Abundance and Risk
Abundance and Risk: Enhancing Resiliency in the Hydraulic Landscape of Kurobe is a Studio Report from the Fall 2024 semester at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design based on the option studio “Abundance and Risk: Enhancing Resiliency in the Hydraulic Landscape of Kurobe” taught by Jungyoon Kim and Shunsaku Miyagi.
This report presents the process and results of the design studio offered by the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in fall 2024, which aimed to project the sustainable future of Kurobe, Japan, centering around its abundant water resources.
The current stable land use of the Kurobe River alluvial fan owes much to the flood control and water supply projects carried out since the turn of the 20th century. At the same time, constructing a mechanized artesian agricultural network system of irrigation canals and farmland consolidation covering most of the area led to substantial growth in rice paddy cultivation. Combined with flood control measures, the hydrological structure of the alluvial fan has transformed significantly throughout the 20th century. But the delicate balance among aspects of nature, industry, land, and economy will be challenged by the anticipated physical and social changes of great magnitude.
Landscape architecture is the agent and medium of this projection for the future in this studio. The 11 students from all three departments of the GSD were asked to consider the practices of water use for agricultural development and industrial production holistically so that, as a result, these initiatives would draw the meaningful interaction in order to envision the future of Kurobe, its industries, its nature, and its people. The semester began by mapping the town through the lenses including demographics, energy, hydrology, industry, mobility and so forth. During the trip to Kurobe, the students performed field research and acquired local knowledge through interviewing the community and the workshops with YKKAP’s associate members. Thoughts and ideas were tested and developed through various lectures and workshops during the semester, including the topics of Japanese rural landscape, traditional and contemporary Japanese landscape language, environmental engineering, and model making.
The studio was made possible by the generous support of YKK AP.
Abundance and Risk can be read in full on the GSD’s issuu page, among many other reports.