Time Thinking and Drawing in Designing Dynamic River Landscapes

This visual essay explores the use of time thinking and drawing in the design process of the Ooijen- Wanssum floodplain widening project. Through a series of project sketches, final drawings and photos of the constructed project, the authors reveal the way in which time drawing has (often implicitly) given direction to the design process. The water calendar is introduced as a design tool that integrates time- dependent river dynamics into the design process and thereby informs spatial design choices that are considered in several design sketches. These design choices include interactions with dynamic processes such as erosion, vegetation dynamics and recreational use of the river landscape.