Water Resilience for an urban Ecobalance

Project

269135

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Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS RISING STARS : concepts or ideas submitted by young talents (aged 30 or less)

Project title

Water Resilience for an urban Ecobalance

Full concept/idea title

Description

Renaturalization of a “non-place” in a fringe area between a river, and urban to rural landscape. The aim is to create a landscape that promotes local biodiversity, water resilience and follows the principles of circularity of resources and respects the local materials and techniques. The process designs a constructed wetland that includes an infrastructure capable of treating waste water by a natural efficient and phytosanitary method, and a social and ludic park with a natural swimming pool.

Where is your concept/idea being developed or intended to be implemented in the EU?

Please provide a summary of your concept/ idea

The idea is to construct knowledge by designing the process of renaturalization of an urban void, that constructs a wetland. This project aims to protect nature and improve biodiversity, with respect to cultural and social human needs. Aims to construct a new dialogue between nature and humans, where nature is completely integrated in urban spaces and a new Eco-balance is formed. In fact, investigates the way by which we can construct with nature, integrating the potential of natural materials, processes and resources in a truly sustainable and circular system. It rises from the responsibility of reconfigurating cultures. It is part of an urban network plan that aims to dynamize the Low Mondego region, in Portugal. Wants to prove that we can opt for natural solutions, and that this can be more effective, low-cost and overall sustainable. The project expands an existing public space in a terrain that is grey and forgotten into a usufruct area. At the same time, is a river waterfront, with maximum infiltration area, partially flooded when the main river protection dike system is not enough to sustain the force of the water. Most rivers in the world are strongly polluted. Most water treatment systems use several chemicals damaging to humans and ecosystems and freshwater is scarce. The designed and constructed wetland uses a phytosanitary treatment system, in an effort to protect and conserve the hydric resources. And goes further, opening the process to the public by integrating a park. This park, as public city space, renaturalizes the land, requalificates it, both for human and biodiversity reclamation. Investigating and choosing local and appropriate plant species for the treatment zone, water deep and throughout the landscape intervention as a all. The natural pool area and building accentuate this other sfere of the proposition, to look at the territory not only as a functional/productive lens, but through sensory aesthetic experience.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of sustainability and how these would be met

Sustainability and its four pillars, economics, social, cultural and environmental are the base, structure and objective of the concept idea. The economical pillar is expressed in the low-cost and efficient way the phytosanitary constructed wetland treats and purifies wastewater and as an innovating infrastructure the power to attract attention and visitors to the region and even promote new jobs, in the technical area, the maintenance of vegetation and the pool and reception area. The social pillar, comes into action, in the way the intervention requalifies a non-space, giving it back to the city and its citizens, as a space of complentation of nature. The cultural sphere is directly impacted due to the project’s design, the way it searches for a relation between the local culture, identity, landscape and innovation, creating, as a park, a new cultural activities ground. The environmental element has water as the conductive theme and instrument. Water is present in all components and acknowledged throughout the entire process. The hydric resources and cycle place a big part in restoring and maintaining biodiversity and resilience. And here we also find an opportunity to produce energy, both hydric and solar. With small turbines throughout the lagooning and solar roof tiles in the building.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these would be met

The project wants not only to be functional and productive, but to grant an aesthetic and sensorial involvement as a way to enrich the experience and its value. The visual, plastic and material experiences that we want to enhance have the potential of creating a different type of knowledge. A knowledge founded in the sensorial experience of the landscape. We believe that a complete immersion in an experience of colors, scents, textures and sounds of nature can transform the way we relate to it, and create a new culture of dialogue and eco-balance urban areas. The concept intervention of the park aims to unite the identitary, cultural landscape and enhance it to a sensorial maximum, through the sounds of the running water, birds, and increasing biodiversity; the visual impact of local vegetation and its compositions alid with their own reflections in water ponds, and in the passing river; the refreshing by closeness to the elements; and, to summit all, the building, lurking from behind local stone wall and vegetation.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of inclusion and how these would be been met

Inclusion is a concept that can be easily defined and explained but that is difficult to implement depending on the dimension we want to promote. In fact, we can design spaces for inclusion that are not used for all, mainly by cultural identification impediments. These impediments could have an origin in the difficulty to create identity, a social and local identity that does not comprehend these spaces as theirs. By these, inclusion, in this specific project, is mainly manifested through public space as space of usufruct and education for all the residential community and visitors, where anyone and everyone is encouraged to come learn and participate. Not only as a passive participation but also to join in the efforts to maintain the landscape. The park is, also, expected to integrate spaces of agriculture, which itself represents social local values. Beyond all this, inclusion in the aspect of accessibility is present in all parts of the project. Thus the key objectives are the social inclusion of the resident population on the decisions, development and maintenance of the designed landscape, as the usufruct of the park and swimming pool. So the spaces are dimensioned and designed to compile and include special needs people, integrating them in a real experience of the landscape. At the same time, local identity could be recognized on the selection of local materials, techniques, plant species and agricultural crops. The construction site aims to invite the resident population to its natural experiences.

Please explain the innovative character of your concept/ idea

The innovative character of the idea is the extrapolation of intervention principles that are tested on a particular site, but that can be later applied on a global scale whenever an urban agglomeration meets a water course, and there is a necessity of despoluting water and soils. At the same time it is innovative by the way it “uses” nature resources and potential, constructing with nature and not against it. Forming a new eco-balance founded on a dialogue of respect for the natural clima, biodiversity and cycles of energy. The improved water resiliency of the renaturalized area can help to deal with flood problems. We trust nature and by this we follow the principle of minimum intervention defined on the Manifesto of the third landscape. The constructed wetland is innovative by itself, in this project we develop this even more by rethinking a low tech, vernacular technology and making it more efficient with contemporary technology. Associating to the process ways to process energy, like water turbines. All the construction site intends to have nearly zero energy incorporated and be self sustained. With special attention to materials, their cycle, the local techniques and once again combining those with high tech developments.  The overall intervention explores the theory, power and benefits of biophilic architecture and is thought to make the city that is integrated in more healthy, active, resilient, articulated and happy.  

Please detail the plans you have for the further development, promotion and/or implementation of your concept/idea, with a particular attention to the initiatives to be taken before May 2022

This project is part of the on-going investigation and research for a Master’s thesis in Architecture. With that, it is directly a part of discussions in an academic dynamic. And there are still several  steps to take, like optional classes that deepen the investigation, conferences, like the ones recently promoted by Serralves Foundation to watch and places that explore and have implemented similar systems, like the Center of New Water Technologies, CENTA, Sevilha, Espanha; the Community of Tamera, in Alentejo, Portugal and the ultimate reference Lagunage d' Harnés, of  François-Xavier Mousquet in France. The project is being developed in a Design Studio Atelier, and is partially a result of an collective investigation and analysis of the territory that will approach local population and administrations. With that, it will have visibility to be part of public expositions that will sum up the global intentions and individual proposals.Above that, one of the next steps will be the creation of a website that explains, communicates and promotes the concept idea. The final and aimed extrapolation of the principles of intervention to be applied in similar locations, will be presented as a master´s public presentation reviewed by pairs.  

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed concept/idea has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars Awards more than once in the same category.