Integrating Water Sensitive Design in the Architectural Design Studio in China: Challenges and Outcomes

Maycon Sedrez,Jing Xie,Ali Cheshmehzangi

doi:10.3390/su13094853

Maycon Sedrez, Jing Xie + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094853

Copy DOI

Abstract

Urban areas around the world are increasingly facing environmental challenges such as water scarcity, water pollution, and water-related disasters, which demands sustainable design solutions for cities. Efforts to introduce sustainable methods in architectural education are noteworthy since the early 1990s. However, Water Sensitive Design (WSD) has not been fully integrated to architectural education. WSD is an interdisciplinary approach that considers the water cycle as the primary element of design strategies, integrating the site’s ecological and social aspects to structure water management. The main objective of this study is to identify cases introducing WSD in an architecture design studio revealing its pedagogical approaches, comparing and discussing with a WSD-focused design studio. This study adapts on an exploratory and descriptive research, analyzing the literature on the topic of WSD in architectural education and documenting a graduate-level architectural design studio that proposes the development of water-oriented masterplan. The results suggest that WSD, as interdisciplinary method, can be incorporated into the design studio as the topic due to its tangible tools and strategies towards water. It also fits the proposal of a design studio to integrate knowledge from diverse disciplines. This unique study presents a comprehensive WSD introduction in an architectural design case and indicative pedagogical methods, contributing to the development of an approach for future related works.

Highlights

Water is essential for human and wildlife survival and performs an important role on cities’ functionality [1,2]
This study identifies the lack of scientific reports on Water Sensitive Design (WSD) integrated to architectural design, this does not confirm that WSD is totally unconsidered in design studios
Introducing WSD in an architectural design studio poses several challenges to educators: the idea of preserving and transforming natural and urban structures; the reasoning about integrated ecological approaches in urbanism respecting natural cycles is a complex task; and the lack of pedagogical material that can be assimilated by architects

Summary

Introduction

Water is essential for human and wildlife survival and performs an important role on cities’ functionality [1,2]. Today, according to the United Nations (UN), “3.6 billion people (nearly half of the global population) live in areas that are potential water-scarce at least one month per year” [3]. Increasing challenges such as water scarcity, water pollution, and water-related disasters must be considered as one of the top priorities in architectural and urban design. The UN suggests significant data concerning contemporary water issues: “floods and other water-related disasters account for 70% of all deaths related to natural disasters”, “water scarcity affects more than 40% of the global population”, and “more than 60% of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into rivers or sea without any pollution removal” [5]

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion