WC136 MayJune 2024 - Magazine - Page 21
N 2013, City of Montreal representative Remi
Haf learned about a just completed multi-function
square in Rotterdam. The square was a place where
residents could sit and enjoy a bite to eat and
catch up with friends. A place where kids could
play, taking advantage of a basketball net at one end
and a soccer net at the other. An ideal spot for open
air performances or perhaps a weekend market. Right
in the heart of one of Rotterdam’s most densely populated neighbourhoods.
It was a discovery that inspired one of Haf ’s
co-workers to embark on a research mission over to
Rotterdam to get a first-hand glimpse of the square.
But Haf ’s explorer didn’t just cross an ocean to shoot
hoops or grab a sandwich, but rather to witness yet
another raison d’être for this facility… its ability to
absorb up to 1.7 million litres (1,700 cubic metres)
of water, making it an invaluable frontline defense
against flooding in a part of the city predominantly
made up of of hard surfaces.
Watersquare Benthemplein… as described by
the Rotterdam-based urban design and landscape
architecture firm De Urbanisten behind this project
on their website, “combines water storage with the
improvement of the quality of urban public space
(whereby) most of the time, it will be dry and in use as
a recreational space.” And then when it rains, whether
light or heavy, serving as a giant catchment area.
Haf and his team were so impressed with the
square that they became evangelists for similar projects in Montreal as part of embracing a sponge city
end goal. A mindset that in succeeding years inspired
a number of flood mitigation projects there to the
point where in a study produced by Arup in 2022,
Montreal was ranked the fourth most sponge-like city
in the world.
Before delving into some of the projects Montreal
undertook in the wake of their Netherland research,
it’s worth taking a closer look at the ideas and methodologies that made Watersquare Benthemplein a
source of inspiration in the first place.
De Urbanisten
I
Pioneers old and new
Both Watersquare and Rotterdam, of course, are
located in the Netherlands, which literally means
“low countries” in reference to the fact that much
of the land is below sea level. And by virtue of a
longstanding history of building dikes, dams, and
floodgates in defense against storm surges and rising
sea levels, it should perhaps come as no surprise that
Watersquare Benthemplein was one of the first, if not
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
the first, facilities in the world designed to counter
the challenge of flash floods.
Looking back to 2005 when De Urbanisten first
unveiled the typology for the square at the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam event, De
Urbanisten director Dirk van Peijpe puts his firm’s accomplishments into perspective with the observation
that “we were in a sense not pioneers, but modern
pioneers.”
A modest way of positioning his company’s efforts
in recognition of such unique and innovative water
management solutions in the past as India’s ancient
stepwells. Massive earthen gems, some of which
boasted thousands of steps extending down several
floors that were designed both to capture water for
drinking and help to reduce flooding.
With De Urbanisten in their capacity as a “modern
pioneer,” van Peijpe said that “we introduced all
kinds of interventions in the urban environment to
professionals that didn’t communicate anymore.” Professionals in other words… still operating in silos.
They reached out to traffic engineers concerned
about mobility, landscape architects that cared about
city beautification, and water managers and engineers
focused on sewage systems. Somehow, they managed
to get them to begin talking across department lines.
“And that was the reintroduction of integrating an
Watersquare
Benthemplein combines
water storage with the
improvement of the
quality of urban public
space (whereby) most of
the time, it will be dry and
in use as a recreational
space.” And then when
it rains, whether light or
heavy, serving as a giant
catchment area.
WATER C AN ADA • M AY/JUNE 2024
21
