Landscape architecture portfolio by Dining LIU

DESIGN AND RESEARCH PORTFOLIO

/ DINING LIU LANDSCAPE DESIGNER AND ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYST

MARCH 2018 | THE SPRING OF THE CITY

LET’S WAKE UP THE CITY!

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RESILIENT SAN RAFAEL ADAPTIVE CANALS AND A BALANCED DISTRICT Studio 201 Ecological Factors in Environmental Design (UC Berkeley) Chief Designer, collaborate with David Koo, Sarah Skenazy Advisor: Kristina Hill, Nate Kauffman

We approached the physical planning process by combining hard infrastructure features like canals and a creek-facing levee with more organic edges like tidal wetlands along a Bay-facing horizontal levee and floodable parks with the goal of a balanced district for people, animals, and a diversity of water flows. Our phasing was done with the intention to engage local residents in the inevitable change of their own neighborhoods and in acknowledgement of the extremely low threshold for site flooding during both storms and king tides.

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SEA LEVEL RISE

LANDUSE

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0’ SLR

1.6’ SLR

2.5’ SLR

4.9’ SLR

6.6’ SLR

16.4’ SLR

CENSUS TRACT

SITE CONTEXT

POPULATION: 11,918 | HOUSING UNITS: 3,043 | % OF HOUSEHOLDS BELOW POVERTY: 26% | OPEN SPACE: 15 ACRES The core of the current San Rafael Canal District is a dense neighborhood primarily occupied by immigrants from Latin America situated within primarily white, wealthy Marin County. It is an area characterized by large numbers of renters at risk for displacement due to high poverty rates, adjacency to the waterfront, and the upcoming arrival of the SMART Train, which is anticipated to draw additional San Francisco commuters to the area. Besides its racial and socioeconomic characteristics being quite different from the county overall, the Canal District is unique in maintaining a stock of market-rate affordable housing. In the heart of the District, apartments built in the 1960s and 70s run in the $200k to $300k range while along the edges to the north and east, single family dwellings easily approach the million dollar mark.

The San Rafael watershed is densely developed from its hills to filled wetlands.

ARMATURE MAP

The pattern of urban development has constricted San Rafael Creek, limiting its ability to flush sediment and store water in the event of extreme tides or storm runoff. Our entire site lies in a FEMA flood zone. In response to the high liquefaction risk in the area, we have sunk pile foundations through the immediate bay mud to the Franciscan bedrock below.

CANAL DISTRICT GOALS

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Meet immediate housing, infrastructure, and open space needs: serve as a template for an EVOLVING DISTRICT & region

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Multi-benefit water management, habitat, and public spaces: CELEBRATE RESILIENT DESIGN

LEGEND

Provide for hazard ADAPTATION, mitifation, and preparedness

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Rather than continue the current system of underground culverts and trapezoidal channels, our design for an adapted Canal District immediately integrates a connected edge of riparian vegetation with recreational canals, flood ponds, a constructed wetland, and a bay-facing horizontal levee, which will continue to accrete mass as bay mud is deposited via the dredging of the Creek.

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MASTER PLAN I

1.6’ SEA LEVEL RISE 3’ GROUND WATE TABLE Weir

Cove Park

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Floodable

SITE AREA CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS WATER STORAGE NEW HOUSING UNITS COMMERCIAL/MIXED USE INDUSTRIAL/MIXED USE

Open Space

Pickleweed Park

Horizontal Levee

East Canal Levee

West Canal A

Pump Station I

675 ACRES 193 ACRES 488.3 ACRE FEET 13,148 1.6 MILLION SF 1.4 MILLION SF

Urban Wetland

COMMUNITY HUB B

Great Lawn B

Pump Station II

Ecotone Park

Pump Station III

A. EXISTING 0

A. EXISTING

500’

1000’

2000’ EXISTING KING TIDE: 7’ EXISTING HIGH TIDE: 5’

PRIVATE BLOCK HIGHWAY

INDUSTRIAL / COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRIAL / COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRIAL

RESIDENTIAL

CREEK

EXISTING KING TIDE: 7’ EXISTING HIGH TIDE: 5’

EXISTING A-A A. PHASE 1 HIGHWAY

PRIVATE BLOCK INDUSTRIAL / COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRIAL / COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRIAL

RESIDENTIAL

CREEK

A. PHASE 1 KING TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 10.3’ HIGH TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 8.3’ MEAN CREEK LEVEL AT 3.3’ SLR (GROUNDWATER: 4.3’)

PHASE I A-A

KING TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 10.3’ HIGH TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 8.3’ HIGHWAY

HIGHWAY

PRIVATE BLOCK

PRIVATE BLOCK

COMMUNITY HUB

COMMUNITY HUB

PRIVATE BLOCK

PRIVATE BLOCK

CANAL

CANAL

PRIVATE MIXED USEBLOCK

PRIVATE MIXED USEBLOCK

RESIDENTIAL

RESIDENTIAL

COMMUNITY HUB

COMMUNITY HUB

FLOODABLE PARK

FLOODABLE PARK

CREEK

MEAN CREEK LEVEL AT 3.3’ SLR (GROUNDWATER: 4.3’)

CREEK A

The placement of our Phase One canals is guided by current site topography as well as the goal of protecting and preserving the residences of the most socially and economically vulnerable district residents. Rental housing will be secured through right of first refusal community benefit agreements with incoming developers. We recognize the current industrial uses present in the area, and extend San Francisco’s PDR zoning designation to allow for the maintenance of a wide range of mixed-use commercial and light industrial businesses, even as housing densities increase, first along the pair of proposed canals and subsequently in the residential neighborhoods that encircle them. The two canals are dug down to below the existing water table and also fed through treated gray water collected on roof tops to to ensure their status as both local amenity and functional infrastructure for storm events. The canals first discharge into the San Francisco Bay through a gravity-directed tidal wetland. As the water table increases in the coming decades, successive pump stations are installed for continued conveyance of water flow out of the site. In addition to serving as a central gathering place with a school, daycare, grocery store, sports facilities, and restaurants, the Community Hub provides emergency operations and provisions in the case of common hazards and extreme events.

PHASE I 6

ELEMENTS AND DETAILS I URBAN CANALS

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CANAL DISTRICT PROMENADE WITH RETAIL FRONTAGE

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CANAL PLANTING FILTERES

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COMMUNITY HUB

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RESILIENCY CENTER/ MICROGRID / COMMUNITY CENTER

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COMMUNITY GREEN WITH ALTERNATE USES FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

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RELOCATED SCHOOL / DAYCARE CENTER

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URBAN VERTICAL FARM / GROCERY STORE

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URBAN CANAL PARK

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Our method to achieve the continued high prevalence of affordable units, especially c unit allocation and management responsibilities in the hands of longstanding communi San Rafael city currently requires new developments to include 10% to 20% affordable u ter if the units are intended for sale or lease. To immediately alleviate the stress on the h allowing increased density bonuses but disallowing in-lieu fees. In this way, we intend to k overall neighborhood development, securing stability for the existing immigrant populatio residents with vibrant, walkable urban design, abundant public open spaces, and trans hoods and the San Francisco peninsula to the south.

considering the renter status of their occupants, is to place ity advocate organizations such as the Canal Alliance. units for low and very low income residents, no mathousing market in the Canal District, we propose keep affordable unit availability in pace with on while also enticing new higher-income sit connectivity to adjacent neighbor-

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MASTER PLAN II

Bayview Bridge

10’ SEA LEVEL RISE 11’ GROUND WATE TABLE Larksp

ur Ferr

Bridg e

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Cove

Weir Weir

Cove Park

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C

ace ace SpSp enen OpOp able odble oda FloFlo

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Commuter Ferry

Pickleweed Park Pickleweed Park

y route

TOTAL HOUSING UNITS PUBLIC OPEN SPACE PRIVATE OPEN SPACE WATER STORAGE

Horizontal Levee

East Canal East Canal

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Levee Levee

WestCanal Canal West

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16,262 45 ACRES 44 ACRES 1,811 ACRE FEET

A A

Pump Station I

Urban Wetland Urban Wetland Expanded Wetland

COMMUNITY HUB B

+20

B

Great Lawn Great Lawn

COMMUNITY HUB

Pump Station II

B B

Ecotone Park Ecotone Park

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Pump Station III

A. EXISTING 00

A. EXISTING

500’ 500’ 1000’ 1000’

2000’ 2000’ EXISTING KING TIDE: 7’ EXISTING HIGH TIDE: 5’

PRIVATE BLOCK HIGHWAY

INDUSTRIAL / COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRIAL / COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRIAL

RESIDENTIAL

CREEK

PHASE I B-B A. PHASE 1 HIGHWAY

PRIVATE BLOCK INDUSTRIAL / COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRIAL / COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRIAL

RESIDENTIAL

CREEK

A. PHASE 1

KIND TIDE AT 10’ SLR: 17’ KING TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 10.3’ AT 10’ HIGH HIGH TIDE TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 8.3’ SLR: 15’ MEANMEAN CREEK LEVEL ATAT3.3’ SLR CREEK LEVE (GROUNDWATER: 4.3’) 10’ SLR GROUNDWATER: 11’

PHASE II B-B HIGHWAY

HIGHWAY

KIND TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 10.3’ HIGH TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 8.3’ EXISTING TIDE: MEANKING CREEK LEVE7’AT EXISTING HIGH TIDE: 5’ 3.3’ SLR GROUNDWATER: 4.3’

KING TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 10.3’ HIGH TIDE AT 3.3’ SLR: 8.3’ PRIVATE BLOCK

PRIVATE BLOCK

COMMUNITY HUB

COMMUNITY HUB

PRIVATE BLOCK

PRIVATE BLOCK

CANAL

CANAL

PRIVATE MIXED USEBLOCK

PRIVATE MIXED USEBLOCK

RESIDENTIAL

RESIDENTIAL

COMMUNITY HUB

COMMUNITY HUB

FLOODABLE PARK

FLOODABLE PARK

CREEK

MEAN CREEK LEVEL AT 3.3’ SLR (GROUNDWATER: 4.3’)

CREEK A

Filtration plazas adjacent to and feeding into the central canals serve to daylight the water cleaning and drainage process, creating amenities and educational opportunities out of the functional infrastructure. Some canal water is siphoned for use as gray water throughout the residential and industrial spaces, the rest is released into the wetland and pumped over the horizontal levee. While we anticipate the 101 Freeway to be protected in some capacity by the County and State in the face of sea level rise, our final district build out adds two bridges along the northern edge of the site as well as a ferry terminal for emergency evacuation; the transit infrastructure serves to bolster much-needed connectivity routes to adjacent neighborhoods and the San Francisco peninsula in normal operating conditions. As the district evolves, native flood refuge plant species will mature adjacent to the tidal marsh, providing functional animal habitat under both low and high tide scenarios. Simultaneously, floodable residential blocks will be introduced in phases to increase density in between the canal arteries with corresponding raised roadways. The adaptive floating residential blocks will truly allow district residents to ‘live with water’, meeting the needs of the community while serving as a template for regions around the country and world. Through suspension in retention ponds, the floating blocks also provide resilience in the face of liquefaction threat; they meet the elevated roadways through flexible hinge bridges, with bioswale networks along central thoroughfares.

PHASE II 10

ELEMENTS AND DETAILS II FLOATING BLOCKS 1

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CONNECTION TO ROAD NETWORK ON LEVEE

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PUBLIC OPEN SPACE THAT CAN COLLECT STORM WATER DURING MAJOR FLOODING EVENTS

FLOODABLE PARKS

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LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE IN AN ARTIFICIAL POND

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BIOSWALE AND EMERGENCY STORAGE

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SHARED OPEN SPACE

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HINGE RAMP INTEGRATED WITH UTILITY LINE CONNECTIONS

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Socioeconomic demographics have been covered above. While current residents of the San Rafael Canal District may be at risk for displacement due to a variety of factors, the high density of the Latinex community is also a potential strength; organizing and engaging local stakeholder expertise is easier than in other areas where community members are more dispersed.

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International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA, USA Tel.: (707)742-9565 E-mail: dining_liu@berkeley.edu

Master of Landscape Architecture, University of California, Berkeley, 2016-2018 Bacherlor of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University 2012-2016

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