systems- and on the other hand, a new material economy –circular systems that generate value out of pollutants and a market for renewable resources-. It is noteworthy that in order to project a vision and develop an efficient strategic framework for such a shift in economy, it is crucial to understand and work with the relationships between large-scale regional strategies and more detailed, local design solutions. In this case, the temporal dimension is of utmost importance; if we take into consideration the fact that fossil fuel depletion is becoming a reality and a shift in economy towards renewable sources will take place in the years to come, pollution will [hopefully] be reduced and pollutants might not constitute a considerable input for a bio-based economy anymore. This fact alone makes the proposed hypothesis a transition in time, an intermediate stage towards sustainable economic development. In the end, as pollution becomes historical, nature becomes a landscape of flows and fluids that co-exist and co-evolve.

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Matrix illustrating the assessment of risk and potential of key factors in contemporary growth-oriented economy and expected inputs and outputs with regard to the proposed hypothesis [pollution theorem]. Relational mapping Conceptual scale

Hypothesis [pollution theorem]:

Infrastructure

Agriculture

Soil salinisation Monoculture Increase of indoor food production

Urbanisation

Water infrastructure

Energy

Economy Ecology

Railway lines Pipelines Ports Highways

Circular flows of material

Land parcel re-purposing

Biomass

Gradual decline of oil-based companies [emphasis on EU]

Processing facilities Diversification of industrial clusters

Sea-level rise Eutrophication

Water canals

Fossil fuel depletion

Renewable energy

Resource depletion

Sustainable economy

Climate change Loss of biodiversity Ecosystem derangement Sea-level rise Eutrophication

Timeline

2017

High

Level of importance Level of intensity Low

Output Land parcel re-purposing New types of cultivation [emphasis on algae crops]

Residual waste Nutrients

Overpopulation Pollution Sea-level rise

Industry

Input

Risk

Potential

A win-win situation where negative environmental trends are subverted into production inputs and lead to the enhancement of local adaptive capacity, economic resilience and ecological stability

CO2 Nitrogen oxides Ammonia Nutrients

Bio-based products

Re-flooding tactics Adaptive flood defense systems Circular flows of waste and energy

Energy from waste Biofuels Renewable energy

Sustainable economy Bio-based economic sector Ecosystem proper functioning

2025 2030 Pollution becomes historical

2050

Re-Natured Economy

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Eutrophication levels in the Dutch-Flemish Delta. GIS Analytical mapping Territorial scale - South West Delta

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Schematic representation of scenarios on repurposing/ reflooding agricultural land + representation of scenario S [Small] regarding the replacement of 7000 ha of land. Scenario mapping Territorial scale - South West Delta

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Design scenarios and typologies for the transition towards a bio-based economy in the Dutch-Flemish Delta. Multi-scalar intervention mapping Meso-, micro-, nano scale - Zeeland, port of Vlissingen.

Visual impression Meso scale - Zeeland, port of Vlissingen.

Zeeland 2070+.

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Algae vineyards and depoldered lands. Visual impressions Micro scale - Zeeland.

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Floating processing hub/pumping station. Exploded 45O drawing Nano scale - Zeeland.

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Navigating between authorities South-West Delta, the Netherlands Efrain Fajardo Architecture

A. The port goes away from the city. Unlike nowadays, there used to be no differentiation between cities and ports: both were designed as one single entity. Several coastal cities in The North Sea were designed with this principle in mind. This generated a relationship of sea and city often mediated by public buildings, which prevailed for centuries. This intertwined relationship of “ ship, building, city” lasted for centuries. However, a big change occured when the ships became engine powered. A consequence of this is that cargo ships have increased in size 6 times from 1800 until nowadays. Inner-city waterways were not big enough for ships to circulate or berth. Ports moved away from the city to grow bigger. This caused citizens to transform from active players to human resources in service of the infrastructure. B. Tax haven; the other maritime Dutch expertise Tax evasion is a big problem in The Netherlands. It is considered by Oxfam the 4th most important tax haven worldwide. In order to evade taxes in The Netherlands, an enterprise rents or buys an office (in order to bank in the country) but they never make active use of it: it is a scenography. This leads to a spatial problem: many empty office spaces are spread throughout the country. So, on one hand tax avoiding enterprises have to pay for offices that are empty and generate no employment; at the same time, taxpayers receive less public spaces and services because there is not enough tax money in the budgets. The question that has to be asked here is: to what extent could a controlled but publicly visible tax evasion cluster be used to regenerate a public area? To what extent can this notion of legitime and non legitime be embraced by citizens in favor of their own city? (as has happened before in Vlissingen) C. Vlissingen, a pirates’ city for the renewal Whilst researching Vlissingen, I realized there is a division between maritime and municipal authorities in one unused dock. This area is suitable for redevelopment as it was a shipyard until 40 years ago, when it migrated. The adjacent plots of land became available where there used to be public buildings and a prolific city vibe. It is remarkable how port and municipal authorities find each other in this point of the city, as if it were an enclave of the sea. This inherited complexity dates from more than 300 years ago and now can be used to give a new twist in the city’s orientation . On the dock terrains (maritime authority) I propose a tax avoidance center that benefits from being inland but out of the reach of local authorities. In exchange, the city gets a public market,also situated between authorities. Therefore among this divisory line, citizens navigate between a regular market and a black market. D. Bringing back cranes and ships in the city The other tweak in the project is how ships are reincorporated in the city. Before the port moved from the city, there was a highly mechanized process in port-related activities. This brought to Vlissingen an interesting conflict in scales and a contrast of 17th century city buildings with 20th century industrial technology. Therefore it incorporates a state of the art crane system and transportation ducts. These are expected to manage the merchandise from ship to market consumers. The mechanical crane links the ship with an existing warehouse and with the new market. This emphasis on high mechanization is intended to be confronted with the millenary typology of the market. The project is about searching for images from the past to study them; it is never intended to get a vague inspiration or the searching of an “identity”. It is about how to involve significative information, spaces and instruments all together. And bring those existing conditions to their ultimate consequences. This way they may make sense in current times. Because urban life in the North Sea is a place of exchange profoundly oriented in economy, maritime life and public life guided through architecture.

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Authorities division. Axonometric drawing Building scale - Vlissingen.

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The Project Axo. Axonometric drawing Building scale - Vlissingen.

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The Section. Longitudinal section. Building scale - Vlissingen.

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The Site. Site Plan. Building scale - Vlissingen.

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Crane System. Axonometric drawing Building scale - Vlissingen.

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Ecotourism: Design a meaningful landscape for ecology and economy South-West Delta, the Netherlands Wenxin Jin Urbanism

Over the past century, tourism has evolved to play a significant role in the regional economy and cultural identity of the Dutch southwest Delta. Yet, tourism practices are facing challenges from the declining ecology and shrinking economy. In response to the increasing appreciation of nature experiences, a new travel mode has arisen called ecotourism, which is distinguished by its emphasis on conservation, education, traveller responsibility and active community participation. Features of the local context in the Brouversdam region include several landscape typologies across the coastal area like dunes, beaches, salt lakes, polders, etc., make it an ideal place to study the opportunity for ecotourism. In this project, the literature studies of ecotourism formed a framework of the design process for this graduation project. The theories include landscape biography, landscape gradients and landscape narrative which provide the basic methodology for analysis during the design process. Research on the biography analysis provided us the basic understanding of the changing meaning of the landscape in history and give me an introduction to the cultural identity that formed in the past and heritage resources that exist today. Gradient analysis provided us the typology of spatial patterns in the current layer. Through the further collection of data, we see the ecological value of the site and the challenge this region is facing in terms of biodiversity. Then the regional concept design is elaborated. In this project, ecotourism will work as a bridge to connect nature and urban. This bridge will extend through the most diverse area of different landscapes to form a regional corridor of ecotourism across the Brouversdam region. This corridor, on the one hand, can explore the recreational and economic value of nature resources and provide a viable economic development alternative for local communities. On the other hand, it will still leave the nature and urban areas independent of each other and increase the level of education and activism among travelers, making them more enthusiastic and effective agents of conservation. To achieve that, a range of interventions and programs will be developed to support this corridor and address territorial resilience. The existing landscape, buildings and infrastructure along the corridor - from parish church, water mills to lighthouse; from the forest, dune, polder to the spreading out of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;urban bushâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; - will be reused in flexible and polyvalent ways to minimize the built footprint on the ground. This space will be activated by developing sport events, alternative commercial enterprises, environmental education programs, entertainment, art and more empathetic activities associated with the field of ecotourism. Based on these design objectives, the different spatial interventions are tested on the site in terms of territory, program and mobility system. Through these possible interventions, specific local design principles are explored in the human scale to link the possible narratives that can happen on the site. Each spatial quality is shown in the narrative as a certain condition of the Site Typology, Project Typology or Heritage. Based on this condition, we can find the other place that is suitable to develop in the same way. The implications of these narratives possible in the other area. Also, as each narrative shows a certain kind of space or perception of space. They are further concluded as the complementary principle to show the link between feeling and the organization of the space.

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Learning From the History. Conceptual mapping Macro-, meso scale - South West Delta.

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Design Concept. Conceptual drawing Conceptual scale.

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Narrating Ecotourism. Sketches, mixed media Micro scale - Brouversdam region.

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Narrating Ecotourism. Sketches, mixed media Micro scale - Brouversdam region.

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Haringvliet Towards A Dynamic Balance South-West Delta, the Netherlands Qing Ma Urbanism

The estuary of Haringvliet is supposed to be a brackish area with a dynamic environment and habitats for a wide variety of species. However, now this area is facing environmental degradation and is very vulnerable to flooding. This is because the way we mechanically manage the water by building the Delta Works. The Delta Works protected this delta area from flooding after 1953ďź&#x152;but it also transformed the tidal brackish water system into stagnant fresh water and blocked the way of fish migration. Also, the damming of the estuaries resulted in large morphodynamic changes that make it difficult to discern the effects of sea-level rise. Thus there is a proposal to open the Haringvlietdam from 2018 to restore the natural characteristics of the estuaries and allow fish migration. Apart from opening the sluices, coastal conditions need to be designed to adapt to the new water system and allow the co-evolution of dynamic urban systems and nature systems to happen. The current Haringvliet is not prepared for the change of water and is facing the great uncertainties of climate change and urban development. There is great challenge for the estuary area to adapt to the dynamic natural system while still performing well as a safe and prosperous delta landscape. This research project raises the question: â&#x20AC;&#x153;How can design with nature deliver a dynamic balance between ecological quality, economic development and water safety in the new context of the Haringvliet facing the opening of the dam?â&#x20AC;?. The research started from understanding the change in the form of the delta brought about by the dynamic of water, the river flow and ocean waves and tides. And the dynamic leads to biodiversity in a dynamic eco-system. With the understanding of this natural phenomenon and why there is a plan to open the dam again, the project focuses on the new challenges and opportunities brought by the change of water again. The retrospective analysis of systems in a macro scale leads to a vision and the detailed systematic analysis in the meso scale, leading to a design structure. Eight design strategies for the four dimensions of ecological quality, water safety, economic development and urban programs are developed based on the spatial design goals. On a micro scale, three design options are delivered by applying different design principles, and an optimal design with the design principles meeting the design goals best comes out. And to elaborate how this design reached the goals of dynamic balance, process-based design is emphasized. Design of resilience to cope with short-term storm disturbance and design of adaptation to address the uncertainty of climate change and socio-economic development in a long term are elaborated. The five images addressing the three very crucial aspects of the design: 1. Design principles in four dimensions are proposed. This is for the micro scale design to test and explore the optimal design. The process of test, design and evaluation with the proposed design principles is the core of research by design. 2. The dynamic balance of ecological quality, water safety and economic development should be reached in the process of design with nature. The dynamic natural process is the base and core of process-based design which lead to the co-evolution of the eco-system, water system and urban system. By creating conditions for nature to take place, a dynamic landscape will be developed on its own, and based on it, socio-economic development can take place. This is how dynamic balance can be reached in the process. 3. When considering the uncertainty of climate change and socio-economic development, the design for adaptation to this long-term structural changes leads to the dynamic balance. Two scenarios of STEAM and REST provide the extreme conditions for changes and in these two scenarios, the adaptive approach of reaching a dynamic balance is developed by design.

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Design Principles of Ecological Quality and Water Safety. Patterns Micro scale - Haringvliet.

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Design Principles of Economic Development and Urban Program. Patterns Micro scale - Haringvliet.

Relational mapping, section Meso scale - Haringvliet.

Dynamic Balance in Process_pt. 1.

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Relational mapping, section Meso scale - Haringvliet.

Dynamic Balance in Process_pt. 2.

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Scenarios for Adaptation. Scenario mapping Meso scale - Haringvliet.

Scenario business as usual 1. Parking & biking hub 2. Harbor 3. Office park 4. Yacht harbor 5. Recreation route 6. Piercing the dike/walk & bike path 7. Nature reserve area 8. Sightseeing spot 9. Walking & biking path 10. Saline agriculture 11. Parking & biking hub 12. Summer houses 13. Sports field

Scenario steam 1. Parking & biking hub 2. Harbor 3. Office park 4. Yacht harbor 5. Recreation route 6. Piercing the dike/walk & bike path 7. Kayak harbor 8. Sightseeing spot 9. Floating villages 10. Walking & biking path 11. Saline agriculture 12. Parking & biking hub 13. Residential area 14. Floating houses & gardens

Scenario rest 1. Parking & biking hub 2. Harbor 3. Office park 4. Yacht harbor 5. Recreation route 6. Piercing the dike/walk & bike path 7. Nature reserve area 8. Sightseeing spot 9. Walking & biking path 10. Saline agriculture 11. Parking & biking hub 12. Summer houses 13. Sports field

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Design with Nature Process. Collage Micro scale - Haringvliet.

Current: Cropland behind the dike

Phase 1: Digging water creeks on cropland

Phase 2: Planting pioneer flora like

Phase 3: Piercing the dike and letting in the tidal

Phase 4: Salt marsh formation

Phase 5: Ecotourism and urban program facilities

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A non-straightforward archipelago South-West Delta, the Netherlands Neil Moncrieff Urbanism

As Ellis (2013) has suggested, ‘In the Anthropocene, there is no possibility of removing human influence from ecosystems: anthropogenic transformation of the terrestrial biosphere is essentially complete and permanent.’ There remain few natural systems we do not impact and it is at the junctions between natural and urban systems where these impacts, as well as the complex series of interactions and influence between culture and landscape (alongside the more pragmatic interactions of process and infrastructures), are likely most apparent. This is also where (as neither system holds sway) local interventions might have the broadest impact: both in terms of the changes human cultures exert on their environmental contexts and the psychological and behavioural impacts that these contexts exert over the occupying communities. There is no doubt that the Dutch relationship to landscape is fairly particular and the physical construction and ordering of the Dutch landscape in response to the ever-present threat of inundation likely had as much impact on the cultural psyche as it did on the deltaic groundplane. The question is whether the elements that come together to compose the unique visual and cultural character of the Dutch landscape might be replicable or at least employed again in different ways to address today’s environmental and existential threats? What might be a contemporary estuarine equivalent of the traditional patterned, agricultural and infrastructural polder landscapes? A possible consequence of the contemporary re-evaluation of Dutch flood and water management strategies could be a return to more naturalistic estuarine conditions within the Southwest Delta. This has the potential to re-animate natural systems and habitats as well as bolster cultural connections to, and across, this landscape. But how could this re-naturalisation benefit the urban landscapes and economies that negotiate the transition between one of Europe’s densest urban, industrial and logistics corridors (from Brussels and Antwerp to Rotterdam) and the equally congested territory of the southern portion of the North Sea? Could a new spatial typology of augmented ecologies prompt a re-orientation of both naturalistic and urban ecosystems within the delta towards greater social, economic and ecological efficacy and resilience? An alternative system of spatial organisation driven by an alternative notion of flood protection, productive landscape infrastructure and a new landuse logic. This project suggests four new ecosystemic landuse typologies, namely mussel pole cultivation fields, oyster reef installations, macroalgae (seaweed) plantations and salt marsh meadows, whose design and spatial arrangement is driven by their Oosterschelde context and that conform to a new, shared spatial grid, in turn defined by their individual ecosystemic, productive and / or locational requirements. Principally, these new typologies should contribute towards improving environmental, biodiversity and habitat values as well as a reorientation of the flood defence and water management within the delta from hard, engineered measures (as typified by the Deltaworks) towards softer, more naturalistic infrastructures that are able to keep up with sea level rise. This designed deployment of ecosystem engineers are also intended to be of economic, cultural and social benefit, should exhibit strong spatial characteristics that could foster community, visual and economic connections to the new landscape and expand and close functional and systemic loops (carbon, nutrient and productive cycles for example) as well as facilitate the broader intellectual, logistics and cooperative networks required to distribute biomass, local power or heat and the new food products produced.

1 ELLIS, E.C., 2013. A Taxonomy of the Human Biosphere. In REED, C. and LISTER, N.M.E. eds., 2014. Projective ecologies. Cambridge, MA/New York: Harvard University Graduate School of Design.,168-183, pg 180

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Deltaworks regulated and relegated riverine flows and estuarine processes. Analytical mapping Territorial scale - South West Delta.

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A return of estuarine processes would require a new flood protection regime. Analytical mapping Territorial scale - South West Delta.

Axonometric section Micro scale - Oosterschelde.

New productive and protective landuses comprise a new estuarine/ terrestrial transition.

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A new estuarine landscape typology and productive infrastructure. Visual impression Micro scale - Oosterschelde.

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An indeterminate estuarine edge. Visual impression Micro scale - Oosterschelde.

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The Old Man and the Sea South-West Delta, the Netherlands Karlijn Scholtens Architecture

The motivations for this project are 1: an exploration of building typologies along the North Sea and 2: predictions of a rising sea level and an ageing society around the North Sea. The building typologies for research are the pleasure pier and the almshouse. These specific buildings are indicative of the relations that the North Sea societies have with the sea and with themselves. The shallow North Sea was historically a veritable arena of trade and battles. The surrounding countries are still strongly linked and have an exchanged, shared culture. All along the edges of the North Sea, at the surrounding countries’ shores, many different activities take place, from industry to leisure to habitation, while reserving space for flood protection. Vlissingen, in the Netherlands, is a popular destination for older visitors due to its soft climate and south-facing beach, being coined the ‘Miami of the Netherlands’. Along with the ageing population, the theme of loneliness becomes prominent in society. Recently appointed in the UK was the ‘minister for loneliness’. The elderly are a substantial part of the demographic of people who suffer from loneliness on a daily basis. Related to this subject is the typology of the almshouse or hofje; it signifies the institutionalization and therefore depersonalization of care for members of society, and have evolved into modern day nursing homes. The fact that this typology appears as part of the historical urban fabric in the countries around the North Sea, point towards an early development of individualization in these places. The phenomenon of the seaside leisure pier might also be a byproduct of these prosperous North Sea countries. This building typology came along with a new cultural phenomenon: sea bathing, introduced in the UK and then spreading along the North Sea shores. The leisure pier as an architectural structure expresses a defiance towards the sea, often creating an atmosphere of lighthearted fun, decadence, a touch of moral decay perhaps, all ingredients for a popular leisure destination. It signals a change of attitude towards the sea from something dangerous and wild, to something to be enjoyed, to visit and to return from with pleasant memories. This element could be about to turn around again, now that the sea levels are about to rise dramatically, with a predicted two meters in 100 years, and these are just predictions - we might have to become more careful and less carefree, and might lose a positive connection to the sea in the process. As stated, the elderly housing in this project is inspired by the historical hofje, but deviates from the predecessor in certain aspects. The historical hofje is explored in an analysis of the Teylershof in Haarlem, subsequently the hofje is transposed to the project location in Vlissingen. The analysis reveals that the hofje typology deviates from the Medieval style of allotment, that of house plus garden multiplied into a community or block, into multiple houses plus one single garden. It cuts, in a way, through the more fine urban structure to arise with something more organized and more focused on itself. Several elements are of importance in this organizational model: the gatehouse, with its regent’s room and supervisor house, and an actual gate which closed at night. The rule book, which had to be followed by all the residents, and the water source in form of a well or pump in the very center of the courtyard. These turn out to be all elements of order or control. The quality of the life of the residents started with protection, helped by the protective shape of the building and the previously mentioned elements, but their actual domestic life and the quality or enjoyment thereof, had to have happened in between the lines of the rules. The design in Vlissingen takes these elements into account: a raised sea wall, public space that interweaves the boulevard and access to the sea, elderly housing that take cues from the historical hofje but is more open towards public life than its predecessor. On an architectural level, the courtyard housing has entrances that lead to easily accessible routes for inhabitants, and visitors to explore, towards the inner city and the beach. The inhabitants can have their own house or share it with one other person. The inhabitants will be less mobile, but the seaside can help them to feel more free. By being positioned at the water’s edge of the seaside, the inhabitants can take profit from the feelings of leisure and openness that it provides; the seaside is an excellent place for contemplation or for letting thoughts go free, “On Margate sand I can connect nothing with nothing”.

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North Sea topics: sealevel rise and ageing society, piers typology, almshouses typology. Analytical mapping, synthesis Territorial scale - North Sea.

82 + 7,6 % to 41,8 %

79 + 8,5 % to 40,2 %

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% of 65+ in 2050 N 0

100 km

1830 - Moss Badeindretning, NO

1896 - Kurhaus Westerland Sylt. DE

1867 - The Grand Hotel Scarborough, UK

1910 - Herne Bay Grand Pier, UK 1891 - Scheveningen Kurhaus, NL

1878 - Badhuis Vlissingen, NL 1864 - Grand Hotel Brighton, UK N 0

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1886 - Casino-Kursaal Blankenberge, BE

1898 - Hustrus Stiftelse, Oslo

1666 - Bishop Cosin’s Almshouse, Durham

1850 - St Pancras Almshouses, Grafton Place, London 1862 - Alderstrøst, Copenhagen

1907 - Audley End Almshouse 1733 - Hofje van Staats, Haarlem

N 0

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Section Building scale - Vlissingen.

Hofje in Vlissingen boulevard.

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Analysis of Teylershof.

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Displacement exercise of Teylershof from Haarlem to Vlissingen. Analytical mapping, synthesis Meso scale - Vlissingen.

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Sketches of Teylershof facade and views around a pier. Sketches Micro scale - Vlissingen.

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Everything Remains Transformed Thames estuary, UK Jan Cyganski Urbanism

The European climate and energy goals towards 2050 ask for drastic systematic changes in the current European energy system to increase the share of renewable energies and to reduce carbon emissions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from 1990 to 2050 by 90%. The project Everything Remains Transformed intends to highlight how far-reaching the transformative process from fossil energy sources, like crude oil and gas coal, to renewable energies sources actually are. In the marine zone, we will have to decommission platforms and pipelines at immense costs and the coastline will eventually turn into a patchwork of abandoned harbours and refineries. In the terrestrial zone, we will have to pull the plug from coal power plants, while fossil-energy reliant businesses are running down, and citizens will lose their current high-living standards. The current energy system adds in this respect to the high ecological footprints of each country in the North Sea territory and requires drastic change in the light of resource management and estimated enormous population growth, according to Eurostat, among the nation states. Everything Remains Transformed relies on parts of the remaining energy legacy and the potential to transform its components. The project represents a new, energetic system in the North Sea that aims to create one big territory with one low footprint among all adjacent countries through collaboration. It demonstrates on the big scale, that a joint strategy will produce renewable energy to cover the territorial supply, reduces carbon efficiently and brings additional benefits beyond energy production. A macro-regional strategy for the North Sea builds the overall framework for the strategy. The aim of the European Unionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s instrument is to jointly target common challenges with actors of various fields. On the small scale, in Aberdeen as a case study, I will showcase what influence big scale principles and spatial guidelines eventually have on the space and the societal and economic structure.

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The energy system in the marine zone - a space of collaboration. Conceptual mapping Territorial scale - North Sea.

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Objects in the marine space create new ecologies with various benefits for humans and nature beyond the production of energy. Conceptual drawing Territorial scale - North Sea.

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The energy system in the terrestrial zone - a low-carbon belt along the North Sea shore line. Analytical mapping Territorial scale - North Sea.

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Reversed Risk Thames estuary, UK Alexandra Farmazon Urbanism

With more than 80% of Thames River banks transformed into concrete storm walls, with the Thames Barrier in place since the 70s, the dynamic tidal force is persistently causing storm surge flooding and flash floods throughout London’s dense urban areas, putting the UK coastline as a priority area among the North Sea adjoined territories – both from the point of view of event frequency but also of prospective impact. Based on this assumption, one might consider the flood adaptation strategy as a priority point on the governance list, however, the Environment Agency’s funding for maintaining flood assets has fallen by 14% nationally. Recent press investigations undertaken by The financial Times quote John Pettigrew as he raises a pressing point on the British investment agenda - ‘It is important that the UK is seen as a place that is attractive to inward investment. In terms of the energy sector, a lot of infrastructure needs to be built in the UK over the next few years. Post-Brexit, it is important that it is coming in.’ Looking further into the matter, while flood defence seems to lose importance on the hierarchical chain of monetary distribution, current trends in the energy field are attracting increasing capital in the UK’s national strategy. As a consequence and if inundated, the Greater Thames Estuary region which currently contains 1 million properties would suffer direct damage of at least £ 97.8 billion at 2003 prices. Surely, the planning focus shift Is justified as the North Sea is facing an era of fossil fuel depletion and the overpriced electricity bills urgently demand the transition to clean, renewable sources. In this matter, the UK is a leading power with the most extensive exclusive economic zone coverage, with intensive fossil fuel extraction platforms that are currently being transformed into energy farms throughout the continental shelf, creating a new ground for exploring a projective dimension for productive landscapes triggered by the ocean dynamics, a possible paradigm for extraction that focuses on the potential of the contiguous maritime zone as well as the territorial sea as main generators. Additionally, the focus of the thesis supports another conceptual shift – from the recent focus of sustainability in the advancement of human development (Keenan and Weisz, 2016) to the necessity to change current behaviors in favor of a conscious awareness of the externalities of society’s unrestrained consumption (Bowen and Hepburn, 2014) – or in simpler phrasing, a new paradigm focused on the sustainability of resources and raw materials to be allocated to the promotion of resilience of the status quo and the adaptation of societies, economies, ecologies ( Keenan and Weisz, 2016). Already shifting the focus of energy production to the maritime territories that engage in exchanges with the land, we are discussing implicitly coastal flood strategies. From a theoretical point of view, there would be a clear interdependency between the particularity of the territorial sea hydrodynamics and the coastal adaptive response to risk. However, the UK planning system regard these issues as separate entities, under separate departments, directly subordinated to Her Majesty, The Queen. From the central government level, to the regional, county and village level, flood risk and energy efficiency run parallel under the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [ BEIS ] and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [ DEFRA ], while spatial planning is addressed through a different branch - the Department for Communities and Local Government [ DCLG ], thus making any communication hard if not unlikely. On this note, the thesis is trying to converge these fields into a coherent, integrated new approach – flood risk and energy transition pressure – putting forward a strategy for extraction in estuarine waters, that would require a control body to involve the highlighted departments and ensure the pairing up between policy, investment and the department in charge. Thus, this thesis looks beyond the 2030 effective lifespan of the Thames Barrier and explores an alternative system of hybrid infrastructure that can reverse the flood risk factor towards a profitable tidal energy source, creating a protection/production cycle, simultaneously defending and “fuelling” the city as well as retrieving its original investment. Practically, understanding natural forces value, paired with adaptive capacity patterns builds up towards the gradient of spatial and performance suitability. This creates a system of critical intervention areas directly supporting and conserving their anthropic activity within the urban system. A coherent spatial assessment framework which results in critical location identification and a paired governance implementation model, followed by a design approach zooming into a transitional system – from restrictive, regeneration urban area, to natural protected landscapes. As a result, this hybrid approach to protective infrastructure boosts the regional economy through the overlaid programme pairing, promoting an agricultural transition to aquaculture and energetically self-providing urban district.

Relational mapping Territorial scale - Thames estuary.

Transect criteria revealing landscape potential and urbanisation intensity.

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Concept diagram Nano scale - Thames estuary.

Tidal force distribution along the Thames estuary.

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Patterns Micro scale - Thames Estuary.

Transect criteria revealing landscape potential and urbanisation intensity_Genealogies.

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Patterns Micro scale - Thames Estuary.

Defining flooding pattern.

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Interventions map Meso scale - Canvey island.

Natural consequences - low tide creek formation.

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Perspective section Meso scale - Canvey island.

Productive consequences - new agricultural typology.

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Visual impression Meso scale - Canvey island.

Productive consequences - oyster processes_pt. 1

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Visual impression Meso scale - Canvey island.

Productive consequences - oyster processes_pt. 2

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Past to Present to Past: Settling in the Unsettle-able Thames estuary, UK Ailsa Craigen Architecture

The Maunsell Forts stand scattered around the Thames Estuary, dilapidated and ghostly. In their beginnings they stood as icons of defense, strength in numbers, and the unmovable; and in the end that was exactly what they were. Designed to be floated back to shore after the war, in the end they were left in their places, primed for new beginnings. A pirate radio station, a destination for troublemaking kids, an oasis, and an escape. The forts mean something to the people who have come into contact with them, and these people become their caretakers. Discussions arise as to the future of these metal follies; what is their purpose? Are they worth saving and renovating? At the moment they are useless structures, monuments of war subjected to “romanticization”. So what can we learn from the them? As initially conceived temporary structures, what lead to their permanence and territorialisation of the waters? From this, the purpose of the project is to create a territorialisation of the Thames Estuary precipitated from the perpetual growth of the surrounding urban centres and rising sea levels, based on the learnings from the Maunsell Forts. The scenario in which the project exists is under the revised history that London was established from a follie brought by the Romans. New follie structures physically embodied the historical events that took place that shaped and grew the city of London. The city grew further and further towards the North Sea, creating a network of follies that would eventually sprawl so far that it reaches the threshold where the coast meets the Thames Estuary and the North Sea, and the city no longer has usable land to grow.In the scenario, the forts themselves are left untouched to eventually fall away, while the intervention echoes their stories. The intention of the design is that it is simple enough to replicated around various sites in the estuary, but flexible enough to respond to site specific elements. The two sites of focus are Leysdown-on-Sea and Redsands Forts as they represent two ends of the project: the threshold between land and water, and the water itself. The three axes of the project denote three phases. The first Axis of Memory as a series of follies scattered around the estuary nearby to Maunsell Fort sites, which are designed to eventually fall away. The Axis of Inhabitation to be permanent structures that urbanise the waterscape, and the Axis of Flexibility as satellite structures to adapt to various needs of the urban area. The project focuses on the first and second axes. The ritual procession begins first by departing the metropolitan urbanscape onto a plaza encaged in a bone-like structure. Follie structures create a playground for visitors to explore as they make their way closer and closer to the water; which can only be noticed if they ascend to the occasional tall structure that protrudes above the regulating structure. Ascending further and further, the user eventually meets the bridging transition that hovers above the tidal zone. If one is to spend some time here, they can notice the environment below changing from dark, rocky sand, to grey-blue shallow water, and vice versa. Finally, the visitor comes to a mid point in the journey and reaches the jumping-off point, an observation plaza that allows the visitor to depart visually from the land and drift off into the waterscape. After some time on a vessel, the visitor reaches Redsands Forts. The Redsands Forts settlement is an ever-changing structure the serves as a Repository for Humanity. Taking cues from Archigram’s Plug-in City, the lattice structural frame rests on load-bearing legs that go down to the estuary floor, with modular elements inhabiting the space. Cranes and helicopters move supplies and people respectively in and out of this machine. The structure orients itself around the Redsands Forts, and irregularities in the structural frame protrude from the façade to serve as points of pause to observe and reflect on the metal follies. Based on my research and my design implementation, many aspects of the Maunsell Forts can be appropriated to territorialize the seascape, and these principles can facilitate iterative growth throughout the estuary while being flexible enough to respond to site-specific elements.

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Redsands Forts: South Elevation Fragment. Elevation Building scale - Thames estuary.

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Formal Exploration Result. Floor plan Conceptual scale.

Axonometric drawing Building scale - Thames estuary.

Redsands Forts: Repository for Humanity.

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Birdseye view Building scale - Thames estuary.

Redsands Forts: Birdseye.

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Visual impression - Indoors Building scale - Thames estuary.

Redsands Forts: Unexpected Spaces.

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Taking Back Control Thames estuary, UK Nafeesa Hamza Architecture

In the shallow waters just off the coast of the United Kingdom, a machine emerges from the sea. It is a hybrid in many ways - it is floating but partially submerged, it looks like a platform but could be a ship, it is industrial but also incorporates spaces for inhabitation. Its location, however, is not a coincidence. Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s traditional position as an integrated extension of the European continent has been forgotten over time, resulting in the current political reality of Brexit. The North Sea has historically been a conduit of cultural exchange, but it is now being used as a barrier to further insulate the UK from the world because it is the only physical border it has. In a post-Brexit scenario where supply chains between the island and the continent are interrupted, the contiguous zone just twelve nautical miles from the coast of the UK provides an ideal economic grey zone. A free-floating object in occupying this territory is not subject to the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visa or customs regimes, nor is it at the mercy of the high seas. The project thus capitalizes on its position to subvert the exclusionary act of Brexit. Tapping into existing flows of secondary resources across the North Sea, the project manifests as a recycling plant which utilizes waste to produce a new raw material. Detritus, or that which is not wanted, has long been dumped in the sea because it will be soon be forgotten and washed away. Within the EU however there has been a push to encourage the use of already used materials as a secondary resource. At the top of the list is incinerator bottom ash, what is left over when municipal solid waste has been burnt. At the same time, the sea is vast and already home to vast volumes of rubbish. The North Sea alone contains 600,000 tons of waste, 75% of which is plastic. Burnt ash possesses similar characteristics as volcanic ash, and shredded plastic can be used as an aggregate, and so the machine combines the two to create a new concrete that is lightweight and able to strengthen over time due to its reaction with sea water. This material is moulded into modular islands which are given birth to by the machine; thereby using unwanted matter generated in a terrestrial context to create a productive landscape in the middle of the sea. In addition to welcoming material flows the building also welcomes people. For most of history, the sea has been how people travelled long distances. Where previously it was the only option for everyone, ships have now lost their utilitarian purpose as a means of transport to all but those in the most desperate and dangerous situations. To those arriving from above by helicopter, such as workers, the scale of the building is understood immediately from their vantage point. But for those arriving by boat, it is discovered piece by piece as they ascend. Taking cues from the appearance of monolithic oil rigs, the machine is imagined as a solid block of infrastructure, structured according to the new production process it relies on. In contrast to the aloof nature of oil rigs, however, inhabitable spaces are carved through it to reveal processes which are often hidden from the public eye. These occupiable spaces gravitate towards the periphery for want of light, leaving the central area dense with machinery. The peak of the spectatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey is reached at the top of the observation tower, allowing visitors to reflect on the process they have undertaken, a moment of pause before the inevitable resumption of their journey back down towards the sea. The aim of this project is to render visible processes that are easy to forget - out of sight, out of mind. The divisive political rhetoric of the land is left behind and the sea becomes both a gatekeeper and equalizer, creating a landscape of coexistence.

Conceptual mapping Territorial scale - North Sea.

Post-Brexit North Sea.

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Plan. Floor plan Building scale - Thames estuary.

Longitudinal section. Building scale - Thames estuary.

Section.

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Visual impression - Indoors Building scale - Thames estuary.

Inhabiting the Machine.

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Reverse to Reboot Thames estuary, UK Junzhong Chen Urbanism

“The ideal is seldom a choice of either/or, but rather the combination of both or all. One dreams of the museum and cabaret, concert hall and ball park within stones’ throw, but it would be as splendid if the mountains, the ocean and the primeval forest were at the doorstep.”- IAN L. McHARG Over 220km² of the UK’s land surface was transformed from farmland, forests or wetlands to urban development in just six years up to 2012. Soil sealing is happening and even accelerating in Southend-OnSea, to respond to the regional regeneration project, the Thames Gateway. During the last decade, Southend has been transformed from a seaside resort into a cultural and economic centre, by enhancing transport infrastructure and starting numerous construction projects. The cost of this old development paradigm, which emphasizes the significant socio-economic development, is to seal the land, to erode the landscape structure, and to weaken the ecological services. In the context of climate-change, the old development paradigm over the last decade seems to create a dilemma for Southend. As a high-density town with a high degree of soil sealing, Southend has been exposed to climate-change related hydrological threats. In the long-term, considering the extreme sea level rise (1.8m) projection model, it is necessary to prepare and introduce sea defense interventions. In the short-term, influenced by the extreme rainfall events and record tide events, as well as the insufficient surface-water run-off system, the northwest and south parts of Southend-on Sea repeatedly suffered from pluvial floods. It is high time to rethink the development paradigm and consider that nature comes first. Southend in the old and new development paradigm, which is like an inverted world in the mirror. This project aims at changing the logic of urbanization and putting an emphasis on nature. Nature comes first does not mean denying or ignoring the social-economic development. On the contrary, learning from the landscape means reserving space for nature, playing with density and guiding the land use suitability. The aim is to reduce the risk and reserve space for future development, then achieve greater social-economic development and benefits. To achieve that, in this project, the first step is to define what is the carrying capacity of the landscape structure. Based on Design with Nature by Ian McHarg, the evaluation of carrying capacity is separated into 6 aspectstopography, geology, hydrology, vegetation, wildlife and land use. This is the process of understanding and learning from the landscape, making decisions based on characteristics of the landscape. Then to design the urban landscape infrastructure matrix, reserving the structure for natural process. And this matrix is a composite of a green graph and a blue graph, according to the soil unit typologies and contour analysis. As the further exploration of soil units, we will discuss how to regulate the urban programmes based on the landscape carrying capacity . The first part is a general principle for urbanization gradients, which is the parameters of density to control the form. The next step to regulate the urban programmes is to decide which functions can be added into urban form according to the land use suitability. The design process is based on the comparison between the principles and guidance from carrying capacity and the existing conditions of the urban structure. To achieve the synergy of territorial urban landscape infrastructure and local urban programmes, the main approach is to integrate the input of the research and the strategic interventions, to decompose systems and evaluate the performance, to express the stories through the images of stages. This is the way to explain the synergy of systems, and to elaborate the relation between the research and design in my project. Finally, my image collections show a short journey traveling from the inland to the coastal areas and spatial experience across five stages according to different stage settings of landscape and urbanization gradients, to express the concept of interweaving the lives of citizens and wildlife.

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The Broader Sandy Beach With The Intertidal Park. Visual impression, collage Meso scale - Thames estuary.

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An Attractive Coastal Commerce Near The Stepping Stone. Visual impression, collage Meso scale - Thames estuary.

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A Vibrant Center For Everyone and Domestic Wildlife. Visual impression, collage Meso scale - Thames estuary.

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A Green Corridor Going Through The Creative Community. Visual impression, collage Meso scale - Thames estuary.

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The Mix-Use Industrial Area At The Edge of The Forest. Visual impression, collage Meso scale - Thames estuary.

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Food from the Empire Thames estuary, UK Niroopa Urbanism

Among the several events that have shaped UK’s present , the British colonial empire could be one of the most significant ones. With the North Sea as Britains new passage to the world the British thalassocracy created one of the biggest colonial empires that lasted over three centuries. At its colonial peak, the imperial empire had occupied 24% of the Earth’s land area with 23% of the world’s population . Trade and exploitation of resources in the new colonies became the understructure of this empire. While UK’s proximity to the North Sea on the global scale facilitated the exchange of food and raw materials on the local scale it encouraged the growth of a complex system of internalised waterways and ports providing a lot of trade opportunities for the mercantile traders. During this time, food trade linked its colonies and the metropolis via complex bilateral and multilateral shipping routes of the North Sea, laying the foundation for the development of some of UK’s biggest cities today - London, Bristol,Manchester, Liverpool etc. Food therefore, was not just an adjunct to the British imperial might but fundamental to it . At the core of the colonial expansion was the concept of land appropriation that encouraged new forms of landuses . This act of reappropriating land was happening simultaneously at two scales - the global scale, where land in the colonies was being utilised to produce food products and raw materials, and on the domestic scale where land was being reappropriated to introduce new forms of industrial typologies. Within the city privately owned land was progressively sold or rented out to speculative house builders and merchants to build small scale mills factories , while on the other hand the small scattered strips of agricultural land in the rural were being enclosed and privatised to introduce large scale manufacturing industries. Over the years this gradual appropriation of rural land has led to its depopulation and has facilitated the decline of the small farmers, leaving valuable arable land in the hands of private owners. Today, the decline of the small farms and the progressive privatisation of rural land has led to a severe lack of occupational and living diversity and has also dispossessed the rural of its means of agricultural sustenance . Large number of privatised rural farms in UK have shifted to commercial or animal based farms forcing the outsourcing of its increasing food demands to its former colonies. Currently 43% of the total food consumed by UK is imported by 2050, with a population of 75 million this number is predicted to go up by another 20%. This project therefore focuses on food production within the UK, using two main aspects - the North sea :as its territorial frame of reference and the British colonial empire :as its backdrop . Together both these factors were crucial in developing a design proposal that explores both, the possibility of food sufficiency in a post Brexit future and speculative strategies to reimagine the rural as the new productive territory . Since food is a natural derivative of productive land, land becomes a key element of the project narrative. By overlaying new systems of production, occupation and habitat the project tries to both, establish new relationships between natural and man-made systems and also eschew the traditional distinctions between the city and the rural. Using a systematic sprawl the design tries to highlight the flexibility of a decentralised city to be able to accommodate and respond to future uncertainties without compromising on the sustainable and efficient utilisation of land. By establishing new forms of ownership and occupation the design also becomes a tool to decolonize the rural land of its industrial remnants to make way for new forms of infrastructure and logistics . In this new city, the land is no longer a commodity, it is a mode of sustenance that is equally accessible to every citizen living in it. By internalizing the systems of production and distribution within this city the project tries to contest North sea’s current role as a facilitator of an unequitable decentralised global trade. The end result does not claim to be a definitive solution to the impending food crisis, rather it is a test of whether the revival and appropriation of one of the most archaic systems of land ownership and profit will be able to diminish the perilous consequences of years of consumerism that was a direct result of colonial industrialisation.

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The city edge : a new productive interface. Perspective section Meso scale - Canvey islands.

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Edible future : new modes of productive living. Visual impression, conceptual Micro scale.

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The post Brexit landscape :The port and the new infrastructures of production. Visual impression Conceptual scale.

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Environment Research Center Thames estuary, UK Xiaoyue Hu Architecture

This project is located in Two-tree Island, Leigh-on-sea, Thames estuary, UK. Two-tree island is in the transition zone between sea and mainland, and the research of project site is mainly focused on two aspects -- the site history and site characteristics. The Thames estuary in the UK is one of the most dynamic areas with a vulnerable coastline, but still most of the residents have no idea about the changing environment and turn a blind eye to the beauty of nature. Hence, this project intends to explore how architecture can adapt and activate the local landscape, reflecting the changing environment. The designer hopes that the architecture will play a role as the frame of the oil painting, limiting the nature environment but also improving peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environmental sensibility. in other words, evoking the beauty of nature and the climate change behind it to make it more visible. To realize this, the designer experiments on the landscape intervention and the architecture intervention. Landscape Intervention - The Journey of Two-tree Island The two-tree island has a dense, vigorous growth of eel grass species together with their invertebrate populations. The saltmarshes are noted for their plant-life, in particular the five species of glasswort that grow there. In two-tree island, flora and fauna survive with each other and the salt-marsh is a feature based on its diversified landscape which can be viewed in different seasons and from different directions. Hence, an architectural cluster in a ring prototype is placed on the entrance, the end and both sides of the existing road. The geometric form of a ring is able to create three different kinds of space -- public, semi-public and private space, as well as a 360Â° scenario, contributing to the visual connection between the architecture and the site. With a series of architectures covering the whole landscape, the journey of two-tree island is able to create the chance to emphasize the landscape context of the transition zone between the land and sea and also, create the new layers and orders of spatial experience and emphasize the spatial variation. In this way, the architecture becomes a landmark of the site which embodies the meaning of the surroundings. Architecture Intervention - Environment Research Center Inspired by the natural history of two-tree island, from the wild nature before the 16th century that was changed to pasture, the industrial site as sewage work and landfill and now reverted into a man-made nature reserve, the design of the major building -- the Environment Research Center -- interprets this history into the architectural languages -- Interaction, Continuity and Penetration. [Interaction] As an environmental research center, it is has two major functions, the environment labs and exhibitions. These are independent but interact therefore in the spatial arrangement, the environment labs are placed on the 1st floor while the exhibition rooms are put on the ground floor, but they can have a strong interaction through the vertical connections. [Continuity] The ring form is used as the metaphor of the unique environmental history of two-tree island -- from the wild nature to the pasture, landfill, sewage work and now the nature reserve -- as circulation in the changing environment. Also, as the exhibition needs a continuous and variable spatial experience. [Penetration] One characteristic of ring-shaped architecture is that it clearly divides the inside and outside spaces. However, the designer does not hope for the ring be an enclosed volume, avoiding the connection between them. So the large glazed facade seeks to keep the visual connection between inside and outside while at the same time, arches(as the load-bearing elements) also layer the space and create clear penetration.

Birdseye view Building scale - Thames estuary.

Two-tree Island Landscape Intervention.

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Environment Research Center Plan_pt. 1 Floor plan Building scale - Thames estuary.

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Environment Research Center Plan_pt. 2 Floor plan Building scale - Thames estuary.

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A New N-S (North-South) System Thames estuary, UK Hu Ye Urbanism

The co-existence of urban and is the essence of the whole project. A city is more than just buildings and density is not just about constructing as much housing as possible. With regard to the risks from water and respect for nature, it is important to distribute density wisely, so as to achieve co-existence between city and nature. The coastal zone is constantly changing, as a narrow stretch between freshwater and saltwater, the sea, land and air constantly change its shape and form into a variety of coastal landscapes. Those dynamic areas are often happened to be high urban area. Coastal urbanization will never cease and is often addressed as a process o encroachment on nature, the co-existence between urban and nature is the starting point of this project. This project focuses on the lower Thames Estuary, which is characterized by the presence of narrow beaches, open mudflats, salt marshes and natural low-lying land. Sea level rises may make the low-lying land on the southbank vulnerable to flood and coastal erosion, like Allhallows- On-Sea. While some larger settlements, such as Southend-On-Sea occupies the relatively higher land. The strong contrast between coastal landscapes and urbanization difference are what drive me to this area. How to balance the pressures and make each part play a successful role in the whole Thames Estuary with nature-based solutions for facing the floods threats is the main point of this project. The Thames estuary is a place where challenges meet opportunities. Therefore, the revitalization and re- imagination of this potential area calls for an integrated system where humans live with nature. Connection, density re-distribution and spatial experience are the main goals. The infrastructure system is much more mature and complete on the northbank than that of the southbank, so does the density. New port and public transit will be introduced to increase the accessibility of the southbank, as to in match with the future scenario for urbanization of the southbank. Effective land use promotes the development of mobility needs and infrastructure. A complete and mature mobility system stimulates the urbanization processes in return. However, not all the land use and mobility are matched and occur at the same pace. The southbank of the Lower Thames Estuary is facing the dilemma of having potential for development yet lack of infrastructure investment. Therefore, there are two main projects proposed for the southbank and northbank. On the northbank, the project is about how to release land for public life and nature with nature-based solutions. Instead of the former privilege assigned to buildings and infrastructure, it gives priority to natural values in the natural landscape and its relationship with urban land. More land, not suitable for construction will be given back to nature, and more green will be introduced into the urban realm, living with nature as a mechanism for climate adaptations. This project bridges the inland of Southend and the new port with the south bank, the new tidal park was a tidal lagoon now cut off by the sea wall. With the ups and down of tides and the natural low-lying land, part of the land will be given back to the tides or be prepared to be back to sea in case of the seawall doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work in the worst scenario of sea level rise. The whole tidal park is half controlled, in combination with nature process. At the south bank, the project is about how to transform the agricultural land into new urban land. It is the opposite of the first project (tidal park) in terms of purpose. The logic and design language are the same in both projects and both of them are applied with nature-based solutions.

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The Tidal Park in Urban Land. Axonometric drawing Meso scale - Thames estuary.

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The Public Transit in New Urban Land. Axonometric drawing Meso scale - Thames estuary.

Collage Micro scale - Thames estuary.

The Public Transit in New Urban Land.

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Collage Micro scale - Thames estuary.

The Cycling Path in Tidal Park.

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Collage Micro scale - Thames estuary.

The Boating Lake in Tidal Park.

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Year-log Delta Interventions Studio 2017-2018 North Sea: Landscapes of Coexistence Transitional Spaces, Infrastructure and Power

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Landscapes in Transition. International Seminar TUDelft & MIT 06th October 2017

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Territory as a project. One-day Symposium and Exhibition 11th December 2017

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Becoming-Infrastructural. Seminar/ Design Critic 19th February 2018

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Between water and land. A look at thresholds. Lets Talk About Water Micro-Movie Festival/ Seminars 06th-09th February 2018

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Spiral Jetty. Robert Smithson, 1970 Cinema Architecture - Special Movie Screening 07th February 2018

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North Sea Landscapes of Coexistence. Final Studio Exhibition 22nd-27th June 2018

09th-13th October 2017 Photo: Thames Barrier, London, UK with Dalhousie School of Architecture, Halifax, CA

North Sea Landscapes of Coexistence. Studio Field Trip

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