limits unbound
Reconnecting a City with its Delta
Spring Semester 2015 MArch II Cornell University
Instructor: Tao DuFour
with the collaboration of Alfred To
The city of Porto Alegre is susceptible to floods. A 3m-tall wall was built after a major flood in 1941, creating a physical and visual barrier from the delta in the city. The edge then became occupied by warehouses and shipping docks, making it inaccessible by the public. As the city transitioned into a service economy, the edge has lost its former functionality.
This project proposes the reactivation of the edge, to allow the waterfront engage public life.
The project begins by extending the former industrial edge into the river and transforming the barrier into a landscape to allow people to enter and experience the delta. As construction continues, the adjacent neighborhood become increasingly connected to the park, reunifying the city and the delta. To further engage people through recreations, it is critical that the water is safe for human contact. An artificial wetland is created along the canal, which cleans the water through natural processes.
The Delta du Jacui State Park was an attempt to solve the environmental problems present in the park. The diagram illustrates how these problems start being addressed in 1953 without going anywhere until 2005 when some of the policies become law. Evoking bureaucracy, these lines become straighter as the years go by when the park is taken more seriously and its geographical boundaries formed. Everywhere these lines meet, a problem shared by the rivers that form the delta is addressed. However these environmental issues are still considered a thread. To start understanding the magnitude of these pollution problems we mapped the sources. Corresponding with the time line, the boundaries of the park start formalizing when the policies start becoming law.
The water infrastucture of the city was studiede to investigate the impact of treating the water for the intake of the city
Reactivation of The Edge
The project begins by extending the former industrial edge into the river, and, through phases, transform the barrier into a landscape. It allows people to enter and experience the delta. As construction continues, the adjacent neighborhoods becomes increasingly connected to the park, reunifying the city and the delta
The flood barrier is extended further into the river. The topography is softened and manipulated to accommodate different programs and vegetation. The protection against floods remains, but the barrier is made habitable and activated. It becomes a hybridized condition that mediates the hard and soft.
To further engage people through recreations, it is critical that the water is safe for human contact. An artificial wetland is created along the canal, which cleans the water through natural processes. 1. River water is pulled into the canal from the city’s existing water inlet in the south. It then gets oxygenated through the weirs to support organism growths. 2. Water is detoxified as chemical pollutants get decomposed or consumed in the controlled ecosystem. 3. It is also purified as it flows through sedimentation ponds and biofiltration channels. 4. The pre-treated water finally gets pumped into treatment plants for potable use
Transversal Sections
Longitudinal Section