Date of Award
Spring 6-1-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA)
Department
Landscape Architecture
First Advisor
Emily Vogler
Second Advisor
Jacob Mitchell
Abstract
The Fen River, located at the Loess Plateau in Shanxi Province, is one of the most important life sources for local people. Most residents in the past relied on farming to make life. As the only riverway that could serve for irrigation in the region, Fen River provided a huge amount of water and fed plenty of people. In addition, nearby lands were vastly used for agricultural purposes. The river acts as a spine to support people’s life for a long time. It is also called as the Mother River in the region.
However, as cities in the region quickly developed over past decades, past farmlands have gradually replaced by concrete and skyscrapers. Existing farmlands are squeezed to the city’ s edges. Furthermore, rural life and agricultural practices gradually retreat from people’ s current life. People who memorize the past rural life can only find them outside of city and in mountain areas. Current water use also switches to industrial development, some agriculture, etc.
In addition, the river starts to meet a lot of issues because of human activities and industrial development, including water pollution, wastewater discharge, etc. The river also become discrete from people’s life and production. Now, we won’t say Fen River is the mother river that offers us huge benefit, but we ignore it and discard it accompanied with past rural practices.
I don’t want to let the mother river down and disappeared in our life. This river as a carrier has already linked multi-decade culture and history in the region. I believe it could adapt to current changes and civilization and reconnect water, rural and urban landscape again, and it could provide new opportunities for human life.
Recommended Citation
Yang, Rui, "Mother river: restoring transiting producing" (2021). Masters Theses. 791.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/791
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Comments
View exhibition online: Rui Yang, The Mother River: Restoring, Transiting, and Producing