Renaturation of the River Air

Atelier Descombes Rampini, Energy and sustainability, No Density, Project, Territory and mobility

Artificial nature, Built landscape, Ecological agencies, Ecological researches, Geneva, Health, Health contributor, Landscape Architecture, Natural dialogue, Natural ecology, Natural Park, Nature, Nature vs. Artificial, Project, Reconstructing nature, Return to nature, River, Sustainability, Sustainable infrastructure, Sustainable Region, Switzerland, Territorial Approach, Urban Paradigms

Near Geneva, the Aire River flows through valleys historically devoted to farming. From the late 19th century, the river was progressively canalized. In 2001, the State of Geneva opened a competition with the idea of restoring the river to its original shape and meanders by destroying the canal. In our winning entry we instead proposed combining the clear territorial cut of the canal with a parallel new vast divagation space for the river. In the process, the canal became the pointer for the transformations, a reference line providing the possibility of understanding a before and an after, a becoming which superimposes both situations and accepts that something began which was already there.