LA 335: The River City and Wet Weather Management – Fall 2015
Students: Nandin-Erdene Dashdondog, Sihan Huang, Dongqi Zhang
ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL RESILIENCY
Creating long-lasting changes for neighborhood sustainability
After analyzing the demographic statistics and evaluating the civic values of the South Side Neighborhood, it has become evident that the city should provide a more balanced and inclusive economic development plan, as well as an updated and multi-functional infrastructure system. As such, this project prioritizes the waterfront in order to enliven the neighborhood’s civic participation and economic viability.
In the first phase, the city invests in a gateway to the neighborhood—a gathering space for community that also addresses growing concerns of water management. The system moves, holds, and filters stormwater before releasing it into the newly created river marsh. In the second phase, the existing industrial program on the riverfront is disabled and replaced by alternate energy sources. Industrial ruins are salvaged and re-purposed for recreation and water management. The final phase is the creation of an ecological park that remediates the highly toxic soil and water near the industrial corridor through the implementation of strips of woodland and marshland.