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AHO WORKS STUDIES 2012-2013
Landscape Architecture Studies
AH
2
0: Water and landscape architecture
Water is a dynamic, but also scarce, finite and shrinking
resource, at the global and local scales. Its power stems
from its ability to define landscapes and its usefullness as a
sustainable energy source. Water is embedded in all forms
of life. Water surrounds us in all scales and dimensions.
Water is the evidence of life. The story of water is closely
connected to the story of man, to cities and to landscape.
Nothing can easily match the beauty and power of
water. Professor Terje Tvedt, from the University of
Bergen, has throughout his career discussed the com-
plex narratives and the many roles of water. He takes
one on an amazing journey into the history of water
and reveals how water is woven into politics, religion,
energy and conflicts. Our complete dependence on
freshwater to survive has over time been translated
into a number of facets that affect our lives. In geo-
politics water is one of the most strategic components.
Superpowers display that controlling water resources
is crucial for maintaining position and power. Non-pol-
luted fresh water is a vulnerable resource.
As urbanization and modernizations processes (in-
cluding mineral extraction processes, building on ag-
ricultural lands, de-urbanization and massive urban-
ization) continue to transform territories across the
globe, water is unavoidably and inevitably an element
of both connection and contestation. As well, the pre-
dicted effects of climate change promise the rise of sea
levels, the further uneven distribution of scarce water
resources and the extreme problems of drought, dis-
turbed terrain and affected watersheds, pollution, wa-
ter storage and harvesting. Anthropogenic actions have
had a pervasive and—if we give credit to the contem-
porary discourses—generally negative effect on water
cycles and systems, from local creeks and streams to
major rivers and estuaries, and shorelines to freshwater
and saltwater wetlands and as well to oceans and even
the polar ice caps.
Even if the challenges are evident there is still a way to
go before we fully take the consequences of water as a
key to understand and a future premise for urban plan-
ning and landscape architecture. Cities face numerous
problems caused by water issues. To some extent, the
profession of landscape architecture is taking on some
of the challenges. Researchers and professionals have
developed new skills to meet new demands for urban
planning and design concerning water, but there is still
there is room for innovation.
The successful story of the formerly unattractive city
of Drammen starts with the river. The river Drammen-
selva runs through the very heart of city centre. The
former minister of environment Sissel Rønbeck, in the
late 1980s demanded a U-turn for Drammenselva as
well as for the river Akerselva in Oslo. Her engagement
resulted in a now almost thirty-year long story of a new
awareness of nature qualities in cities in Norway. The
change of the Drammenselva from a polluted dump to
a place for not only for recreation, but also as a place
whereby the river has become acknowledged as an im-
portant natural system and a necessary biotope, has
changed the entire city of Drammen. The post-indus-
trial eyesores have been simultaneously transformed
from into resilient (designed to withstand flooding)
riverbanks and attractive urban areas.
In the city of Oslo, Rønbeck’s pioneering initiative
was followed up by a group of river enthusiasts respon-
sible for organising debates, river walks, publications,
photo documentations and exhibitions. As well, the
municipality has been in the front seat in developing
interests in its urban rivers. Powerful initiatives have
sparked a renewed interest in the role of water in so-
ciety and urban development. The rivers Akerselva as
well as Alnaelva and Hovinbekken have been brought
to the fore as drives of urban development and imbued
with new lives.
