Yifan Shi

Project Overview

This project investigates Dingwall as a low-lying estuarine landscape shaped by the interaction of tidal water, river flow, and surface runoff. Rather than being controlled by a single dominant hydrological system, the town is structured by overlapping and fragmented water processes that operate across different temporal and spatial scales. These slow and often hidden dynamics are closely tied to topography, agricultural land use, dispersed ecological habitats, and existing urban infrastructure.

The project develops through an iterative dialogue between analysis and design. Large-scale hydrological mapping is progressively translated into site-specific spatial interventions that work with existing environmental forces rather than imposing fixed forms onto the landscape. Tide, river flooding, and runoff are treated not as isolated technical problems, but as interconnected systems capable of shaping spatial organisation, ecological succession, material transformation, and human experience.

Feild Trip Work

A low-frequency natural soundscape: wind, water, birds.

Site A: Coastal Interconnectivity Park

Coastal protection structured by repurposed urban rubble and accelerated sediment capture. The shoreline is no longer a fixed line but a negotiable thickness of sediment and vegetation, buffered against future climate scenarios.

Site B: Urban Resource Park

Site B transforms Dingwall’s urban core into an active socio-metabolic hub. By implementing selective architectural demolition, the design breaks the existing barrier between the town fabric and the River Peffery, establishing a 'Living Street Landscape Spine'. The central Academy complex is repurposed into a Material Reuse Hub, acting as the system’s engine to process urban and agricultural waste into landscape resources. Through a catalogue of interactive typologies—from Material Reuse Yards to Floodable Urban Meadows—the project shifts the park’s role from a passive green space to a working hydrological commons, fostering community stewardship and climate resilience.

A Journey Through the Hydrological Commons

A spatial narrative that connects coastal dynamics, urban ecology, and agricultural systems through the movement and transformation of water, revealing a shared hydrological commons across Dingwall.