competition. living at(in) the edge
The Andalien River Fluvial Restoration & Urban Design
Current natural landscape around Concepcion is under constant urban pressure. Our proposal aims to maintain equilibrium between man and nature, and instead of designing barriers against natural risks and hazards, to work with them and design their flows. Our proposal aims to bring the people closer to nature, bring back balance between new urban human habitats and enduring natural habitats. The concept of temporality is ever present in the reality of living close to nature. All is governed by the cyclic changing; day to night; life to death; and the rotation of the seasons. Environmental Programming restore functionality of ecosystems, achieve species diversity, reconnect fragmented ecosystems, and maximize educational opportunities.
Nature has always been an inseparable element of human habitat. Mutual dependence had its ups and downs. Nowadays, in the 21st century, it is important to take into account the impact of a given person in everyday life. Hence the great emphasis and high awareness of the necessity to take into account the cyclicality and variability of nature in urban life. The project aims to create strategy that will help rebalancing urban and natural environments.
NATURE
In terms of natural landscape, we paid attention to the characteristic environments and their ecosystems, their different problems and the need for change. An important action is introduction of planting species of native trees, both in the urban tissue and in the area of currently burnt forest, which with a little help and care will regenerate quickly. The project also covered agricultural areas, which thanks to the irrigation system will be more efficient in production. In the absence of a sufficient number of cultivated areas we propose terracing of slopes, which will also reduce the erosion processes of water and soil. In the agricultural area, it is also proposed to create bioremediation pools that effectively purify the underground water resources. Educational development in the area covered by the project will provide educational paths designated among the nature reserve. In addition, it was decided to look at the area from a wider perspective and to join wetlands of Concepcion area with other coastal wetlands, creating ecological corridors, and urban recreation among nature.
WATER
Water, as the basis of life, is an aspect that has found a special place in the project. Firstly, the focus was on two extreme areas: part of the city, struggling with periodic floods, and the mountainous part, where the drought periods are a problem. The proposed strategies for shaping given areas provide balance and solve problems. The introduction of rainwater collection systems will help to provide water during drought. In the city, the creation of rain gardens will be conducive to water recuperation. The river is a major element shaping the city. Banks are formed accordingly to their surroundings. It may be a city park, a foreground for natural and cyclical floods of the river or a hardened shaft securing the existing building. On the river itself we can create islands with native vegetation, which will also be the habitat of many species of fauna.
CITY
The city, as the third element of symbiosis is shaped through nature. The buildings are adapted to the surrounding space. Appropriate selection of the form of the object can solve the problem of many buildings in the flood plains. The use of green roofs near the main green areas is an important element in the creation of urban ecological corridors. An element increasing the biodiversity in the city may be street plantings of native species of trees and shrubs, which will additionally create the main E-W axes connecting the green areas. The development of individual parts of the city will also shape the residents' identity, so we propose open spaces for organization of mass events.
PLATFORM
We tackled a complicated problem of integrating noninvasive logistics platform with the natural landscape of wetlands. Contemporary cities often face a problem with the problem of introducing new buildings into the landscape, which is valuable in naturally and visually. The platform in the wetlands is a bigger problem because of the specificity of the function. However, by introducing a given function, generates jobs, affects the development of the city and the larger area of the country.
The proposed form of the logistic platform is a properly arranged organism living in symbiosis with the wetland area. The form of buildings has been adapted to the landscape, mainly through an openwork and green construction. Facilities for the business center and shopping center are also an additional protective element against the destructive power of water, constituting protection for the city's buildings.
Near the platform, residential development was also proposed, adapted to the soil and water conditions. Buildings on poles offer unique closseness to nature and allow wastewater recycling in local scale.
Such and similar urban and architectonic solutions show that it is possible to combine new urban fabric with the landscape. In the future shaping of cities, we see the hope that similar projects will promote and make more and more effective awareness about the need for symbiosis and balance between man and nature.
