Familiarising the unknown

Familiarising the unknown: How to interact with a changing water environment and (re)embrace its natural power

Gwardiak, Aleksandra (TU Delft Architecture and the Built Environment)

Milani, Stefano (mentor)
Marzot, Nicola (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Transitional Territories

2019-07-10

The story about the relationship of human with water has been always linked with the fear of the hidden, natural power of water. By identifying the historical position of the North Sea, it is confirmed that the sea has been perceived as “the edge of the world” in its past. The sea and its cold northern waters was seen as an evil in itself, as a physical and a mental border, difficult to pass and coexist with. Looking at the present conditions, we (man) are being confronted with powerful nature again. In the past, the North Sea was difficult to navigate. Today, we are facing the issue of forecasting sea level rise and unpredictable weather. This shows the phenomenon of nature’s power is once again taking control over human. The subject of the project is focused on the strategy of overcoming this fear but once again harnessing it power as an opportunity for humans.

In the past, people faced the challenge of passing the fearful water by improving sailing boats, discovering navigation techniques and studying its natural movements, currents and tides. This process helped us to familiarise ourselves with the initially unknown and to learn how to coexist with nature. Today, we are confronted with the increasing power of water, which we have fortified ourselves against from it by building high advanced dams, walls and floodgates. We are using physical, monstrous engineering interventions to protect ourselves from the water rather than embracing its power – like we did in the past.

The design in itself aims to tackle the current issue of water level rise in a more traditional way, to open up to nature, to understand its behaviour and draw on our experience and knowledge.

The project has been set on the Shetland Islands, to metaphorically connect the story of the project with the first settlers of the Isles first settlements of the Vikings. Historically they embraced the fear of the waters mystical power and sailed through the unknown sea. As a link to the present, the geographical location of the Shetlands’ dictates that their coastal line will be one of the first to be impacted by the rising sea. Moreover, the island is by definition a transitional territory, the link between the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea.

The relationship between the power of water and the site was further explored in the architectural proposal. It was important to develop a cohesive narrative in the design, to bridge the past and present perception of water’s power with the site. This specifically related to the introduction of using renewable water energy as the main component of the project. By analysing local issues of the Isles’ residents and researching current knowledge of using water’s power, the site issues with the advanced technologies were combined into one coherent solution. By following this, I had to consider how far I can use the aforementioned natural power to not to damage the rough beauty of the site as well as the rough beauty of the natural power of water. This led to the introduction of the three architectural elements of my design– the harbour, the tidal power plant and the experiential path which links these two - the traditional way of using water (the harbour) with the advanced one (tidal power plant). Given the poetical nature of my project, the three interventions act as one line of experience, the deconstruction and analysis of building the tension and reflection of the story around the natural power of water, was an important procedure of translating the narrative into an invented design.

North Sea
Water level
Power
transitional territories
Landscape
Tidal Power Plant
Renewable Energy
Shetland Islands
Vikings
Water Lever Rise
Coastal Engineering
nature
Human power
history

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Student theses

master thesis

© 2019 Aleksandra Gwardiak