Designing a Waterspace in a Sea of Land. The Basso Ferrarese: a Territory Poised Between Reclamations and Sea Level Rising

Abstract

The Basso Ferrarese area in the Po Delta is an undecided place, suspended between land and sea, in search of its future. Its current conformation derives from a history linked first to a large marshy basin, then to centuries of reclamation. Although the reclamations have helped the agricultural use of the land, at the same time they have caused the disentanglement between population and site. At the same time, the threat of rising sea levels is looming. Through a series of journeys, the current landscapes of that sea of land that today forms the Basso Ferrarese have been recorded. A sea made up of many levels that limit and direct the reclamation channels. In a strong state of abandonment, what can be the future of the area? Through the creation of an imaginary for the water space and the study of the needs of a case study, 5 design actions have been identified to decolonize the delta from the land and regain contact with the water, at the same time preparing for the rise of the sea.