Mudhaffar, Maryam
Avian oasis: Wasit Nature Reserve visitor centre by X Architects - 10 February 2021 - London EMAP Publishing Limited 2021
The meeting point between land and sea at the centre of Sharjah was historically part of the Persian Gulf’s ancient series of coastal wetlands and salt marshes. With its distinctive landscape of aquifers and variety of habitats, it was home to a rich assortment of indigenous flora and fauna. Prior to the rapid urbanisation of the city in the 1970s and ’80s, locals used the space to graze their livestock, but as Sharjah developed (now the third largest city in the UAE), it became known as the Ramtha Lagoons, encompassing Ramtha Tip – a municipal landfill site for wastewater and rubbish, emanating noxious odours, contaminating its soil and damaging its ecosystem in the process. The site was further beleaguered by the construction of a ring road that cut it off from the sea inlet, splitting it in two. Although the rubbish dump was filled with discarded tools, household items and abandoned cars, its isolation, foliage and wastewater surprisingly continued to attract wildlife and migrating birds. The insanitary conditions on the site prohibited any commercial activities from taking root, which led officials to revalue the natural worth of this landscape. In 2005, an environmental rehabilitation of the area was undertaken, focusing on the ecological framework necessary to restore the wetland.
ARCHITECTURE GENERAL (AR-GEN)
Avian oasis: Wasit Nature Reserve visitor centre by X Architects - 10 February 2021 - London EMAP Publishing Limited 2021
The meeting point between land and sea at the centre of Sharjah was historically part of the Persian Gulf’s ancient series of coastal wetlands and salt marshes. With its distinctive landscape of aquifers and variety of habitats, it was home to a rich assortment of indigenous flora and fauna. Prior to the rapid urbanisation of the city in the 1970s and ’80s, locals used the space to graze their livestock, but as Sharjah developed (now the third largest city in the UAE), it became known as the Ramtha Lagoons, encompassing Ramtha Tip – a municipal landfill site for wastewater and rubbish, emanating noxious odours, contaminating its soil and damaging its ecosystem in the process. The site was further beleaguered by the construction of a ring road that cut it off from the sea inlet, splitting it in two. Although the rubbish dump was filled with discarded tools, household items and abandoned cars, its isolation, foliage and wastewater surprisingly continued to attract wildlife and migrating birds. The insanitary conditions on the site prohibited any commercial activities from taking root, which led officials to revalue the natural worth of this landscape. In 2005, an environmental rehabilitation of the area was undertaken, focusing on the ecological framework necessary to restore the wetland.
ARCHITECTURE GENERAL (AR-GEN)