Student Work 2022/2023 - Urban Archipelago: Designing for new Maritime Mindsets

Marie Benninghoven, Ramona Buia, Jules Bresson, Lada Leidmane, Tim ter Heide

The project is built upon the personal experience of the Trieste and Miramare area. We look at a
large-scale network through human-scale encounters with water and exploring the local culture of living with water. We focused a lot on developing a system to examine and document places at both tangible and intangible levels. At the same time, we looked at the Miramare area on a regional scale and examined its network of connections.

Re-imagining future life with water inevitably involves thinking about changing weather conditions and the sea level rise. Therefore we developed the project in the context of a 1-2m sea level rise scenario. What is special about this area is that the largest part of it is not affected by the water rise due to the steep altitude change. However, if the water rises by 2m, the lifeline and the main public space located along the shore of the sea will be flooded.

Moreover, coming from our personal experience and the mapping exercises we discovered the lack of vertical connections in the area. Many staircases and paths coming from the top of the hill towards the sea are not continuous or became abandoned and forgotten over the years. Therefore, the objective of the design proposal was to revitalize and strengthen the vertical connections as well as give new space for leisure and cultural activities at the waterfront.

Foteini Katavelaki, Linda Neumer, Stelina Tsalapati, Luuk Verbaal

This project envisions the future of Porto Vecchio in Trieste, considering the impacts of a 7-meter sea level rise and extreme weather conditions. It explores the concept of "bubbles" as protective zones where people can seek shelter amidst the challenges posed by rising sea levels and extreme weather. The project emphasizes the need for adaptation and the recognition of water as a dominant element in the city's waterfront.

Heime ‘t Hart, Jacky Lai, Ying Shen, Elisabeth Veldkamp, Kjestyn Yee

In our design narrative, we say ‘let that water come in’ and design around it and, more importantly, with it. We want to show that all this water is not a bad thing as long as it is put to good use and managed. This is where the concept of kintsugi comes back to play. The water would take the place of the gold, healing the community by bringing them together.

But then we asked ourselves, what makes a community? That would be a group of people, all with a common believe, goal or any other way of bringing them together. It is our believe that the interaction with water, for a part, can do this. Whether it is playing with, learning about or using this water for growing food, these are all activities which could bring together people. However, we wanted to introduce another layer. While analysing the area, the large amount of water related monuments stood out to us. This gave us the idea to treat other elements as such, like for example coffee and food culture. These are staples of the Italian culture as a whole, which can also be traced back to Trieste. So in our design, we treat coffee and food culture as monuments, both preserving existing and creating new cornerstones for the community. With this layer installed, we set a basis for the design of an architectural intervention.

Afra Knaap, Augusta Fiseryte, Fons van de Ven, Niké te Brinke, Paula von Zeska de Toledo, Raf
van Oosterhout, Sue Vern Lai and Winnie van de Sande

Throughout this MSc2 Design Studio we followed a geopoetic approach. The studied site is the city of Trieste, in the North-East of Italy. After our excursion to Trieste and the production of a movie about the Piazza Unità d’Italia, one of the most emblematic sites of the city, we started our research by making two analytical sections. The two cuts ended up as one, by connecting the section lines and creating loop. With it, we gave in to our interest in the complexity of the city of Trieste, due to its layered nature and the intricate presence of water through those layers. We are certain that for this specific design project carried out by this specific group of people, Geopoetics has been the best possible approach. The poem on the previous page describes how Geopoetics functioned as our research method, revealing information otherwise unpacked. This also relates to the role of Geopoetics in academics, formulated by Eric Magrane (2021) among others.

Floriaan Troost, Maartje Frencken, Max Venderbosch, Yingxing Gu

We start on top of the mountain. Here the droplet falls from the rainclouds formed by evaporation above the sea, part of an ancient water system that has been running for 4,5 billion years. We remind the droplet of the Adriatic sea, his final destination for this story. A viewing platform the complete road from the mountain to the sea.

We continue our path downwards. Here in the forest, the water droplet sinks into the ground and is used by trees to grow. To show the importance and level of the groundwater. A huge sinkhole, relating to the nearby Karst landscape, makes the groundwater visible. The sinkhole acts as a selfcooling theatre to emphasize the importance of the theatre culture in Trieste.

Heading towards the city, wind takes up. Locals call it ‘’Bora’’ which means Northwind. It is the prevailing wind in Trieste which brings cold air from the North-East, over the mountains towards the city. The Bora wind is formed by the sea and the mountains and therefore plays a big role in the identity of Trieste. On this spot visitors can see and feel the Bora wind.

Following the droplet into the city it runs through streets, houses and sewage systems. Once upon a time this land was the sea where fisherman sailed. An overhead structure reminds people of this past and creates an underwater experience.