It is in the south of Europe that the problems of adaptation to climate change become most apparent. Adaptation to these changes became the subject of the work of Katarzyna Jamiol, a student at the Faculty of Architecture at the Cracow University of Technology. The work was awarded in the A4TC international competition.
The work "La via dell'acqua. Renaturalization of a fragment of the Is Cungiaus riverbed and design of a climate shelter" was created under the supervision of Professor Lukasz Sto żek and Professor Urszula Forczek-Brataniec. The work received an honorable mention in the third edition of the international competition A4TC-2023.
The work was created under the supervision of Professor Łukasz Stożek and Professor Urszula Forczek-Brataniec.
© Katarzyna Jamioł
referring to the place and its character
The concept created by Katarzyna Jamioł concerns a section of the Is Cungiaus River located within the Italian town of Quartucciu in Sardinia. For many years, the character of the river has been influenced primarily by the functionality of the nearest land and its exploitation - the land around the river has been used for agriculture. The channel of the Is Cungiaus was regulated and its natural character was lost. This was the primary starting point for conducting design work.
returning to the roots
Today, the area around the river is mostly wasteland for agriculture combined with illegal garbage dumps. This is where the author envisioned a process of restoration - restoring natural barriers, creating habitat for fauna and preserving wetlands that are protected under the 1977 Ramsar Convention. The concept is based primarily on the slow rendering of the process of reclaiming space by nature, combining it with a recreational zone, which is dictated by relaxation, as well as an educational zone to present the relationship of mankind with nature over the centuries.
The basic element of the whole was renaturalization - giving this space back to the river and its natural movement
© Katarzyna Jamiol
protecting it from the heat
In addition to renaturalization, Katarzyna Jamioł 's project included an important element - a climate shelter. It is Sardinia that is exposed to record temperatures reaching up to 48 degrees Celsius. The climate shelter is inspired by a solution from Spain, where, in order to avoid the negative effects of heat such as fainting or strokes, the construction of publicly accessible spaces in which to cool down began.
Made of concrete, the shelter's formula is meant to refer to buildings from the prehistoric period and the spaces of Italian grottoes. Protection from the heat is just one of the building's goals. In addition, educational functions have been located here, related to the issue of the relationship between man and nature.
In addition to restoration, an important element of the project was to create a shelter from the heat
© Katarzyna Jamioł
small solutions to big problems
The concept awarded in the competition first of all refers to small solutions that can be applied in the fight against the effects of climate change. Sometimes small-scale projects help create solutions that, when used, will know how to level the big problems associated with everything that awaits us.
You can read more about the winning work in the latest issue of A&B (04|24).
