Tiber Floodplain Puzzle
Team
Name: Alejandro Orduz Trujillo
Nationality: Colombian
Institution / Company:
Name: Aniko Anthony Strutz
Nationality: German
Institution / Company:
Name: Theresa Burre
Nationality: German
Institution / Company:
-HONOURABLE MENTION of Re-Nature Rome Competition
Once, the Tiber was known for its floods which were caught by the floodplain of the Campus Martius. This floodplain was home to a unique ecosystem providing habitat to a high number of species. After the Tiber was embedded in a deep channel in 1870 this ecosystem and its species disappeared from Rome.
The project “Tiber Floodplain Puzzle” restores the ecosystem of the floodplain to the Tiber, however not by traditional renaturation but by creating an artificial ecosystem. This is created by artificial islands which can modularly be assembled to form the four different habitats of the floodplain: water, wood-free-, softwood-, and hardwood floodplain. The four island types can be flexibly combined, not merely recreating the floodplain ecosystem but creating the “Tiber Floodplain Puzzle” a new form of floating artificial ecosystem on the Tiber.
Thereby, rare species that had disappeared from Rome such as alnus glutinosa and alcedo atthis can repopulate the city. Furthermore, the puzzle also filters the water, reduces urban heat stress through evaporation and creates a multi-species corridor along the Tiber. Finally, the puzzle is also highly visible to the public, representing a beacon for enhancing biodiversity in the 21st century.
#Repopulation & endangered Species #Water habitats & Deltas #Ecosystem restoration #Floodplain #Artificial ecosystems
