kvarnerski ISLANDscape

The island of Krk is the northernmost of the Croatian islands in the Adriatic Sea. Due to its location in Kvarner Bay, it is largely protected from the direct influences of the open sea behind other islands. It is popular and fully developed, so that tourism has become the main source of income for the approximately 17,000 inhabitants. However, the effects of climate change are becoming visible and tangible on Krk, as everywhere along the Mediterranean coastal region of Croatia. 

Project platform kvarnerski ISLANDscape

Bachelor project

adapted ISLANDscape

Topic. Rising sea levels are threatening the karst rock of the coasts, as water undercuts the porous subsoil and penetrates the island's freshwater body in the long term. In the course of climate change, more frequent sea level rises during extreme weather events, such as in 2008 and 2012[1] , are becoming a challenge for Krk. Drinking water is already scarce in the summer months, when the island becomes a vacation destination. In addition to the salinization of the groundwater, coastal erosion is accompanied by safety concerns due to landslides and coastal collapses. In recent decades, increasing urbanization (mainly for tourism purposes) and the lack of suitable infrastructure have led to an increase in erosion processes, local coastal retreat and instability[2]. As a result, the coast finds itself in a fragile balance as an area of attraction for various forms of land use and interests.  
In addition to these impressive changes to the landscape, the cultural landscape in the interior of the island will also change if water shortages become more frequent. Agriculture, which is still small-scale today, will have to adapt to climate change, just as precautions will have to be taken to protect the coast. We are therefore asking ourselves in the project: What adaptation strategies and development options can be designed for a coastal area such as Krk with a high degree of development and utilization pressure against the background of climatic change? 

Regional concepts Krk. Against this background, regional concepts are to be developed in the bachelor project, in which the development of the coasts - protection, tourism and infrastructure - are to be combined with adaptation strategies in agriculture and the construction of settlement expansions. Following an analysis of the various landscape characteristics of the island, typological designs for the individual landscape areas are to be developed. These should be comprehensible both as a landscape concept for Krk and also function on a small scale for individual places on the island.

- Coastal protection
- Water supply
- Development of agriculture
- Integration of renewable energies 

[1] Benac et al. (2014): Marine Erosion and Slope Movement: SE Coast of the Krk Island. In: Sassa, Canuti & Yin (2014): Landslide Science for a Safer Geoenvironment. Springer Verlag, Band 3, S: 563-567.

[2] Ružic et al. (2019): Assessment of the Coastal Vulnerability Index in an Area of Complex Geological Conditions on the Krk Island, Northeast Adriatic Sea. Geosciences (9) 219. 

Bachelor Thesis

productive ISLANDscape

The Bachelor Thesis is part of the project platform kvarnerski ISLANDscape in the summer semester 2024. You can find thesis-specific content here.

Topic. The final projects may focus on one aspect of the task and work on it in greater depth. The result can be a draft for a part of the island, such as a particularly endangered coastal section and possibly the landscape area assigned to it in the interior of the island. In particular, EU agricultural funding and its possibilities for the careful development of agriculture on the island should be examined. For the designs, the existing qualities of the (selected) historical cultural landscapes are to be worked out and further developed with the aim of adapting to climate change (adaptation and mitigation): including the hedgerow landscapes near Malinska, the karst landscape forms in the west, the olive cultivation around the town of Krk, the vineyards near Vrbnik and the valley to Baška.

Master project

power ISLANDscape

Topic. The development of Krk has been the subject of media attention in recent years, particularly in connection with the expansion of the LNG terminal at the northern end of the island. In the Master's project, Krk is to be considered not only as an energy transshipment point, but also in terms of landscape energy production. The students analyze the morphology of Krk with the aim of carefully integrating renewable energies while preserving and staging the existing landscape characters - the beauty of the island. The aim is to be able to transfer the landscape-appropriate aesthetic forms of energy production as typologies to the other islands of the Kvarner Bay! Beyond their function as 'solar or wind power plants', they should be connected with the existing atmospheres in order to be accepted as new cultural landscape elements.  

Integration

Task. Master's groups deepen their designs as part of an additional practical elaboration. The topic of the specialization should enrich the landscape architectural design with the integration of another, non-specialist discipline. This is a scientific treatise on the chosen topic, which requires scientific work.

In the context of this project platform, the focus will be on the implementation strategy of the planned power ISLANDscape. Concepts for citizen participation with a focus on communication, visualization with laypersons, media of participation or similar can be worked on here. As a result, a detailed, scientifically proven communication concept can be submitted, as well as a plan for workshops with local citizens. However, the subject may also include an in-depth study of presentation didactics and the visual communication of planning. 

Project phases

All appointments regularly take place on Mondays at 13:00 (in exceptional cases on Thursdays at 13:00). Details are subject to change. For information on the main content of the three phases, see: Design projects on a regional scale. Design projects on a regional scale.

Phase 1 Design analysis
The design analysis is about getting to know the space and its surroundings intensively - the excursion is central to this phase. During the excursion, we approach the specific analysis topics of the groups as well as their selected project areas and thematic focal points.

The planning goal can be...
- Understand and characterize landscapes (spatial types)
- To capture the textures of the landscape as a result of land use activities and techniques 
- Recognize designable forms, functions and constructions typologically (discover a design repertoire)
- Develop initial ideas and concepts

PHASE 2 Concept.
Based on the results of the analysis and taking into account social, aesthetic, ecological and economic objectives of landscape development, a spatial concept & program should be developed, which can be based on individual cultural landscape elements and landscape structures and/or their interrelationships. 

PHASE 3 Designing structures.
In phase 3, designs of elements/structures and/or structural contexts are developed at regional, urban planning, object planning and/or detail level, always taking into account the concept developed and consistent landscape development.

Approach and implementation. 
SKETCHING. Sketching the spaces/landscape in pencil on tracing paper over (topographical) maps and aerial photographs. Draw through, search for elements and form types.
ANALYZING. Digital character maps (qGIS) are created, the significance of the spaces/landscapes and the typical landscape elements that characterize them from your point of view are compiled.
CONSTRUTE. Elements and structures of renewable energies are recorded in all their dimensions and varied as building blocks of landscape textures.
DESIGN. Merging and overlaying the digital data and sketched structures into landscape ideas.

Dates

Supervisions always take place on Mondays, from 13:00; or in exceptional cases on Thursdays, from 13:00. You can find a more detailed overview of the dates on Moodle.

Mon. 15.04. Project introduction Bachelor and Master; Deadline for registration: 6 p.m.     

Mon. 13.05.- Sat. 18.05. Excursion to Krk, Vbrnik                   

Mon. 27.05. Presentation Design Analysis (on the printed plan)

Mon. 03.06. Presentation Experimental Analysis (free medium: pictures, films, performance, exhibits, etc.)

Mon. 17.06. ONLINE presentation of spatial concept and initial design approaches (Pecha Kucha)

Mo. 15.07. Final presentation (on the printed plan)

Wed. 14.08. Submission Integration (Master only) digital as upload