Dynamic Riverscapes: A vision for inhabitable, sustainable floodplains. The case of Huissensche Waard

The project proposes a new approach for the design of river riparian zones, researching on the debatable issue of living on the floodplains. In recent years, there has been a shift in the tradition of engineering the river landscape towards a more landscape-friendly perspective. However, the focus still remains usually on nature and recreation, while other functions, like housing, are restricted. In addition, the dikes of the Dutch defense system form strong borders between the urban fabric and the river landscape, allowing little to no interaction between them. The objective is to embrace the natural river processes and use the potentials of inundation and sedimentation as a condition for the creation of a multifunctional and sustainable landscape. A system of living mounds is integrated in the floodplains in balance with nature, through the use of local materials and sediments and with sustainable infrastructure. Main goal is also to ‘break’ the border of the dike and allow people of the surrounding cities to engage and reconnect with this unique, dynamic nature. Added functions, like the new community gardens and a visitor’s centre, act as an extension of the urban fabric into the floodplains and operate as a buffer zone. The proposal binds the dichotomy between processes and forms by combining process-oriented and architectonic-oriented decisions, that utilize the full potential of this dynamic landscape