Chris Cox
The Wyre valley is a landscape defined by water. It is the most abundant resource available, yet potentially the most destructive in an increasingly urbanised, inflexible condition. My work reappraises the value of water to create a new programme of activities throughout the Wyre, introducing a strategic approach which changes the perceptions of a flood threatened landscape into a dynamic, adaptable location of new opportunities - The Hydro-Logic Park. Through this vision the Wyre is revalued as a series of conditions and systems, lentic and lotic, where water flow and salinities are recognised as assets as opposed to obstacles and water is embraced as a precious resource. The intention is to create flexible programmes that inhabit this unique landscape with multiple potentialities, which can emerge as conditions change. The "Park" acts as a biological framework infiltrating water to create distinctive spatial conditions for different human activities. Park users have the opportunity to engage with water in new ways, raft across temporary flooded meadows, foraging on the lentic islands, bog walking across the re-wilded agricultural plane, relaxing in a lotic spa, wild camping in a dynamic landscape, eating freshly caught fish in a pop-up restaurant The hydro-logic park challenges the typical park idea; its boundaries are indefinable and respond to variable water levels. Conclusively the vision created is wild, sustainable and engrained with multiple outcomes and opportunities.
