CANALISED CITY RIVERS
21 Sep 2017
Renderings from Brazilian architects detail the way in which the city of Curitiba could design and implement a range of public and commercial bankside spaces, alongside two of the city's rivers.
In many cities, rivers play an integral part in the formation of a local landscape and urban identity, contributing to economic viability, transport, recreation and more. Unearthing the city's rivers to create new leisure spaces is one urban solution that is widely adopted by several cities around the world.
In five years, the capital of South Korea resurrected its main river, the Cheonggyecheon, which had been buried under express streets and viaducts, restoring a sense of peace, green space, and national history to the city. Milan followed the same path: not long ago, the mayor of the Italian city Giuseppe Sala proposed reopening the navigable canals of Navigli for the public to interact with.
And now the Architectural Office in Curitiba Solo Arquitetos suggests that Curitiba join the movement, reopening channelled stretches of the Belem and Ivo rivers, in the centre of the city. The project was envisioned for the 2017 Architecture Exhibition for Curitiba, which brings together various proposals to rethink the city.
“The city can take other paths. The spaces can be occupied in different ways", explain the architects involved in the project. "The rivers are seen as a problem, but we see in the reopening the chance to take up again the relationship of the citizen with the river, bringing more vitality to the degraded centre area."
The consortium of architects and firms that have signed onto the project emphasise that additional technical studies are still necessary for the possible implementation along the Curitiba rivers, but they point out that the chosen stretches could be installed areas of swimming, canoeing, multi-sports court, a skating rink, stage, gardens, and bleachers.
The Belém river is the most emblematic of Curitiba, not only because of its historical importance in the emergence of the city but also because it is a strictly urban river, with source and mouth within the perimeter of the city. Ivo is an important tributary of the first, crossing other crucial areas of the city.
The architects point out at least six different ways of interacting the river with the rest of the city, which can coexist along the Centre. Renderings and artists impressions of the rivers designs show the canals being fitted out with hard landscaping elements such as elevated bridges, walkways, access stairs, grandstand mode, as well lush soft landscaping areas.
The studied stretches for the reopening of the Belem and Ivo rivers are at Mariano Torres and Vicente Machado Avenue. Both are extremely polluted, according to an assessment by the Environmental Institute of Paraná. Therefore, before the rivers are even unearthed or before works begin, the de-pollution of both water sources would be paramount.