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2023 UDAD 🏆 Awards

Gold Winner – Urban Irrigation by T.E.N

While traditionally, the term “Irrigation” is the artificial process of applying controlled amounts of water to land to assist in production of crops, in this proposal, “Irrigation” assists in production of activities and human, plant, water lives in an urban context. Located at a street corner on Yuhua West Road, the water tower has been a symbolic legacy of Tangshan’s modern industrial period. In the past, it used to serve as a water resource infrastructure for the surrounding residents. With the increasingly improved urban water supply system, the water tower, initially convenient and significant for life and cultivation, has been abandoned by the city today. Its current condition is causing multiple concerns: the run-down image slacks the street aesthetic, the structural instability brings safety hazards to nearby residents, and the area inactivity forms a 30 square meters vacant corner space due to lack of planning and management, making the street corner incongruent with Tangshan’s high-density urban context. As a Tangshan’s urban development epitome, the water tower holds the generation’s memory of growth and transformation. Therefore, its renewal and renovation maintain a spirit that respects the history of the modern industrial period and imagines a future that integrates innovation with nostalgia. The proposal visions a future sustainable urban public space that facilitates a contemporary life based on the preservation of industrial relics.

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Gold 🏆 Winner
Urban Design & Architecture Design Awards 2023

Urban Irrigation
Sustainable Architecture (Concept)

Firm
T.E.N

Architect/Designer
Xudong Zhu

Design Team
Jinlai Song, Mengchu Chen, Bochao Sun, Lei Ming, Haoran Zheng, Jiabin Wei

Location
Tangshan, China

Country
China

Photographer/Copyright
©Xudong Zhu

The design proposes an ecologically and socially sustainable public street corner based on water, energy, and activity circulation systems. The reconstructed rooftop rainwater collection device and the ecological roofscape enable water-related recreational activities for residents and pedestrians at the dryland. While the water fountain provides responsive water features, fitness facilities attract residents and pedestrians to engage in exercise activities that generate electricity. The solar panel and the exercise-based power generation equipment generate energies that promote and support the water collection and filtration procedures. Moreover, the observational windows combine with digital interactive platforms such as mobile applications, creating a platform for learning. Residents and pedestrians will be able to learn about rainwater collection, ecological filtration, reservoir storage, solar energy, and exercise-generated energy in real-time on their mobile phones. Together, ecological services, recreational activities, educational engagements form a systematic connection, promoting a renewal typology for industrial relics with water towers as the medium.