Jump in: The Swimmable Urban River - Te Awa Kairangi - The Hutt River

Rivers are the life force of the land, the veins of papatuanuku. To swim in clean rivers is a right of passage in New Zealand. Many have had a childhood filled with memories of picnicking and swimming with friends and family beside their local river.

The most memorable places for swimming, the ones that are most socially and experientially rich and intense, seem to be rural swimming spots that are beyond the urbanised engineered river cross- sections and require a car to get to. How can landscape architects create what would normally be a rural river experience within an urbanized and flood-engineered river location?

This research suggests that the urbanised section of Hutt River has a range of potential swimming sites but they have challenging technical issues and remain under explored. These sites have the potential to be social points along the river bringing together different communities for a joint experience, The on-the-ground experience of river swimming and the social enjoyment of swimming has been given little attention by designers. Initial field work was carried out to construct an understanding of the current ways that swimming and swimming spots within the wider Wellington region function.

This thesis will investigate how to create a fully urban swimming experience, focused on three strategically chosen sites, drawing on the fieldwork, where each site is intended to become a social gathering place and experience suited to its location and surrounding neighbourhoods.