Chinese landscape architecture studio Turenscape has transformed a concrete sea wall on an abandoned fish farm into a public space in Haikou City, Hainan.
Named A Breathing Sea Wall, the project aims to help alleviate the local threat of rising sea levels while providing locals with useable outdoor space.
Turenscape has completed A Breathing Sea Wall in Haikou City
The concrete structure, which spans a 3.72-kilometre-long beach, has been updated by Turenscape with an improved stormwater management system as well as recreational facilities, such as sculptural pavilions and walkways.
Before its transformation, the existing four-metre-high sea wall was causing salt to build up in the soil, which was damaging the surrounding vegetative windbreak.
The structure spans a 3.72-kilometre stretch of beach "The project was inspired by the need to address the environmental damage caused by the existing concrete sea wall, which exacerbated soil salinisation and amplified erosive force," Turenscape founder Kongjian Yu told Dezeen.
"The aim was to transform the area into a resilient public space that would adapt to rising sea levels and restore the local ecosystem," he continued.
To improve the quality of the barrier, the studio converted it into a terraced structure incorporating plants.
According to the studio, this terraced design allows "water to flow more naturally through the landscape".
The site was formerly a fish farm
"The sea wall's permeable, ...