Tidal Field: Drifting Landscape Along the Kuroshio Current

Abstract

Sand moves constantly. --- in some places, artificially as well. Tidal Field reframes the shoreline of Okinawa as a dynamic landscape shaped by both natural and human forces. The project proposes a set of structures that attune the shoreline’s geomorphic processes, gradually thickening it and expanding public accessibility. In Okinawa, the southernmost island of Japan, coastal landscapes are shaped by the Kuroshio Current, which transports sediment and nutrients on the planetary scale. The project proposes to complement this hyper-scale impact by introducing the Stone Reefs, a chain of stacked stone structures. Various typologies are explored in Kunigami Village, where sand nourishment and extraction occur around a non-operating airfield connecting the peninsula’s two coasts. Assembled from discarded glass, coral stone, and limestone, the Stone Reefs form underwater berms that dissipate wave energy and capture fine sediments. Over time, the structures weather into sand themselves, revealing the evolving dynamics of shoreline formation.