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.
High Island Audubon Canopy Walk
Amidst the flats of the Gulf Coast lies High Island, a salt dome mound with a century-long legacy of oil extraction. Today, High Island has become an international haven for avian enthusiasts. Nature sanctuaries managed by the Houston Audubon Society (HAS) attract migratory birds, fostering a vibrant ecosystem where various species flourish.
In collabor...
Sands Bethworks
One of the most prominent examples of redirecting the environmental legacy of a post-industrial landscape can be traced to the south banks of the Lehigh Canal, in the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Comprising 1,800 acres (20 of which belong to this project) and 20 percent of Bethlehem’s total land mass is the former headquarters of Bethlehem Steel Corporatio...
BoAi Lake
Located in Shishan Town, Foshan, the 136-hectare BoAi Lake site began as a freshwater reservoir before being subdivided into a patchwork of aquaculture fish ponds. This fragmentation broke hydrologic continuity, isolated habitats, and cut the public off from the water’s edge. Bounded by emerging mixed-use development to the north and preserved forest to ...
Hengqin Island
Hengqin Island, located in Zhuhai, China, is embedded within a unique and beautiful landscape, and is currently being developed for urban growth throughout the region. Taking cues from the surrounding site, SWA’s master plan intends to capture the essence of the place, and pay homage to its most fundamental landscape elements: the sea, valley, and mountains. S...