Seasonal isles FELIXX , POLIS UNIVERSITY

Author:  Felixx,  Polis University
Affiliation: Polis University

Background
The Berat Island competition centers on a group of temporal islands (i.e. sandbanks; sediment deposits) in the Osum River that left bare during summer when the river’s baseflow is limited. During the driest periods, only a small stream is flowing through Berat, leaving most of the riverbed exposed. Apart from a bottleneck West of the city, the river sections around Berat are relatively wide. This leaves the city with an unused wasteland, covered by temporal vegetation. Due to the flood hazard during winter, the islands are left relatively untouched. This paradox needs to be resolved, without significantly interfering with the current river regime. This proposal attempts to overcome this paradox by introducing a development strategy for the islands that is both drought and flood resilient, but most importantly connects the dry riverbed with the city. The proposed solution might not only be feasible for Berat, but might also provide a generic strategy for many of the other cities in Albania facing similar problems.