Back on Rail: Brownfield Restoration Masterplan

The project is located in Jinnan District, positioned at the midpoint between downtown Tianjin and the Binhai New Area. Since the development of Tianjin’s port economy in the last century, Rockcheck has been a key node for steel production and logistics, suffering from continuous pollution, particularly severe soil contamination. The goal of my design is to restore the polluted soil through an interactive system involving soil, vegetation, and human activity.

The remediation process is based on the railway, structured in three phases: Phase 1 (ex-situ treatment, building engineering logistics, and pretreatment); Phase 2 (in-situ treatment and initiating phytoremediation); and Phase 3 (abandoning the railway and forming an ecological corridor). These stages are interconnected, driving the overall ecological restoration process.

In the long run, the "Back on Rail" project not only aims to restore the soil, vegetation, and the quality of life but also serves as a pilot initiative for public participation and awareness, changing people's perception of ecological restoration. With the ongoing suburbanization and industrial development, more and more railways have the potential to adopt this model for ecological remediation.