Engaging with Water

Abstract

As the accelerating climate change has its effect on the frequency and intensity of rainfalls and the rising sea level, more interventions need to be taken to protect our cities from unpredictable floods and droughts. Therefore, adjusting and transforming our current existing city structure to an inclusive water-retaining system city structure with a healthy living environment has to become a priority when shaping our future-proof city. Our cities should have a sponge function that allows the building to absorb and release water when needed. Unfortunetly, among people there still is lack of awareness when it comes to sustainable water re-use and collective water management. The question that remains is how we can motivate all stakeholders, to work together on collective water management as the people with a low income will not have the capacity to invest but might be willling to help maintaining this system. Research about the integration of sustainable urban drainage systems on three different scales is created (landscape scale, urban square scale and social building scale) that can be used to help guide designers and planners tackle the water problem areas and still be able to build in floodable areas while reducing the safety risk of people living there. The motivating factor on how to stimulate people for water saving habits is here of essence. Using water as visual element in design, might help bring on the idea of how water could be re-used, while it also helps to bond people. Biomimicry and biophilia contribute to the creation of these building typologies, that visually and physically influence our well-being, and are aspects that are both visual pleasant design principles that help create understanding. These three topics could be combined using water as a connecting bridge, which led to the following research question: “How can the qualities and potentials of natural water cycles be embedded in our current city structure to connect water, nature, and buildings on different scales by translating research about biomimicry, biophilia and water sensitive design interventions into a design approach for an existing area?” The aim of the design is then to optimize the existing city structure regarding water conservation and revitilize the current living environment to a healthier habitat that benefits inhabitants on multiple aspects. From the research and design process, it has become clear that it is quite a challenge to intergate water sustainable systems where people can have interaction with, but the design approach has showed that it is possible to implement the technical interventions in an aesthetical, but convincing way, without disrupting the overall design and could even lead to innovative new design ideas. The design is hereby used as a translation tool to address communities on how to become sustainable on indoor and outdoor level. By using different design criteria that can be applied to each location with a unique approach, the research becomes generic but is still location specific. And since the existing areas that are facing floods and drought are being transformed into interconnecting spheres of water retainment, a deeper connection to nature is created. Looking at all the interventions that need to be built and integrated it would cost a lot of investments to be able to build water resilient buildings that function as a sponge. Stakeholders need to be convinced of the long term benefits the building would generate for them, like insurances. It turns out that you have to use smart tricks, like using cheap and local building materials that would outweight the costs of the sustainable urban drainage systems. By focussing on the small sustainable technical water re-use improvenemts, it can help to strenghen our environment regarding flood risk reduction is therefore of imporance as it brings a more positive glance of the future and encourages people to think of creative outcomes.