Projective Sandscapes Manipulation of Desertifying Mechanisms
Aral Sea, Nukus, Uzbekistan
Landscape Urbanism, Architectural Association School of Architecture
Strategy Plan
6. Cartogenesis
The Cartogenesis is to actualize the overall intervention strategy based on the understanding of geomorphological knowledge and mono-culture of Soviet legacy. The sand storm is threatening the urban population to move abroad and will leave the part of the city abandoned with sand; while the on-going rural exodus to this city provides an opportunity to rethink how this city within sand can be redeveloped.
The strategy is not aimed at confronting the shifting sand nor creating another separation. Rather, taking the projective movement of sand as a starting point, it will manipulate the sand dune by means of Agro-forestry to create protected pocket area between sand dunes where human activities could take place. The generation of smaller but denser urban clusters within the protected pocket space means that the less and flexible layout of forestry area is needed to protect the settlement in contrast to the existing massive total separation model.
7. Guideline
The Guideline is an appendix to Cartogenesis that formulates the territorial manual to extrapolate on the principles of intervention strategy that may be applied to the site of similar nature across European and local territories around Aral.
It illustrates the of procedural steps of how it leads to the formation of Cartogenesis based on four steps. Firstly, the study of the wind direction and dune movement path onsite; secondly, the study of existing site to make decision of which area are to be protected: thridly the time-based insertion of agro-forestry into area to be protected; fouthly, the actual protected area and sand pattern from simulations; finally the recursive simulations of wind and sand for extension / growth of agro-forestry from protected area to sand corridor.
8. Tectonic Intersection
With this drawing we have explored how sand dunes can be manipulated across urban clusters. The proposal aims at stabilize progressively sand dunes through time re-sewing city urban clusters across the dunes scape.
The area we decided to explore is an urban cluster where the intervention would take place at first due to its proximity to the city border and therefore to the shifting sands and for the mixitè its urban tissue present. Cluster’s buffer wind zones developed with first wind simulations are here undergoing further study through the simulation of sand movement with Python Script and a paper models experiments. We aim at manipulate dunes in order to create pockets protected from sand storm where new agricultural activities would take place.
The implementation of agroforestry has the relevant role of shaping the ground and controlling the amount of space we need. The plantation of combined trees such as local poplars, pines and smaller shrubs would serve as an effective obstacle for the whole dune to move ahead. Moreover, the system would also expand through the pocket creating a sort of productive oasis in-between where silvo-pasture and forest farming would take place. In time forest farming the cultivation of alternative crops will play a vital role both for the production systems and for encouraging foresting as an economic service which could play an important role in the revival of the industry sector.
9. Catalogue of Materials
After analysing the dune formation, we tried to combine different kinds of technique in different phase of dune formation.
This sequence of drawings shows an example which about the time and spatial arrangement of the soft technique and hard technique are being installed on the dunes. The division is based on the strength of stabilization of plantation, contour and area size.
10. Manufactured Grounds
Manufactured Grounds drawing explores spatial qualities that would occur within the pocket provoked by the manipulation of two dunes drifting. The knowledge extracted from various tests carried out on physical models guided the design proposal. Simultaneously, previous researches on planting allow us to develop our own implementation of agroforestry as a toll for sand control.
Through the exploration of possible sand stabilization and accumulation practices, we intervene on the advancing dunes strategically locating wooden fences and sticks that would control dune location and its ridge, whilst implementing a checkerboard of dead grass that has the potential to stabilize the soil and and mostly fertilize it. This technique would stop sand saltation and enable soil fertilization for further plantation in order to vegetate the dune slope. Other techniques to control sand sedimentation and wind intensity are wooden cages would help to grasp the sand at given locations to create in some areas allotments at the dune base or terracing for pathways along slopes. Moreover, adobe technique, which is widely implemented in the areas as a device to informally expand the urban tissue over the desert and which implies the manufacturing of mud bricks in loco, would stabilize slopes at given heights. This tools would make possible the proliferation of building units simply built with local available materials over dune according to its slope degrees and program decided.
Lastly, we foreseen a possible activities iterations within the pocket and across sandscapes.