Breath of the Dune: A Landscaping Approach to Controlling Desertification

The design site is located in Minqin region, the edge of the desert zone in Gansu Province. Minqin lies in an ecologically fragile area, where decades ago, over-cultivation by the inhabitants intensified the process of land desertification and the fragile ecosystem was on the verge of collapse. Due to the degradation of vegetation, its natural resistance to wind has been greatly weakened. How to help the site block the wind and gradually recover ecologically is the main question we explore.

We used grasshopper to simulate the distribution and change of northwest wind in the original site, and compared the windbreak efficiency of six basic forms, and finally chose diamond shape as the prototype. We also combined windbreak structures, windbreak plants and crops to form three different windbreak modules.

We combined the three modules into the site. As time passes, the weaker wind area behind the windbreak wall creates opportunities for plants to grow, while it slowly disintegrates while blocking the wind itself, creating an area of sand accumulation that promotes plant growth. After ten years, when the windbreak wall has completely disintegrated, more stable plant groups have been formed. The plant groups will gradually expand outward until they are connected to adjacent plant groups. We expect the application of the three modules to achieve the effect of ‘wind weakening - vegetation restoration - agricultural revival’ over a period of time, realizing the vision of wind and water protection, ecological restoration, and promoting sustainable local economic development.