The polder of the Jiangnan region (southern Yangtze River) is a unique model of farmland development created through long-term agricultural water treatment and management efforts. Amorphous in its spatial pattern, the Jiangnan polder constructs a healthy ecological space combining berms, waterways, and sluice weirs. Beyond dredging and installing sluices, the essence of the Jiangnan polder explores an ecological logic based on the dynamic equilibrium between two of its intrinsic functions: food production, storm water and flood regulation. The project also improves supplementary ecosystem functions including water purification, biodiversity protection, waterfront residence and aesthetics. To further upgrade the “homesteads”, we aim to build an ecosystem integrating humanistic and natural elements to blend production, life, and ecology together, to revive the grandeur of the Jiangnan polder that used to mark the landscape of this region.

The key tenet is to follow and learn from the natural water flow. By constructing individual polders and connecting polders with cofferdams, we’ve redefined the process of reclaiming land with dykes. In addition, we turned low-lying areas into storage space for excavated water which is also used for fish farming. Even the sludge from dredging can be used to elevate dykes and berms, on which mulberry and other native trees are planted to cultivate ecologically friendly habitats. A highly related biological chain was hence constructed, with mulberry, silkworm and fish as core elements, to form a diverse, interactive water-land ecosystem. By establishing and purifying the buffer zone, as well as zones for polder restoration, forest belt conservation, farmland restoration and lotus pond restoration, we established a germplasm bank to protect the primeval nature of indigenous resources. Abundant multi-layer waterfront flora and pristine materials were selected to reenact the unique waterfront aesthetic ideal of “prosperous communities surrounded by green where you cannot tell the fields from the dykes.”

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A Waterfront Homestead Reborn: Restorative Design in the Yangtze Delta Polders

Shanghai, China

A Waterfront Homestead Reborn: Restorative Design in the Yangtze Delta Polders

Shanghai, China

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