A patio space transformed
Envisioning a green space as inviting and social as it would be operative and effective, students Ecaterina Dobrescu and Rebecca Bartlett of the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) set out last semester to transform a concrete patio space at Gund Hall into a modular system of vegetation and planters that could absorb and purify stormwater. Funded by an Office for Sustainability student grant, “Stormwater Modules” seeks to test flexible design and the capacity of a small-scale system to reduce the quantity of stormwater runoff from rooftops to help improve water quality. Stormwater management has long been employed across the country to collect rainwater and melted snow that runs off from streets, lawns, and buildings. As the rainwater flows off these surfaces and into rivers and streams, it picks up chemicals and other harmful pollutants. Traditional stormwater management often neglects the natural world’s steps of slow and timely absorption, purification, and replenishment....