Sonja Draskovic
City of the Future
Hybrid Morphologies: An Interdisciplinary Model for Waterfront Architecture - The Case of Zwijndrecht
Hybrid Morphologies investigates the relationship between policy, architecture, infrastructure and landscapes, all in the context of climate change. In the Netherlands, the phenomenon of flooding became a serious issue that policies, water management and design have had to deal with. Architects are designing with water, by separating it from land and treating it as both a threat and a resource.
The project creates a cross- and interdisciplinary approach to designing with nature, in an attempt to change our perception and relationship to it. The urban matrix proposes a spatial reprogramming of an industrial waterfront area in Zwijndrecht, by integrating landscape, architectural and infrastructural strategies that follow the adaptive cycles of ecology and the water cycles of this area. The design depicts a site of constant change, one that acts as a filter and buffer and transforms itself through fluctuating water levels. In its form and programme, the architecture presents itself in a constant state of flux, catering to the open-ended ecological process of the site, the changing water levels, seasons and programmatic needs.