Projective Sandscapes is an AA Landscape Urbanism Design thesis by Elena Longhin, Chris Lo and Howe Chan which delves into questions related to ongoing desertification processes and remote landscape influences. Recent times have seen the rise of claims about the overuse of land and unsuitable agricultural processes that provoke droughts and desertification, leading to increasing competition over environmental resources, therefore instability, large-scale migrations and human conflicts. ‘Projetctive Sandscapes’ project the designers intervene within the urbanized area of Nukus in Uzbekistan, part of the desiccated Aral Sea region, where shifting sands are moving over cities and productive grounds. The project attempts to negotiate and choreograph dunes formations as a way to re-sew preserved urban clusters and transforming their morphological conditions in landscape spatial qualities. This approach may be further applied to similar cases across Europe undergoing desertification..

Explore the full Design Thesis HERE