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I. Bobbink

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Master thesis (2026) - S. Sengupta, R.R.J. van de Pas, I. Bobbink
“Gangchen-Yul:Village of the Glaciers” is a project that is based in Kulum- a remote high altitude village in Ladakh (North Western Himalayan region in India). Kulum is one of many villages in Ladakh that has borne the brunt of climate change and subsequent abandonment- posing a threat to livelihood and vernacular history. Situated at an altitude of 3800m, Kulum’s history dates back to the silk route era where it was a thriving agrarian community that was supported by the high glaciers. However, through the centuries, due to economic, climatic and geopolitical volatility, Kulum’s sustenance has been increasingly challenged. Glacial depletion and the 2011 floods led to a spike in emigration to cities due to loss of agricultural land. Because of Ladakh’s remote and extreme geographical location, the sustenance of these agrarian communities is critical. This has been increasingly recognized by governing authorities and researches leading to developments such as ice stupas or artificial glaciers which help in restoring agricultural land. While these new developments have incentivized the return of local communities, their built environment remains to be addressed. Therefore, rooted in extensive site study and personal experiences in Ladakh, the thesis aims to propose an urban and architectural rehabilitation strategy for Kulum based on vernacular processes. This is essentially done through restoring the original relationship between living and production by proposing an architectural dialogue between new modes of living and production that continue to emerge in Kulum. ...

Imagining the Roer valley through place-sensitive interventions for experiencing the natural dynamics of the Roer river

The Roer Valley is increasingly confronted with hydrological extremes caused by climate change, exposing a growing imbalance between water systems, landscape structures, and settlement patterns. Historically, the Roer River and its floodplain shaped the spatial development, land use, and identity of the villages within the valley. Over time, this relationship has weakened as the expansion of the village no longer correlated with the natural functioning of the Roer. The river became a technical system to be controlled rather than an integral part of everyday life. As a result, the perceptual and spatial connection between residents and the Roer through visibility, audibility, and accessibility has largely diminished. This division is most prominent at the village fringes, where settlement meets the floodplain.

This thesis explores how place-sensitive interventions within the village fringes of the Roer Valley can improve the experience and connection of residents with the Roer River by 2050. Rather than focusing on large-scale flood prevention measures, the research explores how small-scale, site-specific interventions can strengthen the relationship between villages and the river while embracing the natural dynamics of the floodplain. Through a research-by-design methodology, the thesis combines hydrological analysis, spatial pattern analysis, and landscape interpretation to establish a framework for adaptive village-fringe design.

The study focuses on two representative village types within the Roer Valley: Sint Odiliënberg, characterised by a direct riverfront relationship, and Herkenbosch, positioned adjacent to the floodplain. By analysing seasonal hydrological conditions and the spatial logic of the villages, a set of place-sensitive intervention principles is developed within the domains of route, space, flow, and flood. These interventions are defined by three key parameters: scale, seasonality, and impact on daily life, ensuring that they remain embedded within the existing genius loci of the villages.

The thesis demonstrates that strategically placed, place-sensitive interventions can reconnect villages to the Roer River by transforming introverted settlement edges into accessible, water-oriented public spaces. The proposed interventions enhance the experiential qualities of the river, strengthen village identity, and create adaptable spaces where urban life, floodplain dynamics, and ecological processes intersect. Rather than proposing a single fixed masterplan, ‘reimagining the Roer fringes’ presents a transferable design approach for villages along natural meandering rivers, contributing to the discourse on water-sensitive urban design and genius loci by imagining a renewed cultural and spatial relationship between inhabitants and water systems. ...

From Romantic View to Layered, Resilient Landscape

Master thesis (2026) - G. van Batenburg, I. Bobbink, M.G. Vink
The landscape of the Mosel Valley is known for its romantic image; The region attracts thousands of visitors annually and is renowned for its wines, a tradition that has been there since Roman times. The meandering Mosel River and medieval villages add to the picturesque image and contribute to this notion of romanticism. But this heritage landscape faces increasing threats in the form of abandonment of vineyards due to the challenges of steep slopes and high costs of cultivation, resulting in the gradual loss of the cultural landscape.

At the same time, the Mosel River has become both a literal and figurative line in the valley, having lost much of its fluctuating character after its canalization. It has lost its ecological and spatial connection to the surrounding landscape. The decline of both the region’s heritage and ecology are largely concealed by the romantic image of the Mosel Valley. This thesis questions the future of the Mosel landscape and examines the elements that contribute to the romanticization of it by means of a terroir analysis and literature review. A vision is developed in which nature becomes the new romantic subject. The vision is tested through a design intervention at Zeller Hamm,that provides different approaches of vineyard re-purposing are developed. Following this, a trail and experiential design are developed that focus on experiencing the new Romanticism. ...

Reconciling the "Three Natures" of the Acheron through Mythological, Hydraulic,and Cultivation Narratives

Master thesis (2026) - O.G. Liakopoulos, I. Bobbink, Sophia Armpara
This thesis investigates the multilayered challenges facing the River Acheron in Epirus, Greece. Historically revered as the liminal threshold between the world of the living and the Realm of Hades, the Acheron is not merely a body of water but a landscape of profound cultural memory. Its dramatic topography and dark waters cemented its place in the Odyssey and the accounts of Pausanias, evoking a specific Genius Loci of fear and awe.

Today, however, this "landscape of memory" is fracturing under a complex set of crises. Environmentally, the river system is increasingly volatile, oscillating between flash floods that threaten the plain and severe seasonal droughts that degrade the Natura 2000 ecosystem. Socially, the region suffers from rural abandonment, severing the generational bond between the local community and their land. Culturally, a strictly utilitarian management regime and the pressures of extractive mass tourism have stripped the river of its deeper meaning, reducing the mythical "Gateway to the Underworld" to a mere picturesque backdrop and a functional irrigation grid.

Conducted within the Circular Water Stories (CWS) lab at TU Delft, this research challenges the disciplinary separation of nature and narrative. By employing a methodology of "narrative excavation", ancient texts are treated as concrete spatial data to inform physical design. The project proposes a multi-scalar route, choreographed as a two-day "Katavasis" (Descent) hike, that physicalises the mythological journey across the "Three Natures" (Wild, Cultivated, and Garden). Through this route, and in conjunction with a series of interventions along it, the aim is to restore the Acheron’s chthonic Genius Loci while mitigating environmental risks and fostering year-round "slow" tourism to sustain the plain’s productive fabric.

Impact:
The research provides stakeholders with a quantifiable framework demonstrating that flexibility can function as a hedge when facing risks. By formalising flexibility as a measurable value driver rather than a theoretical dimension, the study supports a shift in hotel underwriting practice toward a probabilistic approach where option rights are valuable. The research findings suggest and encourage equity investors to value flexibility to develop resilient assets.
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A transformation and spatial experience of the dune drinking water system

Master thesis (2026) - F. Klapwijk, I. Bobbink, M.G. Vink, R.A. Gorny
Freshwater scarcity is becoming more imminent in the face of changing climate conditions, which put a lot of pressure on Dutch water systems. The river-dune drinking water system in South Holland is facing transformation to properly keep up with drinking water demands. And yet, coastal residents remain largely unaware of the dunes as the production landscape of their drinking water.

The aim of this thesis is to design a proposal for an adaptive water system, where coastal dwellers are included as participants of the system and stewards of the drinking water landscapes. The main research question is: How can landscape architectural strategies mediate a renewed relationship between contemporary coastal inhabitants and sources of freshwater within the drinking water extraction landscape of the Dutch dune system? The question is answered through systemic analysis, site visits with observations and design experimentation.

The research offers insight into the growing detachment between humans, landscape and infrastructure and how that detachment is now facilitating the effects of water scarcity to remain invisible. In order to include people in tackling the issue of water scarcity, a regional water strategy is developed where pressure on the dune landscape is relieved by separating water flows for potable and non-potable water. The result is a circular and adaptive drinking water system from Meijendel to the Vlietlanden. Furthermore, very explicit design interventions translate the water filtration processes spatially in order to facilitate renewed water relationality. Two design interventions translate valuable water filtration processes at the source and in the dunes, which offer interactions with their drinking water to coastal dwellers. ...

Regenerating farmland through food forest typologies and translating this to an architectural expression

Master thesis (2026) - J. Hulleman, I. Bobbink, R.R. van den Ban, Cinco Yu
This thesis explores the parallels between cooking and architecture as extractive yet essential practices, investigating how both disciplines shape material transformation and human relationships with the earth. Using regenerative agriculture as a conceptual and practical framework, the research critically examines extractivist modes of production and their implications for architectural design. The study asks how architecture can engage with complex ecosystems without imposing rigid control, instead allowing space for agency, adaptation, and natural processes. Through material discourse and design exploration, the research investigates how technicities influence material transformation and how morphogenetic processes found in nature can inform architectural practice. The thesis argues for a regenerative architectural approach that embraces uncertainty, negotiation, and porous design strategies in response to ecological complexity. ...

Cultivating Reciprocity Through Regenerative Farming

The Local Taste introduces a slow cooking project: a productive garden and cooking residency. It explores how locally grown food and the act of gardening hold the power to reconnect humans with their ecosystems. Set on a small German farm, the design brings together the disciplines of gardening and cooking, blurring the line between architecture and landscape. Rooted in the local soil, bricks fired on-site become the main design element—framing beds, retaining slopes, and forming a greenhouse, kitchen, and infrastructure for compost and water. These cycles, along with the human workflow, guide the redesign of the farm and the shaping of the garden. The brick becomes the link between old and new, house and landscape, cultivation and care. A curated experience that invites for reconnection through growing, processing, and tasting locally grown food. ...

Reclaiming the Dike-fishponds for People and Ecology in Pearl river delta area

The traditional Dike–fish pond system in the Pearl River Delta represents a historically integrated model of agriculture, aquaculture, and community-based water management. This system not only maintained ecological balance through the integration of farming and fishing (Chen, 1995), but also fostered daily interaction between people and water, supporting the socio-economic fabric of water-based communities (Hou, Li, & Sun, 2023). However, with rapid urbanization and the expansion of the monoculture-based fishing industry, this balanced model is facing severe disruption. Traditional fishponds have been largely replaced or modified, dikes once used for cultivation have disappeared, and the spatial and ecological integrity of the system has been lost (Tian, 2019). Moreover, locally organized water management practices have been replaced by top-down, profit-driven aquaculture, eroding the social connections between people and water.
Drawing from the sociology of water, this project views the current crisis as not merely ecological, but deeply social. As Bakker (2012) emphasizes, water is inherently political and biopolitical—it is shaped by governance, culture, and community relationships. The reduction of water to a purely economic or productive resource neglects its vital social functions and undermines cultural identity, emotional connections, and communal agency. The case of Sangyuanwei, a once-thriving mulberry–dike–fish–pond system in the central Pearl River Delta, exemplifies this transformation, where spatial disintegration reflects broader shifts in the relationship between humans and water.
In response, this project proposes a landscape infrastructure design framework that re-centers the social nature of water. Through multi-scalar strategies, it aims to regenerate ecological function, restore local livelihoods, and reestablish cultural practices. At the regional level, it restructures water systems and production zones to form a network of blue-green infrastructure supporting both ecological and economic resilience. At the medium scale, it rebalances the dike-to-pond ratio to revive the multifunctionality of the system. At the local scale, it creates participatory water spaces that reconnect daily life with water through tourism, education, and community use.
Ultimately, this project raises a critical question for contemporary landscape practice: How can a landscape approach mitigate the negative impacts of the fish industry, enhance local livelihoods, and create a healthier, more sustainable, and visually attractive landscape through local participation? By reinterpreting water, water systems, and agricultural production as interconnected media carrying ecological, economic, social, and cultural value, the project offers an integrated approach that links spatial transformation with community agency, ecological resilience, and cultural renewal.
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Designing a Botanical Garden in the Brazilian Savanna

Master thesis (2025) - C. Rosado, I. Bobbink, U.D. Hackauf
The Cerrado, a vast and biodiverse savanna in Brazil, is often referred to as the "cradle of waters" due to its role in sustaining eight major river basins. However, over the past four decades, it has been severely impacted by agricultural expansion, resulting in widespread deforestation, disruption of hydrological cycles, and a decline in biodiversity. Part of the Cerrado biome, Western Bahia— a grain-exporting region that lies over the Urucuia Aquifer—has undergone land-use practices that have transformed the landscape into a water-exporting territory, resulting in significant environmental and social impacts.

This thesis investigates how landscape architecture can mitigate these pressures by enhancing aesthetic and ecological perceptions of the Cerrado. Through a comprehensive approach that combines historical, environmental, cultural, and geospatial analyses, the study identifies the Janeiro River Basin, a preservation area in Western Bahia, as an area affected by monoculture expansion and water depletion. The thesis proposes the design of the Urucuia Botanical Garden, situated in the Janeiro River Basin preservation area, a landscape design that bridges community participation, aesthetic perception, ecological awareness, and research. The project is a starting point for rethinking productive landscapes and relationships with the biome, envisioning Western Bahia as a region that could potentially transition from a commodity-based export economy to one grounded in a new local and global logic centered on ecological value and social inclusion, rooted in the native socio-biodiversity.
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Regrowing a coextensive urban riverine landscape through flood mitigation and rehabilitation strategies

This thesis investigates how fragile urban landscapes can be strengthened and rehabilitated towards a coextensive urban riverine landscape. Unexpected floods frequently devastate vulnerable communities, such as the informal settlements in Sir Lowry’s Pass Village, South Africa, located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. These seasonal and increasing occurrences often destroy homes and, tragically, claim lives due to insufficient flood mitigation strategies and policies. The practice of slowing, diverting, and using floodwaters has been developed across diverse cultures and contexts into unique water strategies. These strategies have proven sustainable due to the locals’ understanding of the natural cycles and patterns. In many cases, these water management strategies have been implemented to improve agricultural productivity and the liveability of the locals - and unlike many contemporary solutions, which often rely on mechanised, and linear systems, a hands-on approach prioritises direct human involvement and care, emphasising local knowledge over engineered interventions. The value of studying such case studies is to learn from and extract principles that could inform contemporary urban approaches. The purpose of this research is therefore to explore alternative flood mitigation and riverine rehabilitation strategies that draw inspiration from existing low-tech water management practices, with a focus on simplicity, sustainability, and community engagement. ...

Rebalancing flood prevention through spatial design interventions in Jianghan Plain, China

Master thesis (2025) - H. Zhang, I. Bobbink, A.W. Baar, Michael Peeters
This project explores how landscape design can contribute to rebalancing flood prevention, ecological resilience, and productive land use within the Jing River Flood Storage Area (JRFSA), a key node in China’s middle Yangtze River flood control system. Located in the densely cultivated Jianghan Plain, the area faces a growing mismatch between large-scale flood management strategies and the everyday realities of agricultural production, ecological degradation, and rural development. Through the concept of Cascading Floodspace, the design introduces a multi-layered spatial framework that divides the floodplain into adaptive zones with differentiated flooding frequencies, land use patterns, and ecological functions. These zones support flood-responsive agriculture, habitat diversity, and seasonal tourism, while allowing for long-term landscape transformation without immediate disruption. The project operates across multiple scales—from regional water networks to site-specific interventions—and repositions the role of the landscape architect as both a spatial strategist and a mediator between competing values: risk and livelihood, ecology and economy, permanence and change. ...

From disappearing water cultures to reviving water experiences on Mallorca

Master thesis (2025) - A.J. Meier, I. Bobbink, M.G. Vink, R.R. van den Ban
Mallorca, a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean, faces a growing crisis of water overconsumption, exacerbated by seasonal tourism, urban development, and unsustainable resource management. This graduation project investigates the island’s water scarcity through environmental, cultural, and infrastructural lenses, identifying the disconnect between consumption and natural limits. In response, the project proposes a bathhouse,a space that reconnects users with water as a precious, experiential resource, while also capturing and reusing rainwater.
During the heavy winter rains, water is collected and stored for use in the bathhouse. In the dry summer months, when water cuts are increasingly common in the village, only the communal showers remain in use, reviving a shared water system rooted in collective responsibility. The rest of the bathhouse transitions into a dry space for events and the drying of herbs. This project reintegrates a caretaker into the site and embraces the storytelling potential of water and enchanting infrastructures, allowing new narratives of care, resilience, and community to unfold. ...

Attuning to the rhythm of the Meuse landscapes

This thesis investigates how the floodplain landscapes of the Meuse River -particularly in its French upstream section- can be revealed and transformed toward an attunement with the river’s intrinsic temporal rhythms. Against a backdrop of large-scale anthropogenic pressures and regulatory structures that have disattuned human uses from the river’s seasonal flow, the research adopts a landscape-based approach to reframe river relations in spatial and temporal terms.

Through a multi-scalar inquiry, the thesis first maps a genealogy of international uses that have led to ecological imbalance and hydrological disconnection along the Meuse. A subsequent local-scale transect along the least pressured French section documents seasonally-informed, often overlooked or fading, human–river and interspecies practices. These are interpreted through the lens of spatial calendars and relational values, uncovering embedded temporalities still tied to the river's flow.

A territorial design experiment -the Atelier Meuse in Sedan- serves as a methodological and spatial prototype for reattuning the post-industrial river landscape. Here, three interwoven design values are proposed: slowing water, cultivating belonging, and gardening the floodplain. These values are enacted through participatory, seasonal maintenance practices that interlace human and non-human actors, fostering new collective riverine relations.

Rather than offering attunement as a fixed solution, the thesis frames it as an ongoing, situated process: one that demands flexible representations, such as spatial calendars, and designs that respond to the dynamic and relational nature of riverscapes. This approach lays groundwork for future landscape and water management strategies across the international Meuse floodplain and other similar fluvial territories ...

Water as the Cultural Legacy in Xochimilco

Mexico City currently faces several challenges deriving from historical social inequalities and ineffective governance, which hinder equitable access to water. The centralisation of water supply and drainage systems has largely failed to address local needs, leading to the marginalisation of vulnerable communities, especially populations dwelling in areas ecologically essential to the functioning of the Basin. This research argues for a renewed understanding of water’s ecological and cultural importance in the city based on water’s historical importance to Mexico and the modern misconceptions surrounding it. In this context, this work analyses the potential of a park landscape intervention in Mexico City’s cultural remains of Xochimilco, to explore new water management alternatives. Landscape architecture is presented as a critical strategy for fostering a renewed understanding and a medium-scale infrastructure based on circularity, while revealing layers in history. This thesis provides insights into how awareness, responsibility, and active engagement with water management can be promoted. It proposes that collective engagement can restore essential components of Mexico City’s hydrology, while mitigating some of the most crucial water issues, and inspire community-driven actions toward sustainable practices. Ultimately, the results put focus on the inclusion of local knowledge, strengthening the connection between people and water for an increasingly uncertain future. ...

A sustainable, adaptive blue-green network for Saga, Japan

Situated on the Tsukushi Plain in Japan, Saga City developed a distinctive water network in response to the extensive tidal range of the Ariake Sea and the limited irrigation water available from the surrounding mountains. This system enabled the city to cope with drought and flooding, becoming the cultural and spatial backbone of urban life.
With twentieth-century modernization, centralized water infrastructure, and depopulation, however, the canal network lost everyday relevance: many canals were filled, consolidated, or culverted, and remaining reaches suffer from sedimentation and overgrowth. Saga’s identity as a “water city” has weakened, and vulnerability to extreme rainfall, pluvial flooding, and biodiversity loss has increased.

Adopting the framework of Landscape Biographies (Kolen & Renes, 2015), which views landscapes as continuously rewritten by human–nature interactions, this thesis reconsiders Saga’s canal system as a local asset for sustainable development under demographic and climatic stress. The central question is how the forgotten water network can be reactivated as blue-green structures that strengthen climate resilience, ecological health, and community life while retaining cultural value.
The research operates from regional to community scales using a mixed methodology: archival and map analysis to trace formation and urban structuring roles; field surveys and mapping to document present conditions and adjacent land uses; and spatial analysis to identify opportunities to reconnect water with urban voids (vacant or underused sites) and community spaces. Design exploration translates these insights into testable spatial strategies.
The proposal reorganizes the water system as a low-maintenance, climate-responsive blue-green framework that respects historic structure while shifting from human-centered to nature-centered logics. In parallel, it integrates urban voids with canals to weave a fragmented city into a continuous public-space network, making hidden water visible and usable. Design principles extracted from historical water practices are implemented in these places.

Reactivating the network is expected to deliver tangible benefits (improved water management, flood mitigation, ecological connectivity, and restoration) and intangible values (civic pride, place identity, renewed appreciation of heritage). Saga’s case advances an adaptive transformation beyond preservation by extracting the essence of local assets and reorganizing them in response to changing times, offering a transferable model for other regional cities. ...

Regaining balance between agriculture and nature with historic inspirations

Master thesis (2025) - F. Schwegman, I. Bobbink, M. Spaans, C.H.E. van Ees
The Achterhoek region of the Netherlands, with its sandy soils and elevated terrain, faces significant climate challenges, particularly droughts caused by changing weather patterns. Agriculture and nature in this area depend heavily on water, yet the intensification of industrial farming has disrupted the balance between these systems. This research addresses the question: “How can landscape architecture reintegrate water management, nature, and agriculture to enhance climate resilience, increase biodiversity, and secure a sustainable future for farmers?”
Through historical analysis, it is evident that traditional farming methods once maintained a natural balance between agriculture and the environment. However, industrialization has disrupted this harmony. By drawing inspiration from past systems like flowing meadows and cooperative farming communities (Marken), modern design strategies can help restore this balance. Projects such as Urtica de Vijfsprong and het Lankheet offer examples of how nature-inclusive approaches can improve biodiversity and drought resilience, while diversifying income sources for farmers.
A water-based design strategy is proposed, adapting land use to natural water levels to ensure long-term sustainability. This includes raising groundwater levels, reintegrating natural habitats into farmland, and encouraging cooperative farming models to enhance nutrient recycling and reduce costs. With these strategies, a blueprint is proposed for the region of Nettelhorst, transforming it into a model of sustainable agriculture, balancing the needs of nature, water management, and farming. Landscape architecture can play a crucial role in restoring this balance by addressing core issues and offering holistic, system-based solutions. ...

Renovating Traditional Cultural Landscape of Baiyangdian Lake-Wetland System, Hebei Province, China

Master thesis (2024) - K. Mu, I. Bobbink, L. Qu
This project is about Baiyangdian lake-wetland system, the largest freshwater lake in the Hebei region, which has developed a productive cultural landscape of lake-village-reed symbiosis under long-term human modification, which is adaptive and resilient to floods.

However, after 1960s, when China entered the modern era with fast industrialization and urbanization, the symbioses of humans and the lake landscape got out of balance. Baiyangdian has been hit hard by drought, industrialisation, pollution, village expansion and over-fishing, which have brought a series of ecological disasters. In 2017, the government placed Baiyangdian within Xiong'an New Area. The establishment of this new city brings opportunities and challenges to Baiyangdian. The government began to treat Baiyangdian with measures. The ecology of Baiyangdian has improved, but the livelihoods of locals have been restricted and the traditional way of life is disappearing.

As for the government to restore the ecosystem of the lake they want to relocation the villages, restrict the industry and fishery, take over the maintenance and so on. Based on the study of the ecological system, the water management, and livelihood of Baiyangdian, this thesis researches from the perspective of landscape design and urban planning if it is possible to keep the island villages in the area as part of a renewed healthy lake landscape. The aim is, by utilising the rich natural landscape resources of Baiyangdian, to provide new vitality for local people and create a new chapter in the era of human-water symbiosis. ...
Lake Biwa in Japan stands as the nation's largest inland body of water, harboring over a thousand species of flora and fauna. In the past, the hydrological system of Lake Biwa operated seamlessly, with humans, animals, and plants interconnected by water, mutually influencing and sustaining each other, leading to ecological equilibrium.

However, over the past century, Japan has undergone significant transformations, including World War II, economic resurgence, and urbanization. The inner lake has been replaced by farmland, and rigid embankments have been constructed around it. These incremental changes have eroded the once robust system, with human development gradually exceeding the system's capacity. Presently, water no longer serves as a conduit between humans and nature; instead, it is perceived as a threat and a problem. Consequently, water heritage has been gradually abandoned due to its inability to meet contemporary lifestyle demands, obscuring the valuable and distinctive aspects of the land.

As a landscape architect, I am captivated by the former splendor of the site's system and lament the trend of its gradual disappearance. I aspire to reconstruct Lake Biwa's hydro-cultural heritage through landscape interventions, strengthening its distinctive characteristics while integrating new functionalities to create inclusive public spaces ...

Spatial design interventions for a rain and dry seasons mitigation system in Ryabega, Eastern Rwanda

Master thesis (2024) - C.M.C. Delobbe, Inge Bobbink, Anne Loes Nillesen, Amina Chouairi
Global warming exerts varied impacts across diverse regions worldwide, manifesting in distinct consequences such as floods, landslides, droughts, soil biodiversity loss, salinization, etc. Rwanda is one of these many cases.
Located in tropical Central Africa, the country mainly experiences landslides due to extreme and irregular precipitations. Nevertheless, global warming assumes disparate forms in the eastern region of the country.
In the plateau region inhabited by communities like the town of Ryabega, the predominant challenge arises from recurrent droughts. These climatic disturbances significantly disrupt the agricultural cycle, upon which these communities heavily rely for food subsistence and livelihoods. The intensification of agricultural practices exacerbates this vulnerability, as deforestation, soil degradation, and the application of chemical fertilizers diminish landscape resilience.
By adapting an arid water system and implementing nature-based solutions, bioclimatic architecture and resilient landscape strategies, the project seeks to develop a rain and dry seasons mitigation system that connects communities back to their landscape and unique topography. Through water and humidity conservation, soil moisture and drinking water access, the project aspires to be locally sourced and built to ameliorate the town’s water and economic autonomy as well as its vulnerability to global warming.
Furthermore, beyond its immediate scope, this graduation thesis serves as a catalyst for exploring new design possibilities applicable to the adjacent towns and landscapes. ...

A Rural Adaptive Self-circulating Natural-Social System Welcoming Water Dynamics

Master thesis (2024) - A. Huang, I. Bobbink, U.D. Hackauf, Olga Ioannou
Poyang Lake is a seasonal lake located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. During the wet season in summer, it reaches its largest water surface and highest water level, appearing as a lake. Conversely, during the dry season in winter, it shrinks to its smallest surface area and lowest water level, resembling a river.

Local people utilized the unique seasonal hydrological processes, topography, and natural resources of Poyang Lake to develop the traditional water system, a cyclic production system adapted to water dynamics. Agriculture is developed in the polder during the wet season, fishery in the sub-lake during the dry season, and animal husbandry in the wetland, while taking into account the harmonious coexistence with migratory birds and the recycling of resources. This system embodies the original systematic and dynamic thinking of local residents about the landscape and realizes the harmonious relationship between humans and nature in the context of that time.

However, due to the emergence of new influences in the new era, Poyang Lake has faced numerous challenges, including floods, droughts, ecological degradation, and loss of livelihood. As one of the world's most important habitats for migratory birds, Poyang Lake holds significant ecological value. Its unique and varied landscape typologies also contribute to its spatial value. Therefore, this thesis aims to address these issues through landscape architectural tools to enhance ecological value, improve human livelihoods, and ensure the spatial interest of Poyang Lake.

The design project is grounded in systemic thinking, focusing on water, ecology, and livelihood as its main dimensions. It introduces the concept of a rural self-circulation and mediation system, aiming to harmonize the relationship between people and water, as well as between humans and nature, and to operate and circulate autonomously, revitalizing rural areas while protecting the city. The system utilizes the three major landscape typologies of Poyang Lake—polder, sub-lake, and wetland—as spatial carriers, and is designed with continuous scales. Based on specific strategies and design frameworks, diverse spatial principles are logically integrated to ultimately establish a sustainable circular landscape system. ...