polycentric infras _ landscape approach to infrastructure

8/9/2019 POLYCENTRIC Infras _ Landscape Approach to Infrastructure

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On a Landscape Approachto Infrastructure

Wageningen School experience

Foreword byJusuck Koh

Ian L. Oficer


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On a Landscape Approach

to InfrastructureWageningen School experience

Ian L. OficerMay 2013


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© Ian Officer, 2013

All rights reserved. No part o this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any orm or any

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other-

wise, without the prior written permission o the author.

Printed in the Netherlands by Drukkerij Modern, Bennekom

Tis research was undertaken on a Start Stipend grant, received

rom Te Mondriaan Fund and the Creative Industries Fund NL

(ormerly known as the Netherlands Foundation or Visual Arts,

Design and Architecture, BKVB).

Publication o this research paper was made possible by the gene-

rous unding o Oikos Design landscape + architecture.

www.mondriaanonds.nl

www.stimuleringsonds.nl

www.oikosdesign.nl


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ruly creative ideas have the ability to generate urther crea-tivity, and creative design also requires conceptual clarity.

Landscape architecture as a discipline however neglectedits own theoretical and methodological articulation and development, and this has been a stumbling block in spite othe emergent importance o landscape as idea and practiceglobally. Architects and urbanists intuitively had sized uponthe potential o a landscape approach when they realizedthe dead end o the Modernist discourse and design and amechanistic approach to engineering. However, the contri-bution o landscape architecture to urban design and inra-structural design at regional scales has been limited. Tat isnow changing.

As a chair proessor o landscape architecture at Wa-geningen, I have tried to strengthen the core o landscapearchitecture, that is design, and to clariy its theoreticalgrounding and methodological exploration. Given the lim-ited acceptance o an ecological approach to design in theNetherlands, and given the cultural turn o the 1980’s whichhas shifed landscape architecture rom scientific and ana-lytic approach toward a poetic and cultural practice, I havepromoted a landscape approach through my design theoryclasses, and ormulated a landscape approach as a designapproach appropriate to landscape. I see it as an approachin which landscape is used as core idea, ramework and ma-

terial medium, enabling us to deal with contemporary environmental and cultural issues o global and local signifi-cance. For this reason I propose landscape to be understoodnot just scientifically but also aesthetically, not just ecologi-cal but also as poetic agency. Landscape is neither space nororm, but space-time and orm-process. It requires differentrepresentation and a different design approach.

Ian Officer chose to examine empirically how this ap-proach ound its application through various thesis designsand how it affords diverse application to landscape inra-

Foreword

Jusuck Koh Ph.D.

structure designs. Tough I have elaborated through mother publications how landscape approach is—and ca

be—applied in the fields o architecture, urban design anplanning, and even environmental- and land-art, Ian making his own important contribution in terms o showing actual design solutions and reflecting upon their characteristics. Te Master thesis works discussed here builupon past Wageningen University education and researcor strategic design and rural landscapes. As such, I have nintention to claim all the credit or a landscape approacconsidering many other’s teaching and research contribution. Yet it is a clear departure rom an ecological approacor a generic synthesis o biotic, abiotic and cultural actorIt is an approach in which the poetic, aesthetic and humaexperiential dimension have a strong presence. Tus desigis integrated with management concerns.

Tis paper also complements my own parting discours“On landscape approach to design and an eco-poetic interpretation o landscape.” Furthermore it is also complemented by other Ph.D. research works I have promoted, namelLandscape Inrastructure by Pierre Bélanger, Designing Amosphere by Sanda Lenzholzer and Designing SustainabEnergy Landscapes by Sven Stremke. It is heartening or mto see how our students have produced excellent designs othe basis o theoretical clarity and methodological sound

ness, and how they get national and international recognition. Combined, they give distinction to Wageningeeducation and research. Combined, they demonstrate thaa landscape approach to design is possible, and simply iOnce it has a name a landscape approach does exist. It now to be challenged and examined urther or additionaimprovement and propagation. Te Wageningen School olandscape design is. In that regard, Mr. Officer has made aimportant contribution.


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Contents


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Foreword, Jusuck Koh

Abstract

1. I

1.1 Te landscape approach as an approach to design 1

Architectural approach and the origins o city over nature 1

aking a landscape approach 1

Landscape as a source o ‘how’ in design 1

2. Description: six examples 1

Example 1. Dredge Landscape Park (DLP) 1

Example 2. Te Broad Coast (MBC) 2

Example 3. Saline Polders (SLF) 2

Example 4. An Adaptive Asluitdijk (FAA) 3

Example 5. A Working Landscape or New Orleans (WLNO) 3

Example 6. Vibrant Land (VLNC) 4

3. R: C 5

3.1 Nine common characteristics o the type o designs 5

3.2 Paradigm or a landscape approach to inrastructure 5

3.3 Common principles and methods in the problem analysis and site analysis 5

3.4 Common design principles and methods or a landscape approach to inrastructure 5

4. D 6

4.1 Contemporary Dutch characteristics 6

4.2 Methodological contribution 6

5. C: L S ‘H’ I D 7

New learnings 7

Exportability 7

Contribution to the field 7Suggestions or urther research 7

B 7

A 7

C 7

B 7

L 7


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Abstract

Key words

landscape architecture, landscape approach, inrastructure, Wage-

ningen University, landscape inrastructure, perormance, methods,

principles.

Abstract

Tis paper is a report on a research project. Based on a study o

several propositional student designs, it discusses common de-

sign principles and methods used in six student projects that take

a ‘landscape approach’ to design. It shows that all propositional

designs have several similar characteristics: they are problem-

driven designs or inrastructures, are related to delta engineering

and water management issues, and work on a large scale. Com-

mon design principles o the six works are: design o process and

flow over a long time rame, use o culturally accepted minimal

interventions, use o both space-requiring large-scale interven-

tions as well as small incremental adaptations, a combination o

an impelling ramework with emerging orm, design or engaged

experience and an aesthetic quality derived rom the ‘beauty o

perormance’.

All projects propose a ramework design or benefiting rom natu-

ral system processes and flows; they present a ‘perorming’ land-

scape inrastructure that brings these processes to the surace to be

revealed and experienced. Several steps are taken by the six works

to design or the implementation this landscape inrastructure:(1) Understanding natural system processes; (2) Providing space;

(3) Preparing the initial conditions by taking minimal interven-

tions; (4) Opening up the site and letting natural and cultural pro-

cesses take over and do the work; (5) Monitoring; (6) Adapting

and adjusting when necessary; And (7) involving community or

human engagement, seeking understanding and stewardship.

ogether, these steps ormulate an implementation proce-

dure or perorming landscape inrastructures that can be used in

both urban and rural coastal areas. Implementation o these per-

orming landscape inrastructures can provide or (civil) servicessuch as flood control, water discharge, ood production, coastal

deence and ecological habitat networks. Besides, they can pro-

vide an essential spatial ramework where inhabitants can have

access to their local landscape in unction and by understanding

its unctioning can rightly judge its value or human and nature.

Te common design principles that were ound in the research

have the potential to be applicable in similar situations, in coastal

or delta regions that deal with similar problems, such as diminish-

ing ood production due to salinization and flooding risks result-

ing rom to land subsidence.

Te application o perorming landscape inrastructures can

thereore be seen as a way o providing an essential and critical

minimal ramework or both human and natural resource pro-

duction and management, hereby ensuring a better ‘fit’ between

and reciprocal benefit rom natural processes and human actions.


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now explicit. It can help us to demonstrate and articulate methodand design principles or a landscape approach to design. Ques

tions to ask are:

What is common in the type o projects that were selected

What, according to the designers, is the existing or past gener

approach or these types o projects? In what way do the selecte

six projects differ in their approach? Are (differences in) desig

principles based only on individual creativity or can similaritie

be ound between these six projects that we speciy as commo

principles or applications or this emerging ‘landscape approach

And i so, why do we find differences with the ormer approach

Are these projects typically Dutch, and i so, why? What is ne

learning? And what is its methodological value, how does th

contribute to current methodology?

Reflecting on the current Wageningen School can answ

questions such as how similar or different the Wageningen Scho

is rom other landscape design schools, and can show in what wa

these projects differ rom the general way o acting. Tis pape

is to be seen as a small contribution to the search or principle

and methods called a landscape approach to design. Because onc

there is a way o thinking (theory) and ways o implementatio

(methods), there is a shared vocabulary or discussion, testin

and improvement o both theory and practice.

Tis paper now discusses how landscape can be a source o‘how’ in design by use o six student graduation works. First,

gives a short introduction on a landscape approach to design

Second, the six projects are briefly described. Te works are the

elaborated on: common characteristics o the project types ar

ormulated, ollowed by common characteristics o the desig

approach used and common design principles, methods an

procedures applied within these projects. Tese are connected t

existing models and methods. Finally, conclusions are drawn an

recommendations are made or urther research.

1. I

In this paper, a research project will be discussed that reflects onseveral thesis projects undertaken at the Landscape Architecture

program o Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Wagenin-

gen, known or its ocus on regional scale design, has since 2003—

with the appointment o Dr. Jusuck Koh as the chair group’s pro-

essor—developed theory on a ‘landscape approach’ as part o its

curriculum. Koh called or a school that is more design-oriented

with more attention on aesthetics, as to complement the strongly

analytical Wageningen tradition in landscape architecture.

According to Koh, a landscape approach, rooted in the na-

ture and culture o landscape, can be summarized as ‘landscape

is what , and landscape is how’ (Koh 2008a: 11). Landscape is what

since all is (holistic) landscape as place and domain, and land-

scape is how since it provides us with a means and language o

how. He states that a landscape approach to design, and an eco-

poetic approach to landscape architecture, can provide a strong

basis or integrative and sustainable design o landscape and city,

by combining ecological reasoning with creative architectural im-

agination (Koh 2005: 40). But how can landscape be seen as a source

o how, as its means and language? I we are to see landscape as

a medium and tool or design, then we need to supplement this

theory with methods.

Afer several years o lectures and education on a ‘landscape

approach to design’, it is now meaningul to look back or a mo-dest reflection o this emerging school o thought. In order to

do so, six student thesis projects were selected, as they seem to

represent this new culture o the Wageningen School. Also, the

selected works all deal with relevant and contemporary environ-

mental problems. Tey come up with interesting design solutions,

meanwhile individually evolving and concretising this landscape

approach education into spatial design.

Looking back in a descriptive way can provide clarity to what

was done intuitively within these projects, making the implicit

1. Introduction


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1.1 The landscape approach as an approach to design

Te destructive impact o humanity on its own natural environ-

ment through unsustainable exploitation and vitiation o the

planet’s resources has become visible in the energy-, environmen-

tal- and ood crises. According to Motloch (2001:306), they indi-cate a deeper, more pervasive meta-crisis: human disconnection

rom the most basic lie-sustaining relationships upon which the

uture depends. Our most pressing concern o this day—the need

or a more sustainable human existence to ensure the long-term

survival o our planet—thereore includes both urbanization-, en-

ergy- and ecological issues as well as human needs or experience,

connection and meaning.

Te field o landscape architecture should find solutions to these

proound (global) problems and to the alienation between man

and nature and among people themselves. Landscape is able to

connect, city to landscape, district to district, since it is a place o

meeting and interaction. Landscape, properly designed and man-aged, can unction as a healer and as a source o inspiration or

a sustainable way o lie and a just and liveable city (Koh & Beck

2006:19). It can make cities healthier, cleaner and more socially

secure. o do this we must take landscape as a basis or our ap-

proach to such design issues. We must take a ‘landscape approach’

to design.

Architectural approach and the origins of city over nature

Until now, landscape architecture—being a relatively young disci-

pline—has ollowed art and architecture. Naturally, architecture—

including the engineering tradition—has had a major impact on

landscape architecture (Koh 2008a:10). Te architectural approach

leans heavily on the Western view where landscape is long seen

as a wilderness to exploit and colonize, and later as an extension

o, or matrix or architecture. Or worse, due to a dominant mo-

dernistic architecture, as a visual backdrop or ormal décor o the

building: A vegetal ‘lettuce bed’ that makes the steak more ap-

pealing.

With the upcoming o natural sciences in the Western world,

particularly in Renaissance, the existing idea o ‘one nature’ split

into a directly sensible nature o eeling (perceived, beautiul/ sub-

lime, spiritual/emotional) and a hidden nature o reason (physi-

cal, natural scientific, rational) experienced by instruments andexperiments (Lemaire 2007:37-39). Art/aesthetics and science/logic

have since become opposites, beauty and reason seem to exclude

each other. Mind and heart have parted ways. Tey are now the

two poles o what once was a unity, with a triumph o mind/ratio

over heart/emotion (Koh 2005:4).

But the polarity is not only between the perceived and physi-

cal nature. With the awakening o the individual and the world

broadening due to discoveries and journeys, it is also the era

where landscape became modern man’s ‘background’. Te philo-

sophical idea o nature descended rom a divine creative and gen-

erative power into a lowly aggregate o rocks, twigs and clouds;

rom an active creative agent to the inert product o creation (Gar-

rard 2011). Te sel-confident modern man erased an holistic viewo a human-nature relation and replaced it with an opposition—

even enmity—between the two. From now on, man was in com-

petition with nature, challenging her, thinking his creative powers

to be ar greater than ‘hers’. As Dutch philosopher Lemaire puts

it, it is the time o ‘the sel-distinction: Te subject that separates

himsel rom the world in order to oversee and dominate her’ (Le-

maire 2007:30).

In Western architecture, this Modern sel-confidence, expan-

sionism and polarity remained dominant in such a way that in

today’s architectural approach, man/architecture/city and nature/

landscape/countryside are ofen still opposing each other. Te

built supersedes the landscape. An architectural approach re-mains human-centred, geometric and superimposed, rather than

holistic and open-ended. It privileges vision over experience, ap-

pearance over system, product over process, unction and ‘pro-

gram’ over ecological and cultural relevance (Koh 2005:6). It is city

over land and architecture above landscape.

Taking a landscape approach

A landscape approach, on the other hand, opposes this dualism

between man/culture/city on one side and nature/landscape/

countryside on the other. It also opposes the division into a ‘ra-

tional’ and a ‘perceived’ nature. Landscape is not mere system, it

is also habitat, and home, cultural, artistic, practical, and produc-

tive, etc. A landscape approach centres on the (holistic) landscape,

where inside and outside, city and landscape, human and nature

orm an inter-penetrating cooperation that is mutually beneficial.

Here, landscape is the whole; the whole system o nature, culture,

processes, time, space, experience and interaction. As Koh states:

‘When our ocus is on experience and system process, the separat-

ing differentiation o inside and outside makes little sense’ (Koh &

Beck-Koh 2007). Just as by then the separation o building/city ver-

sus garden/landscape makes little sense.

A landscape approach has its intellectual roots not in architec-

ture but in the landscape. Landscape, as Corner notes, has come toassume deeper roles o contextualization, heightening experiences,

and embedding time and nature in the built world. It is increas-

ingly recognized that landscape harbours a proound environmental

and existential promise or architecture and urbanism, provoking

new orms o experience, meaning, and value, Te (...) conception

o landscape, then, is less that o scenery, greenery, wilderness, and

arcadia and more that o a pervasive milieu, a rich imbroglio o

ecological, experiential, poetic, and expressively living dimension

(Corner 1999:16).


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A landscape approach, rooted in the nature and culture o

landscape, can thus be summarized as ‘landscape is what, and

landscape is how’ (Koh 2005:11). Landscape is what since all is (ho-

listic) landscape as place and domain, and landscape is how since

it provides us with a means and language o how.

Landscape as a source of ‘how’ in design

aking a landscape approach to design means we recognize the

landscape as a source o how, as operational method and prac-

tice, and emancipate design rom the architectural approach (Koh

2005:10). Since land is both land and people, landscape—the shap-

ing o this land—is also both a natural and a cultural process. It

is about the co-evolving processes o people’s adaption to and o

the land through time. When landscape becomes our medium

and tool, then design is not as much about space, orm and unc-

tion, but more about place, process and meaning: about awareness

(education, inormation), contemplation (rest, reflection, poetry,inspiration, spirituality) and connection (being part o, appropri-

ation, love, care). When we see landscape as a source o how, then

design is not about statics, demarcation and final image, but about

movement, change, dynamics, growth and evolution. And about

reedom, openness, community and interaction. Tis results not

in end-result or blue-print design, but in transorming, creative

and evolving open design.

Tis ability to see into and understand the inner workings o a

landscape is an absolutely essential ingredient to sustainability

(Tayer 2002:189). Revealing essential landscape- and ecologic

processes enables people to see and experience them in daily li

and to take note what the processes do or the city and its inhabi

ants. o see is to know and to know is to care. It orms the basis o

acknowledging the irreplaceable value o our living environmen

and educating inhabitants in a process towards common accep

ance o a sustainable liestyle.

Form, within the landscape approach, is subordinate to landscap

processes. According to Koh (2005:8), a landscape approach t

orm, in contrast to a ocus on composition and typology, ‘seeks

morpho-genetic approach. It sees orm as result o an adaptatio

process and lets orm emerge rather than imposing it’. Form

open-ended and adaptable, and thereore more responsive to evo

lutionary change, context and human culture, making it durab

and resilient.

With this landscape approach to design, the discipline o land

scape architecture can not only strengthen its own identity, bualso contribute to related design disciplines by offering this ap

proach to the related fields o architecture, urban planning an

civil engineering. Landscape architects must and can, togethe

with related design disciplines, develop the ability to design ‘cit

and building as i landscape matters’, and design ‘space as i pro

cess matters’, recognizing landscape’s sel-organizing and mo

phogenic power (Koh 2005:11).

AESTHETICS DESIGN

Aestheticsof

FORM

Designof

FORM

Aestheticsof

ENVIRONMENT

Designof

ENVIRONMENT

Aestheticsof

EXPERIENCE

Designof

EXPERIENCE

Designof

SYSTEMPROCESS

Aestheticsof

SYSTEMPROCESS

Aestheticsof

ENGAGEMENT

Perception overTIME through

ENGAGEMENT

Perception at aTIME at a

DISTANCE

ECO PHENOMENOLOGICAL

Aesthetics Design+

Figure 116 Koh’s modelor eco-phenomenologicalaesthetics and design (Koh2008b: 5) shows how design o

orm moves to design o environment, when a landscapeapproach to design is taken.Environment includes systemprocess (and thereore time)and experience (and thereoreengagement).Te incorporation o ecologyand experience in the design oenvironment is typical to thelandscape approach.


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2. Description: six examples

I we are to take a landscape approach to design, then how do we

do this? In what way can the landscape be a source o how? I try to

answer these questions by reflecting on six propositional studentdesigns representing this new ‘landscape approach’ culture o the

Wageningen School. Based on the study o these six propositional

student designs, I extract common design principles used in tak-

ing a ‘landscape approach’ to design.

Te six selected works are all M.Sc. thesis projects in land-

scape architecture that were undertaken at Wageningen Univer-

sity’s Landscape Architecture chair group (LAR) between 2006

and 2011. As Dr. Koh became the chair group’s proessor in 2003,

their authors have been educated in his landscape approach. Also,

as head o the chair group, proessor Koh was supervisor o all

six works. Te projects all deal with relevant and contemporary

environmental problems. Te selection was suggested by Koh,

since these six works come up with (ofen prize-winning) in-

teresting design solutions, meanwhile individually evolving and

concretising this landscape approach education into spatial de-

sign. Te projects not only are sympathetic to the main thoughts

o the landscape approach, but also comply with Wageningen

School’s typical educational ocus on a large regional scale and on

research-by-design studies.

Te selected projects are:

1. Dredge Landscape Park: Te Story is in the Soil (Herrebout &

de Vries 2007);2. Medicating the Broad Coast: From Single Coastline owards a

Coastal Landscape Zone o Size (Groven & Officer 2008);

3. Designing Saline Landscapes or the Future (Molpheta & van

Wonderen 2009);

4. Te Future o an Adaptive Asluitdijk (Sperling 2009);

5. A Working Landscape or New Orleans (Hermens, van der Salm

& van der Zwet 2010); and

6. Vibrant Land: Responsive Engagement with the Fragmented

Coastline o North Carolina (Kersten & Noordhuizen 2011).

2. Description

In the ollowing I shortly describe these six propositional designs

one by one: What is done intuitively? How does the design work,

what procedure was ollowed? In what way is the landscape usedas a source o how?


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Figure 1-6 Te six selectedthesis projects are all studentworks in landscape architec-ture, undertaken as a final the-sis research study at Wagenin-gen University’s chairgroup olandscape architecture (LAR).

Master Thesis Landscape Architecture

Wageningen University

P. Hermens

J.N. van der Salm

C. van der Zwet

A Working Landscape

for New Orleans

Dredge Landscape park the story is in the soil

Wageningen University Alexander Herrebout, Gerwin de Vries september 2006 begeleiding Paul Roncken, Robbert de Koning

j rci ri ti l.i - - : :

COAST

f̀rom single coastline towards a coastal landscape zone of sizé

MasterThesis in

LandscapeArchitecture

November 2008

JoH.J. Groven

IanL.Ocer

Supervisedby

Prof.Dr.Jusuck Koh

MEDICATING

0

l l r h t

r e s

r v e d

©2009 Allrightsreserved.No partsof thisreport may be reproducedinany form without permissionofthe [email protected]

The future of an adapve

‘Afsluitdijk’A landscape architectonic design of a safe ‘Afsluitdijk’ that expresses the unique qualies of the site

MasterThesis LandscapeArchitecture

Wageningen University and Research Centre

J.C.W.(Monique) SperlingBSc

1

Master Thesis Landscape Architecture, Wageningen University

I. C. Kersten & J. R. Noordhuizen

Vibrant LandResponsive engagement with the fragmented coastline of North Carolina

1

23

4 5 6


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Example 1. Dredge Landscape Park (DLP)

(Herrebout & de Vries 2007)

Te inland water system o the urbanized Dutch delta is aced

with an invisible problem: layers o polluted dredge deposited inthe ‘70 and ‘80 cause both drainage and environmental problems.

Te need to remove this polluted dredge will increase due to cli-

mate change and growing urbanization.

Te solution proposed is the Dredge Landscape Park: 12 mil-

lion m3 dredge is shipped to a 300 ha. site in the Haarlemmermeer

polder, decomposed, and cleaned with ecological cleaning tech-

niques over time. Within 20 years o cleaning time this dredge-

cleaning ‘landscape machine’ will evolve into a dredge landscape

park. Saline exfiltration water is used or the cleaning o certain

dredge types and extracted sand—lef over afer the cleaning

process—is proposed to be used or the expanding building sites

nearby. Te variety o water-, soil- and pollution types in the

dredge is used to grow a unique park. Different types o vegeta-tion fixating heavy metals orm a heavy metal garden, an artificial

dune strip o dredge sand runs straight through the park, and di-

erent water and soil types are combined in a mosaic o cleaning

environments with variable groundlevel heights that change over

time. Routes through the park connect bicyclists, car drivers and

boat skippers to the dredge landscape park.

How it works

Te design proposes a robust ramework as the basis o the park,

Figure 7 A solution osize; all dredge is trans-ported to one location andtreated by use o a range olandscape processes.Figure 8 Dredge Land-scape Park, with the high-

est types o pollution in themetal garden island withinthe core strip.


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wherein natural and cultural orces and processes and time have

a ree hand to clean the soils and evolve the site into a park. Te

existing polder grid structure o fields surrounded by ditches is

transormed into a new water system composed o ditches andseparating dikes. Te dikes devide the site into different contami-

nation regimes, hereby creating a hierarchy in pollution with

slightly polluted soils at the site’s borders and the most highly

contaminated soils in the core o the site. Existing transport in-

rastructure is improved or importing dredge material by boat

and truck.

Within the outer ‘voids’ o the ramework, dredge polluted by

organic material is injected by sand-spraying the dredge onto the

site. It separates heavy soils (sand) rom lighter (clay and finally

peat) by a cleaning method called sand separation. A new an

varied morphology automatically arises by differences in mate

rial gravity, subsidence and soil types, resulting in height and so

differences. Contamination is cleaned by oxygenation and landarming: the cleaning o dredge specimen by biological break

down o organic pollution.

Te core o the park is planned between the area where salin

seepage exfiltrates and the supply channel. Tis second regime

separated rom the outer area by a ring dike and ditch that hydro

logically separate the two regimes. Here the more contaminate

soils are cleaned.

A mosaic is created by fields o different soil types . Com

bined with a variety o contamination, a multitude o milieus aris

Figure 11 Deconstruction o the problem:Dredge can be separated into water and soil,wich is subsequently divided into sand, clayand peat. Different soil types contain differenorms o contamination and require differentcleaning processes, process times and processcale.

Figure 10 Location selection is based onoverlay o soil types, pollution sources, salineseepage, transport inrastructure and spatialrestrictions. Te waste treatment site can beseen as part o large-scale landscape inra-structure providing green unctions in the in-creasingly urbanizing Dutch Delta metropolis.

Figure 12 Torough and detailed investigation o dredge problem’s diversity and quantification into exact numbers.

Figure 9 Te dredge problem is related toglobal and national challenges such as han-dling sea level rise and land subsidence (caus-ing saline seepage), increasing water dischargepeaks (due to a more extreme climate), andspreading urbanization.

amounts o dredge per dredge type in the Rijnland area

cleaning method per dredge type

developments consequences

sea level rise

land subsidence

increase water supply

urban developments

risk o flooding, increaseddifference between land andsea level

urban and agricultural areasprolapse and become saline

waterlogged areas, risk oflooding

limited water drainage andwater storage

soil vs. dredge pollution type relation

total amounts per dredge type

pollution sources

water & dredge

dredge soil types

dredge pollution types


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Figure 13 Teoretically this scale o pollu-

tion could be treated in 10-50 years; 10 yearswould require a double amount o land to si-multaneously treat all dredge within this timerame, and the high speed would only suit astgrowing vegetation species. 50 years requiresonly 200 ha., but is too long o a time scale orsuch a dynamic and rapidly urbanizing areaas it may cause problems with long-term im-plementation. Te designers have thereore setthe time/area coefficient to 20 years/350 ha.

Figure 14 Dredge Landscape Park, acombination o an impelling inrastructuralramework, morphogenesis and naturallyemerging vegetation patterns.

Surace area: growth o residue and shrinkage o machine

Surace area & time Growth & Shrinkage

50y 200 ha

20yr350 ha

10yr750 ha

machineresidue


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5 landarming park 6 core, mosaic 7 sand lane 8 metal garden

2 water system 3 routes

11 milieus9 paths

1 existing potential

10 sight lines 12 dredge tube orests

4 harbour

Figure 15 Composition o a perorming landscape inrastructure.Minimal preliminary interventions are: 1 Use o existing landscapepotentials such as transport canal, road and saline exfiltration water;2 Implementing a new water system with contamination regimes; and3-4 Improving transport inrastructure, roads and a temporary harbor.Dredge is cleaned in different regimes: 5 Landarming in the outer

voids; 6 A mosaic o cleaning processes or heavier contamination;7 Sand separation that eeds the sand lane dunescape; and 8 highestpollution in the metal garden. Visitors can experience the landscapeperorm by use o: 9 a new path system and 10 sight lines, that show11 the diversity in cleaning milieus and emerged biotopes. 12 Adredge tube orest provides an entrance to the area.

Figure 16 View rom the N205 highway. A dunescape will naturallyemerge due to wind and dune succession, built up rom residue sands.

Figure 17 Tis waste treatment landscape o size provides or newsublime experiences as well as new ecological habitat.


20/8218

expressing each dredge type. Tis variety is urther diversified by

applying either resh, brackish and saline water to different fields,

resulting in a broad palette o vegetation types and appearances.

Te sand street is strung between the N205 highway and thesupply channel’s harbour. It consists o cleaned sand that has lim-

ited economical value as construction sand due to its grain size

and thereore will have to be stored on site. Te sand, due to exca-

vation, wind and succession, orms its own dune landscape.

Te most contaminated soils containing high levels o heavy

metals are brought to the central part o the site, where the metals

are washed out with saline water. Over time, the lef-over residue

orms the basis o a metal garden where rare species such as the

sink violin fixate the pollution.

Te park is designed to be realised by phasing in order to

evolve over time and provides or the experience o each time

period and dredge type:

•

starting phase: import and separation o material, pioneerspecies, minimal access

• machine phase: continuing import, first amount is cleaned

and shifed or stored, more diversity, succession and experi-

ence, improved site access

• succession phase: major role or vegetation, climax species,

majority o dredge is now within the site boundaries, transor-

mation to a park, sandwin or commercial use

• residue phase: dredge machine is finished, lef-over residue is

experienced in dredge landscape park. Remnant dredge pipes

start2007

dredge machine2010

succession2015

dredgesandwin

visitors

dredgesandwin

visitors

dredgesandwin

visitors

dredge is put in a flowing circulation system o quays saline exfiltration water and vegetation fixate metals like zinc&copper

sandy dredge is brought in and spouted in the sand street

different sorts o dredge are put within quays, start pioneer vegetation

sand will sink down closest to the tubes, it is taken away to sand lane

afer oxygenation, different water types are let in and dredge is put indifferent height levels

metal vegetation starts growing, together orming the metal garden

polluted organic dredge is stored under a buffer o brackish water

environments start to flourish and contrast, accessibility by use o quays


21/821

landscape park 2030

dredgesandwin

visitors

metal garden in ull growth, an astonishing relic o dredge cleaning

lef-over sand and wind creates an artificial dune landscape

a mosaic o diverse environments express the diversity in dredge types

Figure 18 Since the design spans a longtime rame, and natural processes play a critical role in perorming the waste treatment,only basic underlying structures are designedwhile space is provided or change over time.In the initial phases, large-scale preliminaryinterventions are done, while in later phasessmall-scale incremental adaptations alter thesite.

Figure 19-20 Dredge Landscape Park willchallenge users to experience and appreciatenew ‘raw’ landscape types and see beauty in‘landscape perormance’.

are re-used as a ‘dredge tube orest’ to provide or an entrance

experience or visitors and passing traffic. Maximum reedom

or visitors and diverse natural processes (e.g. plant succession,

dune succession)

In all, the park combines ecology and design or the human experi-

ence o this ecology in a minimal intervention design over time.


22/8220

Example 2. The Broad Coast (MBC)

(Groven & Officer 2008)

Here, the design strategy is to simultaneously cure the ecologi-

cal problems in the coast’s natural system and secure the coastalzone or the uture by eco-engineering the coastline into a ‘broad

coast’: a coastal landscape zone o substantial size.

Afer centuries o man-to-nature interventions, the Dutch

coast has been turned into a single rigid deence line by use o

dikes and dams. It is commonly considered to be ‘saer than ever’.

But dikes and dams divide an aquarelle into a mosaic: the once

rich coastal ecosystem has suffered intensely due to the loss o

gradual transition areas that are under influence o both land

and sea. As it turns out, this ecosystem degradation is a problem

or coastal saety, since these transition areas provide a buffer or

both ecological soundness and coastal saety, such as by counter-

ing erosion and providing oreshore instability. Te act that large

parts o the Dutch coastal deence need an update due to globalclimate changes provides the point o departure or a different

strategy or handling coastal deence.

Te solution is ound not in increasing dike height but in

width: a broader resilient coast instead o a narrow, stiff coastline.

Te proposed broad coast is designed by three minimal interven-

tions, aferwards natural processes can take over its construction.

Tey are: 1. Providing sand; 2. Allowing and guiding dynamics

and change; and 3. Providing space between a dual deence sys-

tem. Tis strategy is applied and tested with a design or a 860 ha.

N

P N

P

1 Past: transition zone rom water to land 2 Present: a coastline, hereby ignoring this zone 3 Future: recognize that the coast is a zone!

Figure 21 A solution o width: the Dutch coast used to be a transi-tion zone rom water to land, saline to resh and low to high (1). Landreclamation and diking converted the coast to a coastline, herebyignoring this zone. Useul unctions o the coastal zone were lost, whileunderneath its surace the coast still wants to acts as a zone (2). Byrecognizing that the coast is a zone, the transition area can be broughtback, including its useul unctions (3).

Figure 22 Te Broad Coast pilot project near the city o erneuzenalong the Westerscheldt estuary. Te pilot project can be a first test caseor replicated application o the strategy along large stretches o theDutch coastline, and is potentially at the basis o a nation-wide coastaldeence landscape zone o size.


23/822

pilot project near the city o erneuzen. Due to the 2005 Schel-

de Verdrag border treaty between Belgium and the Netherlands

(Vlaams Gewest & Koninkrijk der Nederlanden 2005: 3), six hundred hec-

tares o land have to be developed into intertidal nature in thisregion in order to compensate or the dredging o the shipping

lane to the port o Antwerp. Afer the three minimal interventions

have been set to a start, a situation is created in which the natu-

ral processes can take over the ‘construction’ o the broad coast.

ides and currents, sedimentation and ecological succession now

become the generating motor o this living landscape machine.

Over time it transorms into a living landscape that deends, regu-

lates and provides diversity and multi-unctional use, and human

experiences o recreational and educational nature.

How it works

Te ocus is on the workings o the pilot project. Te designer

start by making clear that the current technical approach al

short and an integrative and dynamic ‘landscape’ approach needed in order to shif rom single coastline deence towards

broad coastal landscape zone o size. Te pilot project is not in

tended to create a finalized, detailed design, but instead shows th

site as part o a nationwide coastal deence landscape zone. T

ocus or this site is mainly on inter-tidal ecology, since the area

mandatory to compensate habitat loss caused by the dredging o

the Antwerp shipping lane.

Te concept is simple. It starts by preparing the site. First, spac

is provided between a dual deence system. Te site’s existin

providing sediment providing space between a dual deense systemallowing and guiding dynamics and exchange

3 Minimal interventions:

Figure 23 Te pilot can be designed by use o minimal interventions:1 Providing sediment by large scale sand nourishments; 2 Allowingand guiding dynamics and exchange by making the single deence linepermeable; and 3 Providing space between a dual deence system or byseaward broadening.Figure 24-25 Te strategy has potential to be replicated along largestretches o the Dutch coastline. I applied, a vast deence landscapezone will arise, to be experienced by thousands o residents.

N

P

N

Figure 26 Over time, the landscape transorms to a perorminglandscape that provides or (ecosystem) unctions and services. Telandscape perorms as 1 A flexible deence system: muting and absorbing wave orce, strengthening the dike base and growing along with slevel rise; 2 A resilient & regulating living machine: a sel-cleaning machine with the ability to grow with sea level rise and able to withstandshort-term shocks, with tides as landscape motor; and 3 Alandscape o(bio)diversity: an ever-changing zone with increased productivity, species numbers and species richness due to new transition habitats andnew opportunities or multiunctional use.

flexible deence system

regulating lving machine

landscape o biodiversityand flow


24/8222

N

200m 600m 1000m

t=0 t=5 t=30

Figure 27 A dual deence system is created, based on existingprimary and secondary dikes. Te system also counters saline seepage,hereby providing or a better uture or local reshwater based agricul-ture.

Figure 28-29 Development o land over time: t=0 Development oagricultural land into the broad coast pilot; t=5 idal dynamics havechanged morphology, mud flats are growing; t=30 Salt marshlandswith creek systems have developed.

0 t20 40 60 80 100 120


25/822

primary dikes are made overtopping proo. Secondary dikes ar

made ready or use and built-on plots are surrounded by sma

ring dikes. Second, the right conditions are created. Freshwater discharge pumps that are currently in the primary dike ar

moved inland along the discharge creeks to be placed in the sec

ondary dikes. Te locations along the primary dikes are replace

with inlet-sluices. Te basic conditions or resh-saline trans

tions now exist: Brackish nutrient-rich agricultural water can b

discharged in the landscape zone and be automatically mixe

with saline seawater arriving through the inlet-sluices due to tid

turbulence and natural run-off. Te conditions are improved o

a higher perormance by introducing dikes and dams. Dikes an

=

1 dual deence system, consisting o primaryand secondary dikes

3 shipping airway near the primary coast-line is not affected by the Broad Coast

5 resh-saline transitions are created by dis-charging brackish creek water into the BroadCoastal zone, hereby allowing mixture andnatural run-off towards t he Westerscheldt

4 pumps and inlet-sluices allow both brack-ish creek water and saline Westerscheldtwater to influence the zone

6 use o dams or directing the water flow,hereby lengthening its course and increasingnutrient uptake and mixture

7 over time, difference in water levels anddynamics create diverse habitats like tidalmarshland and saline meadowland

2 built-on plots within the broad coast zoneare surrounded by small dikes, hereby secur-ing saety and allowing residential unctions

8 initial program consists o nature and recrea-tional unctions. Extra unctions such as flood-proo housing or saline agriculture can be addedover time, depending on market demand

9 the site will grow along with sea level rise, createstable oreshores, protect against storm surges,clean run-off agricultural waste water, growbiomass, create habitats, etc.

setting the conditions

preparing the site

opening up to dynamics, process and time

Figure 30 Composition o a broad coast or erneuzen by use ominimal interventions, natural processes and time.Figure 31 Functioning o the overtop-resistant dikes. In normalconditions, sea water can enter and exit the site due to tidal orce andinlet-sluices. In advance o expected extreme conditions, maximum

buffer capacity is created by running the zone dry. During a stormsurge’s high tides, wave run-up will overtop the primary dike. Water iscaught between the primary and secondary dike and can be dischargeafer the storm during low tides.

high tide storm surge low tide

inward flowduring flood

outward flowduring ebb

high tide

low tide

low tide

storm surge conditions

normal conditions

water

land


26/8224

brushwood dams are strategically placed perpendicular to the

run-off direction, between the outer ring and the built-on plots.

Tese both secure access to buildings and direct the water flow,hereby lengthening its course and increasing water mixture and

nutrient uptake by vegetation. Also, several dikes partition the

area into six different regimes by increasing or decreasing water

intake, levels and dynamics. Differences in preliminary condi-

tions (resh, brackish or saline water, high or low dynamics, re-

quent or inrequent inundation, local saline seepage differences)

will create possibilities or maximum habitat diversity ranging

rom tidal marshland and saline meadows to brackish orest.

Tird, with the conditions set or maximum perormance, the

landscape is now opened up or the water. Natural generative

processes and time can rom now on do their creative task. Tidal

exchange and dynamics are allowed on-site and—guided by theramework o dikes and dams—create a new morpholo-gy. Te

daily import o sediment-rich sea water allows the site to grow

along with sea level rise over time. Within the first year tidal dy-

namics—together with erosion and accretion—change the mor-

phology, and mud flats are growing that increase dike stability.

Within 5 years several salt marshlands with creek systems develop

and afer 30 years, parts o the drier regimes develop into brackish

orest. Agricultural waste water’s nutrients are converted to bio-

mass. Successive processes diversiy the site. During storm surges,

2

8

2x/day

22

2x/day

2x/y2x/year


27/822

when inlets are closed and waves are pushed ar up the primary

dike slopes causing overtopping, the site unctions as a inundated

landscape that stores overwash water and creates back pressure onthe primary dike, hereby countering dike slides.

Fourth, with the landscape machine initialized, several ‘light’

unctions are added besides nature compensation or experienc-

ing the site. Education and extensive recreation is made possible.

Hiking trails and boardwalks, inormation panels and back-to-ba-

sic camp locations are set up, as well as a visitor centre, bike routes

and picknick spots. Seasonal colours range rom the purple o sea

aster in summer to the bright red o salicorn in autumn.

Fifh, over time unctions can be added or removed, de-

pending on market demand. Possibilities or flood-proo housin

(especially in the proximity o erneuzen) and (experiments with

saline agriculture or aquaculture are all an option. When the piloproject’s strategy is ollowed by national application, this broa

coastal zone grows into a nation-wide landscape inrastructur

o size, a sae, resilient and diverse deence and natural zone, a

lowing mulitple-day hikes, learning, recreation, housing, oo

production and more.

Figure 32 wice a day it is hightide along the pilot site: intertidalmudflats run dry. wice a day itis low tide along the pilot site:intertidal areas are inundated,only higher marshlands remainunflooded. About twice a yearthe broad coast pilot site is ullyflooded when storm surge pusheswaves up the primary dike’s slopes,causing overtopping and inunda-

tion.

Figure 33 New unctions canbe added over t ime depending on(market) demands. 1 Intertidalareas compensate or loss in theWesterscheldt due to land reclama-tions and dredging o the airway.Tis valuable intertidal nature canattract endangered ‘red list’ speciessuch as the godwit (Limosa limosa)and avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta).Monitoring will help in optimizingnature unctions or the uture.2 Possibilities or (outdoor) recrea-tion and ‘into the wild’ experiencesarise that are unknown to the

Netherlands: outdoor backpacking& camping, gathering own ood byfishing etc. When the pilot exampleis ollowed by national application,the broad coastal zone can growinto a landscape o size, makingmultiple-day hikes possible andproviding large areas o connectednature.3 Inormation and educationunctions, such as school trips, canincrease attachment to the site andincrease local stewardship.4 Te broad coast pilot areabecomes an interesting location or(experimenting with) flood-prooresidential unctions.5 Te pilot project perectly lendsitsel to (experimenting with) salineagriculture or aquaculture. Fish,mussels, salicorn (Salicornia euro-

peae), sea kale (Crambe maritima)and rocket (Eruca sativa) are justa ew examples o edible productsthat have the potential o beingcommercially exploitable.


28/8226

Example 3. Saline Polders (SLF)

(Molpheta & van Wonderen 2009)

Saline Polders proposes a landscape-based inrastructure or

the production o saline aquaculture crops that simultaneouslyincludes recreational, nature- and coastal deence purposes. Te

design ocuses on the Zeeuwse ong pilot arm (Z..), an innova-

tive arm or integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, based in the

Dutch province o Zeeland. Tis state-o-the-art aquaculture arm

is set up to produce fish, mussels and saline crops in a closed cycle

o nutrients and waste, and—contrary to the present-day arms—

does not demand resh water intake, but unctions best in a saline

milieu. Te designers took up the challenge to convert the innova-

tions o this individual 4 ha. bio-industrial scaled arm into a 600

ha. multi-purpose aquaculture inrastructure that applies the Z..

principle on a landscape scale.

Te proposed site is situated on the island o Noord-Beveland

in the province o Zeeland, a reclaimed area known or its longwater-related history and its productive agricultural grounds.

Local economy depends on coastal recreation—concentrated in

the western dune coastlines—and reshwater-dependent arming

practices in the hinterlands. Te present crop-arming practices

demand regularly flushing the water system with reshwater in

order to artificially sustain a marginal reshwater lens; a prac-

tice that will become untenable in the uture due to increasing

saline ground water seepage and decreasing reshwater supplies.

Because o this, a more sustainable approach is proposed: adapt-


29/822

ing to the given conditions by gradually converting to a salt-based

agriculture and aquaculture while maintaining or even increasing

productivity and profit, simultaneously with an expansion o hin-

terland recreation and nature development by embracing histori-cal eatures and landscape scenery. Tis seems to comply with the

demands or a better-spread recreational program and hinterland

development or the purpose o nature and leisure.

How it works

At the start, a cooperation o multiple arms is proposed. Te

collaboration o armers will results in lower costs due to a com-

bined water system, nutrient system and filtration system, and

thereore higher profits. In order to design this saline landscape

inrastructure, the Z.T. unit was broken down into individu

components, which where upscaled, adapted and then reconst

tuted, so as to allow or public interaction, nature developmen

and contextual application. Ten, two design enlargements whermade.

In the first enlargement, the aquaculture system adapts t

local circumstances by introducing a new double row o ‘inla

gen’. Inlagen, a type o double dike system where an inner dik

was added as the outer one became weak, are part o the cultura

heritage o Noord-Beveland and are used or coastal saety an

buffering salt intrusion. Te same principle is adapted to a trip

dike system, thus becoming the basis o compartmentalising th

water system as well as adding to coastal saety. Also, they orm

Figure 34-36 Saline Polders pre-sents a perorming landscape solu-tion to the increasing salinization oagricultural land in the South-WestNetherlands. Te new productivelandscape can be just as profitableeconomically, ‘fits’ its context ohistory, geography and culture, can

enhance coastal saety, and providesor raw and authentic landscapeexperiences.

Figure 37 Saline land in 2050.As large parts o the Dutch delta’sagricultural land are becomingincreasingly saline, the changetowards saline-based agricultureand aqua-culture seems to be theonly uture possibility or landscapeproductivity. Te red dot representsthe location o Saline Landscapes.

RETENTION

PONDS & CANALS

NATURE

SALINE CROPS

PONDS

SALINE DITCHES

Figure 38-39 Decompositiono the Z-unit. Te elements o thbio-industrial Zeeuwse ong pilotarm are deconstructed, enlarged,adapted and recomposed. By doinso, a method was ound to applythe aquaculture unit on a landscapscale, while adding recreational annature unctions.

Figure 40 A large-scale col-lective saline water system isintroduced, made up o smallermini systems, which can either beisolated, or combined as one largeentity. Te level o isolation will

vary depending on water levels anwater quality, and will allow orflexibility in controlling the waterin each o the individual inlagen.Te water system covers the entire

landscape and transports nutrientand waste through the system insuch a way that both are convertedto commercial ood product bio-mass.

= [ [

+ ++x4 [ [

x2 +

4 teamsof 8 sealed ponds

2 fieldsof saline crops

compartmenting& infrastructure

the salt waterring ditch

brackish water ditc h,that surrounds the uni

or the team of units

the bio-industrialZ. T. unit

nature filter

retention pondsin productive inlagen

retention pondin saline crop area

HE NEW UNI

nature filter


30/8228

N

S

SHORT HISTORIC DIKE

EXISTING DIKES INLAND

EXISTING BUILDINGS

EXISTING ELEMENTS

PONDS IN THE PRODUCTIVE INLAGEN

PROCESSING AREA

SALINE CROPS

DIKE 3,00m. high

BRACKISH WATER DITCH / BUFFER

ROADS IN THE CROPLAND

DIKE 1,50m. high

SEA DIKE

SALINE NATURE

SALINE WATER BODIES

Figure 41 Design or a land-scape inrastructure or salineagriculture. Essential elementsand basic structure or the unc-tioning o the site as productivesaline polders or a collective oarmers are laid out, while eacharmer can make their individualsystem adjustments.


31/822

the basis or an extended recreational network with bicycle paths

and viewpoints. Tese new inlagen are bordered by the new sa-

line agricultural fields, which in turn are surrounded by a water

buffering ring ditch that closes the saline regime.A large-scale, shared saline water system is introduced. Sea

water is pumped into small retention lakes and rom here on

flushes through the aquaculture fish ponds (inner set o inlagen),

taking away nutrient-rich waste water that is then used in the sa-

line productive lakes, where cockles, mussels, ragworms and algae

clean the water beore it enters either the saline crop fields (adja-

cent inlands) or the saline nature area (outer set o inlagen) and is

at last returned back to the sea or recycled into the pond system.

Existing arms are transormed and surrounded by small ring

dikes, while a ood processing area is located near the local por

hereby connecting to land- and water transport. Overall, the sit

is now producing several ood products with a minimum inpu

and maximum usage o nutrients, provides or increased coastsaety, adds recreational, educational and experiential values, in

corporates new saline habitats that increase local biodiversity, an

relates to historic landscape eatures and local context.

Te second enlargement urther extends the idea o usin

natural conditions or saline arming, while nature and coast

deence unctions are more emphasized. Te site is located d

rectly opposite to the mouth o the Scheldt river and takes th

compulsory nature compensation (also reerred to by Te Broa

2 connecting towns 3 borders & entrances 4 saline vs. brackish 5 centralized processing

10 tourist routing7 land use regimes 9 (armer) transportnetwork

8 pond system &compartmentalising dikes

1 landscape characters

6 use o contextual land-orms

Figure 42 Composition o a basic inra-structure or the unctioning o Saline PolderDifferent salination regimes will protect theinlands rom saline intrusion. Visitors canaccess the entire area.

Figure 43 Emulating o inlagen: Te plan’sextended inlagen system, which are part o thcultural heritage o the island o North Beve-land, will be extended in order to provide orboth site-specific aquaculture and continuoucoastal protection.

NOORD BEVELAND

Existing inlagen, 2010

NOORD BEVELAND

Existing and new inlagen, 2020


32/8230

SEA

LAND

L A N D

L A N D

≈2km

≈ 2 k m

‘

PONDS IN DOUBLE DIKES

SALINE NATURE FILTER

‘PRODUCTIVE POCKETS’

SEA

LAND

L A N D

L A N D

≈2km

≈ 2 k m

‘

incoming,towards high tide

outgoing,towards low tide

Figure 44 Second enlargement to a semi-natural productive landscape. Te site is onthe agenda to be ‘returned to nature’, since itis to compensate or loss o nature caused bythe dredging o the Scheldt shipping lane. Tecompulsory depoldering causes emotional up-roar; local social acceptance is very low since

it is viewed as making profitable agriculturalland unproductive. Te issue resulted in 4years o ongoing political debate and nearlycaused a political coalition to collapse. Tedesigners believe that implementation willbe better accepted, when new nature is madeproductive or agricultural purposes.

Figure 45-46 Te new natural andsustainable hydrological system with mini-mal control, based on tidal influxes in theWesterscheldt. Sea water enters the systemwith tidal influxes and flushes (rereshes) theponds which are situated in the double dikesystem in the ringes o the area. Tese ponds

are integrated into the coastal deence system.During low tide the water draws back and car-ries waste nutrients rom the ponds into thenature area or filtering. Productive pocketsare similarly flushed. Te water then returnsto the estuary.


33/823

Coast) as a point o departure. A system is created that is more

open to natural dynamics and tidal flux and less regulated than

the ormer. Te primary dike is backed up by a secondary and

tertiary dike ring . Aquaculture ponds are placed between the

secondary and tertiary dikes, the primary and secondary dikes are

then perorated in order to install tidal flux and dynamics. Seawater can now flow into the system due to tidal influx. It will enter

the primary dike and advance through the secondary dike where

it will overtop into the aquaculture ponds which can be used as

fish beds. With low tides, nutrient-rich water will be discharged

rom these ponds and move through the productive pockets, here

getting filtered by mussels, cockles, etc., beore running into the

saline nature filters and flowing back into the sea. Different types

o floating fishponds are placed in the fluctuating area between

the primary and secondary dike, benefiting rom the tidal influ-

ences. Te abundance o potentially harvestable saline vegetatio

(nature filters) within this area contributes to the nutrient absorp

tion, creating a system almost as efficient as the initial industri

scale model, but now open to its environment.

Due to the combination o saline nature and profitable aqua

culture, it is believed that both the demands o the Scheldt bordetreaty and o the local armers society unwilling to give up profi

able agricultural land or sole ‘unprofitable’ nature compensatio

can be met, hereby presenting one o the first plausible solution

afer years o debates and Parliamentary commissions ailing t

address the problem. Besides this, a saline landscape will evolv

with sublime delta experiences that will entice tourists, bir

watchers and nature lovers, as well as improve coastal saety, wate

quality and habitat diversity.

criterion 4:

COASTAL

DEFENCE

safety(ooding /

sea and rivers)

holistic

landscapes

multifunctional

&

SOCIAL

ACCEPTED

=economic

viability( sustainable )

+Genius Loci

&

Soul of Zeeland +

ecologic

resilience( sustainable /durable )

criterion 1:

PRODUCTION

criterion 2:

PUBLIC

INVOLVEMENT

criterion 3:

NATURE

VALUES

+

our VISIONAL LANDSCAPES REQUIREMENTS

the formula

Figure 47 Four criteria are involvedin the ormula. Te first enlargementocused on the first three criteria. Inthe second enlargement, the coastaldeence criterion is also emphasizedas the existing landscape is opened upto the sea’s orces and saety becomesmore significant.

Figure 48 Productive pond units

(‘pockets’) are positioned in betweena smaller dike system, at the ringes othe area. Tis double dike system willalso add to the coastal deence o thehinterland. Harvesting activities are tohave minimum disturbance impact onthe natural system.

resh water agricultural land ‘productive nature’


34/82

0 1 km

‘Afsluitdijk’ (A7)

Water(‘IJsselmeer’, ‘Waddenzee’)

Water planned(‘Wieringerrandmeer’)

Salt marsh

Reef

Wicker dams

Brackish marsh

Saline marsh

Legend ‘De Afsluitdijk’

Fresh marsh

Forest (planned)

Forest (proposed)

Village

Regional road

Wind turbine

Osmosis plant

Tubes for osmosis

32

Example 4. An Adaptive Afsluitdijk (FAA)

(Sperling 2009)

Te Future o an Adaptive Asluitdijk presents a 21st century design

or a sae and ecologically improved barrier dam that expressesthe unique qualities o the site. Te design ocuses on a dam origi-

nally built in 1932 to close off the Southern Sea, that allowed or

better flood protection o the Dutch hinterland, cheaper mainte-

nance and improved transportation routes, and created the pos-

sibilities or several large-scale land reclamations. Its construction

changed the sea south o the dam into a huge reshwater storage

basin, the IJsselmeer [IJssel lake], as it is constantly being filled

with by water rom the IJssel river. Fresh water is regularly dis-

charged (spouted) at low tides by use o gravity rom the lake into

the Wadden Sea in order to maintain sae water levels within the

basin.

At present, the dam—an icon o Dutch technical water engineer-

ing excellence—is outdated: it does not meet saety regulationsand needs to be redesigned in order to provide or the high saety

standards set or the coming decades. But just as important, Dutch

society has changed since 1932 and the dam is now seen as lacking

perceptional experience and being mono-unctional and ecologi-

cally ignorant; it causes a huge barrier in the natural river estuary

system, separating saline rom resh water ecosystems, blocking

migrating fish rom moving up the rivers, and obstructing species

exchange. Te occasional spouting o large amounts o resh water

rom the IJsselmeer into the brackish Wadden Sea causes abrupt

Figure 49 Te design or anAdaptive Asluitdijk converts atechnically engineered bar-rier dam into a sae 21st centurydam engineered by technicalconstruction and ecologicalprocesses that is permeable orspecies exchange and provideshigh spatial quality.


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l l

3

environmental shock and results in illness and mortality o sea lie

(Dijkema 2001; Rijkswaterstaat 2007a, 2007b, both cited in Sperling 2009: 20).

Te thesis presents a landscape (space) solution or a deence

(line) problem. By use o natural dynamics and artificial construc-tion, a deence landscape evolves that can incorporate ecological,

experiential and renewable energy aspects next to the technical

saety standards, while adding to the uniqueness o this iconic

site. During the design process three models were developed: A)

raising the dam; B) a natural barrier along the existing dam; and

C) a second dam along the existing dam. Afer assessment o the

spatial models, model B turned out to be the best model rom a

landscape point o view.

How it works

Te design concept is based on the history and characteristic

o the site. In order to increase the saety standard o the dam

both artificial and natural-system methods are used. Te desigstarts by reconfiguring the profile o the dam. By moving th

bicycle path to the other side (IJsselmeer side) o the dam, spac

is provided to raise the dam by 2,35 meters while maintaining th

highway and simultaneously improving the views rom the bik

route. Between the bicycle path and the highway, a slope is con

structed to separate ast rom slow traffic and counter noise po

lution. Tis slope is optimized or placement o solar panels alon

the ull length o the dam, providing up to 320 MW o harvestab

renewable energy, clearly in sight o bicyclists. Te vast opennes

Te ‘Asluitdijk’

Noord-Hollandmainland

Stevin sluices Robbenplaat monument‘De Vlieter’

Breezanddijk

KornwerderzandLorenz sluices

Frieslandmainland

Wadden Sea

North Sea

IJsselmeerNoord-Holland

Friesland

Te Netherlands

Rhine-Meuseriver basin

Figure 50 Te ‘Asluitdijk’barrier dam was constructedin 1932 to saeguard againstflooding by shortening thecoastline rom nearly 300to 30 kilometres, herebyconverting the SouthernSea to a reshwater basin(IJsselmeer). Higher riverdischarge and sea level risenow demand an update.

Figure 51 Overview o the uture oppor-tunities and constraints. Since 1932, Dutchsociety and public opinion have changed,which now make ecology, leisure and renew-able energy important issues.

Storm surges

Barrier

Abrupt resh water inlets

Opportunity sustainable energy production

Perception

Icon

reshsaline


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0 0

Figure 52 While driving along the A7 highway, rom Amsterdam to the province o Friesland, the driver passes along the Asluitdijk. New or-est plantations mark the edge o the mainland, beore crossing the open water and arriving on the recovered isle o Wieringen. Passing along, thedike provides or vast new landscapes o openness and experienceable change, where natural processes saeguard the dam’s oreshore and renew-able energy is harvested. Arriving at the Friesland mainland is marked by yet another orest, planted out o wind turbines, creating a sensationalentry experience.


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Dove Balg trench.

7 contrast between dynamic and static

4 sober design with exceptional places3 cultural historical value: icon unction2 ‘eternal’ thin line through the rough sea1 vastness o the water: an experience o reedomand openness

‘Waddenzee’

‘IJsselmeer’

Reefs

Saline

Brackish

Fresh

Figure 53 Te designer madean in-depth study o the currentspatial quality o the dam. Tesequalities are to be maintained ina sustainable ramework, that caincorporate natural and culturaldynamics. Tis rame gives thepossibilities or change withoutharming the basic unctioningand quality o the design.

Figure 54-56 At present,high resh water concentrationsnear discharge sluices (red) causmortality. In the new situation,the north-western stretch othe dam is protected by a newartificial ree that will also guidewater flows in order to provideor maximum mixing o resh ansaline water. Helped by brackishdischarge water rom an envi-sioned osmosis plant, a lengthyresh-saline transition arises thatallows or migrating fish to passup the river. Tis can double thechances o reintroducing the onc

abundant salmon and sturgeon tonce again find their way into thRhine river basin.

Figure 57 Newly constructedartificial rees, visible during lowtide and submerged during hightide, decrease the fierceness o(storm) waves.

5 unity i n rhy thm, orm, mater ia l 6 i nteraction betwe en techni ca l an d natural ap-pearance

8 sustainable energy potential

Discharge mortality

Artificial oreshore rees


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o the dam is urther emphasized by increasing the contrast with

the headlands. Tis is done by enlarging the orests at the Noord-

Holland abutment and adding a ‘orest’ o wind turbines at the

Friesland abutment.

On the northern side o the dam, light measures are taken to

start and accelerate the accretion o silt and succession o salt

marshes. Salt marshes have a huge natural potential o unction-

ing as a natural barrier able to dim large waves and can grow along

with the expected sea level rise (Dijkema et al. 2007 cited in Sperling

2009: 100), hereby being intrinsically adaptive. In order to augment

the processes o salt marsh genesis, wicker dams are placed instrategic locations and boulder clay is added as a basis. Water

flows, depths, ecology and sandbanks are taken into account. In a

later stage, and depending on natural development, marsh growth

can be urther accelerated by seeding or planting saline grasses

and plants and by optional silt nourishments. Te change over

time adds to the beauty o the site and appeals to visitors and tour-

ists. Due to the vast scale and importance o the implementations,

monitoring growth and erosion o the salt marsh barrier is es-

sential.

Because o the location o the ‘Doove Balg’ trench—touching

the dam along the eastern side—and the act that this is the deep-

est part, it is financially and technically not easible to protect the

entire northern side o the dam with salt marshes, since they will

be washed away by strong water currents. Tis area will be pro-

tected by building artificial rees out o basalt blocks. Te height

o these rees is adjusted to the tidal levels o the sea; at low tide the

rees are visible, while during high tide they are invisible. By doing

this, the tidal dynamics o the site can be well experienced and

visitors are more aware o the natural orces present.

Te salt marshes, being system-native and rare, have a highecological value and contribute also to the cleaning o the water.

Tey filter the silt out o the water so that this water can be used

in a newly proposed osmosis plant at Breezanddijk. Tis osmosis

plant—open to the public or educational uses—makes use o the

resh IJsselmeer water and saline Wadden Sea water to harvest

sustainable energy and can produce about 500MW (REDstack 2008;

IMSA 2008 both cited in Sperling 2009: 81). Te brackish ‘waste’ water o

the osmosis plant is used in combination with the optimal posi-

tioning o the rees to make a lengthy resh-saline water gradi-

Figure 58 Reconfiguration o the dam. Bi-cycle paths are moved to present better viewsand reduce noise. Solar panels will harvestrenewable energy and inorm the public.

Figure 59 Indication o the flora and aunao several salt marsh successional stages. Tesestages are not very predictable since adapta-tion to the existing conditions is needed.It requires monitoring. When seen the saltmarsh is not growing ast enough, sand canbe added. When seen the vegetation does notestablish ast enough seeds can be spread.

Figure 60 Development o the marshlandoreshores over time. Basic conditions are set,while monitoring can bring to light the adjust-ments needed in order to improve conditions.


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ent that is mixed by natural current and turbulence. By smart dis-

charging the osmosis residue water and leading it to the spoutingsluices, the spouted resh water will first get mixed with brackish

water beore mixing with the saline Wadden Sea water. Migrat-

ing fish find this brackish water flow and swim in the direction o

Breezanddijk, because o the gradient in salinity. Near the osmo-

sis plant at Breezanddijk, the same brackish residue water is now

used or creating a resh-saline fish ladder, allowing diadromous

fish species to pass the dam and migrate up the rivers. A strolling

path passing the marshes connects the village o Den Oever to the

Vlieter Monument and osmosis plant.

As a whole, the design presents an integral landscape solutio

or a sae Asluitdijk that is beautiul, contextual and adaptive tunpredictable climate change. Te design produces renewable so

lar, osmosis, tidal and wind energy or up to 538.000 household

Te spatial quality o the open horizon and the long, straight lin

are strengthened, while better fitting the natural conditions an

local context. Te design now shows a multiunctional Aslui

dijk in which the production o renewable energy , and the in

crease o ecological values and visitor experience, are integrate

with the main unctions o providing saety, spouting water, an

being a passenger connection.

Now - current situation 2025 - land accretion, mud flats

2050 - pioneer vegetation, initial marsh growth 2100 - vegetation succession, development o a creek system

2150 - urther vegetation succession, dry land due to upsilting 2200 - succession climax


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Example 5. A Working Landscape for New Orleans (WLNO)

(Hermens, van der Salm & van der Zwet 2010)

It is now known history that hurricane Katrina struck the

South Louisiana coastline near New Orleans, flooding 80% o the

city up to 3 meters and orcing virtually all citizens to evacuate.

Te historical parts o the city, located on higher grounds, do well

and again have a population reaching close to pre-Katrina levels.However large parts o low-lying suburbs, such as the studied

Gentilly and Lakeview neighbourhoods, are still severely dam-

aged and vacant. Tis research ocuses not only on hurricane

threats, but takes into account rain-flood events, subsidence, the

permanent consequence o vegetation loss, vacancy, and the re-

sulting changes in atmosphere o the neighbourhoods. ogether

they determine the landscape quality. Tree main problems are

identified: (1) Extreme rain events rustrate the broken storm wa-

ter system causing interior flood problems up to 60 cm during a

1/10 year storm event; (2) Katrina destroyed 70% o the urban

canopy—an estimated total amount o 100.000 trees—resulting in

a lack o shade during hot summers and a barren and deserted

looking suburban landscape; and (3) Over 30% o the residential

plots in Lakeview and Gentilly are currently unoccupied, causing

a perorated urban tissue. Tis perorated tissue will not heal on

its own accord and needs a structural rethinking, but it also o-ers opportunities or changes in water management. Te design-

ers conclude that the current landscape quality is insufficient and

will not recover on the basis o existing policies, and address these

structural problems with an integrated, long-term strategy.

Te project proposes a transormation process aimed at a

working landscape. Tis working landscape perorms or hu-

mans and the city by ensuring a healthy and pleasant living en-

vironment, through inclusion o ecological processes. Tis work-

ing landscape also inorms humans by inspiring, revealing and

Proposal: Lowering the outall canals makes possible the introductiono an interconnected network o waterways, linking both parks...

Water system transormation: Revealing the water

Current situation: Raised outall canals. Water hidden behind flood-walls / in subsurace, discharge dependent drainage system.

... and utilizing vacant lots to urther develop the landscape rameworkand waterstorage capacity.


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triggering the imagination. Part o this transormation is a new

strategy regarding water management, advocating a connected

water system based on store‐retain‐discharge principles. As such

it mitigates rain flood events, offers conditions or native, sustain-

able vegetation and provides attractive public space.

How it worksTe designers start by quantiying the assignment o water stor-

age, re-vegetation and healing o the urban abric into cubic me-

ters, hectares, amounts o trees, number o empty plots, etc.

Four landscape zones are revealed: Lakeshore, Whispering

Winds, Mysterious Woods and Lush Ridge. Te original land-

scapes, together with topography, rate o subsidence and prob-

lems with rainwater flooding are used to define boundaries be-

tween the different landscape zones o the project area. Within

these zones, the original landscapes (e.g. salt marsh, orest swamp,

levee orest) are used as inspiration to define vegetation and ac

cent species, building/water ratio and the type o hydrology inter

ventions and orms.

Next, all open space—including the current drainage sy

tem—is defined as design space, quantified and divided int

anchorpoints (large park and landscape patches), voids (empt

plots) and lines (water and road networks). Within this opespace, a new landscape ramework is to be implemented; th

spatial basis or addressing the three problems stated earlier.

Following, the ramework is mobilized by introducing exten

sive surace water and green structures o native and storm-proo

vegetation:

Te ramework is firstly used to create an interconnected an

branched water system with a continuous flow: (1) Raised outa

canals are lowered and floodwalls are removed, revealing th

water and creating waterront opportunities; (2) Outall cana

1 Subsidence: Up to -1,3m / 100yr due to deep drainage regime that damages property and inrastruc-ture.

4 Vacancy: 30% o lots is vacant. Vacancy is strongly related to topography; low areas near thelake suffered most.

2 Rain flooding: Up to 62cm during a 1/10yr storm event due to a non-perorming technocraticwater system aimed solely at an as-ast-as-possible discharge. Storage assignment = 1.200.000m3. Floodwalls render the water inexperienceable in this delta city!

>1,3m

0,4-1,3m


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High grounds: Natural levees

Seafront: Brackish to saline marshes Live Oak natural levee forest

Cypress-tupelo-blackgum swamp

Brackish to saline marshland

Lakefront man-made landfill

Transition: Freshwater swamp

40

Inspiration rom original landscapes 4 landscape zones define boundariesEmpty space = design space (770 hectares)

-10’

-9’

-8’

-7’

+1’+1’ +1’

step 1:lower outall canals and remove redundant floodwalls

step 2:connecting the canals

step 3:intensiy network

step 4:connections over empty lots


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FJ M A M J J A S O N D

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Lagerstroemia indica

(crape myrtle)

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LAKEFRONT

MYSTERIOUS WOODS


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Quercus virginiana

(live oak)


(bald cypress)


Taxodium ascendens

(pond cypress)


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Quercus virginiana

(live oak)


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Schoenoplectus robustus

(salt marsh

polycentric infras _ landscape approach to infrastructure

Documents