Over many decades, public agencies in China have sought to solve growing flooding issues in a defensive way: fortifying and hardening river edges, raising levee heights, and ultimately separating the people from historical connections to the water. With an understanding of river flow processes and volumes and of wetland and native forest ecology, this separation can be assuaged, reconnecting communities to their waterfronts while responding to periodic flooding.
Located on the Xiang River in China’s Hunan Province, the 63.3-hectare Baxizhou Island is a private refuge covered with poplar trees and structures no longer in use. The conceptual design plan created a network of berm-buttressed paths, with terraced edges that create multi-level wetland system around the island: islands to the south, and small peninsulas, linked by a meandering boardwalk network. These peninsulas’ grass-lined channels lie beneath shallow water the majority of the year; however, during the flood season, the entire system is completely submerged.
At the island’s highest grades, private villas and a tennis facility are proposed. These are designed to be self-sustaining and integrated within the landscape, hidden within a forest wall. The island itself provides various opportunities for visitors to enjoy its natural beauty and newly thriving ecology.
Rio 2016 Olympic Park Competition
SWA was awarded 2nd place in the 2016 Olympic Park Competition in Rio de Janeiro for their master plan and landscape architecture proposal. The Olympics will be located on a 118-hectare site in the neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca. The underlying concept of ‘Embrace’ weaves through the design in a grand planning gesture, which both defines the Olympic Games and...
Guthrie Green Park
Guthrie Green transforms a 2.6-acre truck yard into a lively urban park in the heart of downtown Tulsa’s emerging arts district. Opened in September 2012, Guthrie Green has become the area’s leading destination, drawing 3,000 plus people weekly to activities that have enriched the urban experience and spurred district-wide revitalization. The high-performance ...
San Pedro Waterfront Connectivity Plan
Spanning over 460 acres and 8 linear miles of waterfront, the Port of Los Angeles is among the most important pieces of infrastructure in the Western Hemisphere—the largest container port in the U.S., a linchpin for global logistics, and an industrial hub critical to San Pedro and L.A. County at large.
Today, the Port is imagining a more connective, acc...
Fuyang Riverfront
Seizing the area’s reputation for “one of the best mountain and water views in the world,” the natural framework along both sides of the Fuchun River inspires this plan integrating urban spaces with landscape to create a harmonious skyline. Fuyang flourishes with economic prosperity while honoring its vibrant cultural heritage.
The scope includes urban d...