9 avril 2018, 17:00 – 19:00 : Floodscapes. Conférence au Laboratoire de sciences sociales PACTE, organisée par l’Institut d’Urbanisme de Grenoble

In the eighteenth century, Rousseau praised the beauty of the wild and untamed, and twentieth century environmental movements celebrated the healing effects of wilderness on the human soul. But while Romantics and later Environmentalists sought salvation away from the city – ‘into the wild’ – it is now the wild that is conquering the city again, becoming a sign of urban elegance and “coolness”. Improvised rather than planned, claimed rather than given, the contemporary urban open space seems to reverse the old antagonism that opposed the tamed, exploited and orderly (the “policé”), to the dangerous, purposeless and amorphous – the savage originating from the dark sylva and the northern wastes.
A new essay to read on the webpage of Contour, the interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal initiated by PhD students of the Architecture and Sciences of the City doctoral school (EDAR) at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL).

A recent publication by The Paris Region Planning and Development Agency (IAU Île-de-France), presents the developement of the Dutch national program “Room for the River”, recently completed. An inspiration for the French flood-prone capital region ?…

Waterview is a project conceived  to question the inhabitants of Dutch cities about their knowledge of water dynamics and flood safety. The first installation, designed with Rnul interactive and Marcel Goethals, was set in Rotterdam city center, close to the Schouwburgplein, and consisted in a float-line reflecting the actual level of the Maas river – a few hundred meters from and a few meters above the place of the installation.

A large part of the Netherlands is located below average sea level, this is basic knowledge for all Dutch citizens. But who in Rotterdam knows how deep he/she lives, works, shops, recreates? Who knows that the Maas fluctuates constantly, under the influence of rain and sea tides? And who knows what to do in case of major flood threat? This installation was made in order to get a better idea of what our fellow Rotterdammers know and think about water management, and to raise interest and awareness for issues that makes life possible in the Dutch polders – where we live and work.

This project was implemented with the support of the City of Rotterdam, and we look for further development soon!

‘From absolute protection to controlled disaster: New perspectives on flood management in times of climate change’
A Long read by Frédéric Rossano published in the new Journal of Landscape Architecture, theme issue 1-2015 ‘Disaster and its aftermath’

A Landscape design for a lakefront park and a new mixed-use neighborhood on a former exhibition site,

in association with christian salewski urban planner, zürich; christina nater & simon kretz architects, kriens; oscar buson architecture & urban planning, zürich

for agglolac, biel, switzerland

status: competition, second round

project & images © salewski, Nater+Kretz architects, buson, rossano

illustrations Cesare Davolio