Allow the water to flow

• Main Author: Hildur Elísabet Árnadóttir 1995-
• Other Authors: Listaháskóli Íslands
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: MA Arkitektúr; Byggingarlist; Loftslagsbreytingar; Álftanes; Varnargarðar; Strandlengjur; Meistaraprófsritgerðir; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/48192

In the future we will be facing new problems as inhabitants of the earth. Rising sea levels caused by climate change will affect all life on earth and change the landscape we know. Álftanes is low laying land and is the flattest part of the capital area in Iceland. They have already experienced problems related to the rising sea level and in bad weather conditions, the sea wall is not working. In Iceland the seawalls have been built by stacking big stones. This method creates a big barrier between the sea and people and will do even more when we must rase them in accordance to rising sea level. The residents of Álftanes have complained that these defences are not good enough and that the sea flows over them when the weather is bad and in heavy floods. Some residents have requested that the seawall be raised, but others have objections because they do not want to lose the view out to sea. We are facing a big and important task. My project is to design a waterscape that does not separate you from the sea, but on the contrary brings you closer to it. The border between sea and land becomes more unclear and you experience the sea in a new way. Along this landscape there will be artifacts that will allow you to experience the sea in a way that you haven’t before.