Design Along the River as a Landscape Matter

Abstract

The housing and landscape issues are very closely interconnected. Every architecture project interacts with the landscape, and once it is built, it is an integral part of that landscape.

The task of architecture – and not just that with a capital A – is not simply to make the world more beautiful but above all to help man live on the earth, to carve out the best spaces and trajectories for his daily activities – living, studying, working and also having fun, relaxing and spending free time pleasantly.

The town-river dynamic is a circular story and it doesn’t always have a happy ending. This dynamic is different in each single town and city. And in Turin, with its four rivers cutting through the city, there are four different scenarios which are very different from one another: the Po, Sangone, Dora Riparia and Stura di Lanzo. Rivers pass through urban districts in very different ways, take on multiple identities and create ever-changing landscapes.

Designing buildings along rivers is a matter of landscape and resilience because it is a subject which requires consideration of the potential dynamics and coherence between the various elements in the built environment, i.e. between the urban fabric and water courses: settlement contexts which have to continually adapt to environmental conditions to acquire the ability to exert multiple actions (productive, economic and working, organisational and maintenance) with the aim of making the area more and more hospitable and welcoming.