"My
project is focusing on using abandoned cultivated landscape as an opportunity
to purpose new typology of urban development landscape that will combine both
urban landscape and cultivated landscape as the way to give advantage to local
people"
In the ancient period, Cadiz’s economy was survived by the salt extracting production. By taking advantage of being amphibious condition, people transformed inundated lands to be salt pans operating by changes in water level. Besides using salt for cooking, people were using salt for food preservation, so the demand of salt consumption was really high at the time. Especially in the late 19th century, there was a boom of salt pan industry in the Cadiz area. More than 10000 ha of marshland had been turned into around 150 salt pans. Afterwards, the salt extraction industry was collapsed by the increasing use of refrigeration, which superseded salting as a way of preserving food. Subsequently, some of the salt pans have been started to transform into fish farming. Few salt pans are in operation today, and the rest salt pans has either transformed into fish farming or polyculture or been left.
Therefore, I categorized Cadiz in three different types of
landscapes including urban landscape, natural landscape, and cultivated
landscape. And within the cultivated landscape, lands can be categorized into
four types as well including salt pan, fish farming, polyculture and abandoned
land.
A typical salt pond property (Salina) is formed by a first reservoir pond (Estero) that take the water directly from the sea channel throughout a pond-monk, followed by a labyrinth-shaped evaporation ponds system and finally by the crystallization pond. The water column in these ponds system is progressively lower from 1-1.5 meters in the reservoir to just few centimeters in the crystallization ponds. For fish farming, people transformed saltpan to fish farming by enlarging and putting a net to water gate and deepen reservoir beds for water stagnation for fish hatchery. Moreover, land also can be a combination of saltpan and fish farming by using the first reservoir pond in the salt pans that accounts for almost a third of the total surface as a fish farming combined with the salt extracting process.
The saltpan industry has had a major impact on
the bay, but the worst damage to the marshes was caused in the 1970s by
reclaiming the abandoned lands for construction, to build houses, factories or
tourist complexes. The government was scared to lose these cultivated wetlands
so they halted these threats to the environment by legislating the preservation
regulation in these areas. However, the fact is that this regulation is not actually
working in the way to preserve wetland. People only concern about reclaiming
land but they overlook the sediment problem that will always happen when lands
have been left without maintenance for a long time. It will get shallower and
finally become as a new upland due to the transportation of the sediment from
the mouth of the canal.
According to the rate of the population in Cadiz between
1950 and 2001, it suggests that the number of the population is going to be
increasing every year as Cadiz is well known as one of the good places where
most Spanish beach lovers choose to spend time around. Moreover, many
retirement homes were settled around the Cadiz and it has tendency to be
increased in the future.
Therefore, instead of leaving these cultivated landscapes, I
can purpose the new type of architecture that will take advantage of these
abandoned lands as the opportunity to create the new type of urban development
landscape that would allow people to live together with nature without
reclaiming land.
As this new architecture type can be settled in any cultivated area in Cadiz, this site was selected as the example or proves of concept that people can actually live on this type of landscape. The site is in the middle part between natural landscape and urban landscape so it has the potential to be invaded by people in the future. Moreover, this cultivated land is not far from the rail where well connected to the other city, the main road connected to the neighborhood city and the canal connected between the Cadiz bay and beaches so that it has good connection to the public transportation.
'
For my design proposal, the structure has 3 main components
including public area, semi-public facilities area and residential area. And
the structure is mainly divided into 2 part indicating by different colors are
moving part and fixed part. These have been categorised based on the structure
program inside the space.
For the moving part, I’ve created the buoyancy column to mainly support the public and semi-public part so that the structure will move according to the tidal change and it will also can help to support weight to reduce providing serious foundation and the program that will lay on top of this kind structure will be the programs that do not have to deal with the permanent structure. On the other hand, the fixed structure will be for the programs such as water supply that need to be always fixed.
The ground has been manipulated in order to improve the
water transportation inside the area so that the medium and small site of boat
can access through the site. For the reservoir depth operation, the reservoir
bed in the site will be deeper than the entrance area so that the site will not
completed dried when the low tide but only the small size of craft that I have
create in front of each unit house for the social connection within the
community can be used and the medium size of boat, the tourist boat and
transporting staffs boat can not be accessible during this time. There are 7
boat lanes within the site. Only 4 lanes in the middle part will be used as the
medium size public boat way as the main circulation for transporting both
tourist and staffs reserved for community people. And the rest two will be for
individual boat and small size of boat that used to transport staff to
individual unit like the mail boat or something like that. And the right one
will be for the exit to the outside.
For the public area, the area is on the third floor which is
the top part of the structure where connected to both land and water
transportation. People can access the area by parking car at the parking lots
and then walk through the skywalk to enter the site or people can take the boat
that will be accessible only when the high tide period. And the activities
inside the space can be freely adjustable by any people. For example, it can be
market or concert hall where people from many places will spend time together.
For the semi-public facilities area, this area takes place
both second floor and ground floor reserved for only community people. For the
second floor part, this part can be entered from the two main entrances from
the public area. It is used as the walkway to enter to the individual living
spaces and also connected to the minimart where located next to the facility
berth that used to transport all stuffs from outside to the community. For the
ground floor part, the area is located beneath the public area. It can be
accessible by going down from the community walkway to the adjustable bridge that
will occasionally open when the boat pass by and then enter to the space or
taking small boat from their individual houses and parking at the end of the
space at any time period. The programs inside the area are mostly place where
people can exercise and spend time together like restaurant or coffee shop and
the other facility programs such as laundry shop.
For the residential area, the area takes place on the ground floor where people choose type of their individual living space. There are 3 types of living space including house for a single person, for a couple and for a family. Each living space will consist of 2 main parts including the fixed
part and the moving part. The programs inside the fixed part are kitchen and
toilet where cannot be adjustable because of the water system. And the programs
inside the moving part will consist of 2 main types which are the private space
for sleeping and working and the common space. For the privacy of the bedroom
and working space part has been created by located in the middle of each space
to divide each unit and the bed room will move vertically to give the privacy
to each unit when the low tide because the public pathway view move as well
because it located on top of the column buoy so that these 2 programs with
different privacy level needed will always not meet each other during both low
tide and high tide. And for the craft in front of each house will be used as
the connection from bedroom to the kitchen and toilet and can be easily take
off from the structure and used as the craft going to the neighborhood house
and to the semi-public facilities area.
Conclusion, so that this new type of architecture will give advantage to both preserved area that people don't have to reclaim the land for the construction and maybe as the opportunities for the land profit for example it can be the new type of tourist attraction to improve the Cadiz’s economy as well.
