Elective Course HS2011 | Rising Waters, Shifting Lands

October 28, 2011 Luisa Overath

ABSTRACT

The HS2011 Landscape elective course investigated future landscape adaptations of the urbanized low-land region of Dordrecht in Holland where water management and land use are challenged by growing climate change.

TEACHING TEAM

Prof. Christophe Girot, Frédéric Rossano, Philipp Urech, Alexandre Kapellos, James Melsom

STUDENTS

Sarah Barth, Petra Schwyter, Annina Peterer, Kristina Eickmeier, Rosmarie Ruoss, Nikolas Klumpe, Matthias Knuser, Oliver Kunz, Karin Niederberger

DESIGN STUDIO

Results – Design Studio FS 2011

CONTACT

Ilmar Hurkxkens

The design of a changing Landscape for the island of Dordrecht in the Rhine Meuse Delta of Holland

The HS2011 Landscape elective course gives students the opportunity to expand their theoretical knowledge and design skills in the area of landscape architecture. It investigates future landscape adaptations of the urbanized low-land region of Dordrecht in Holland where water management and land use are challenged by growing climate change. The design of dynamic water landscapes will play a vital role in the definition of environments of a new kind. The Delta Program for the area Rijnmond-Drechtsteden has set as a goal ‘to develop orientations for water safety and fresh water provision, in regard to the expected rise of sea-level and increasing extreme river discharge, in synergy with a sustainable and dynamic spatial development of the area’.

This one sentence actually contains several expectations: anticipate and accommodate the expected increasing fluctuations in river discharge, tidal influences and precipitation;ensure a sustainable agriculture and create new economical opportunities; raise the safety level of the whole Rijnmond-Drechtsteden metropolis, especially for the open waterfronts; In other words, projects should not only be defensive, but should enhance the whole living environment of the delta and offer new perspectives for the long term.