Waterfronts

Figure 6.28 A: University of the Algarve in Faro, Portugal; B: University of California, Mission Bay Campus, San Francisco; C: Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University in Houston, Texas, by the Office of James Burnett.

As a project type, the design of a waterfront can be challenging as well as rewarding. Waterfronts are challenging for a number of reasons; first of all, they involve a dynamic, flowing element (a river or stream). Waterfront projects generally are initiated to transform and make the edge more accessible and pedestrian-friendly, which means removing what is often a tangle of commercial and industrial structures. The land use conversion includes creating a continuous park-like greenway with commercial, entertainment, and residential uses set back from the water’s edge. An example of this transformation of a waterfront edge is shown in Figure 6.29. These transformations require consideration of hydrologic and seasonal water fluctuations and often-toxic soil conditions found on the sites. The complexities of the physical and dynamic conditions involved require a team approach, using the planning and design experience of a landscape architect, the scientific knowledge of a hydrologist, the professional experience of an engineer (of various specializations), and in the case of a coastal environment, other scientists and engineering specialists to arrive at a practical as well as a visually attractive solution.