Landscape Projects, a Necessity for Hydraulic Works. The Case of Mornos Dam Landscape

This article refers to landscape anthropogenic hydrological changes and particularly to the installation of hydraulic engineering projects in wetland ecosystems. It attempts to define how landscape architecture contributes in understanding, designing and planning the landscape while installing engineering projects, seeking for a deeper insight into the critical relationships concerning the ecosystem, the perception of the landscape and the socio-economic spatial values. It proposes the necessity for a landscape architecture project that should be considered as a continuing process that proceeds along with the engineering project and the environmental processes. The theoretically supported approach is followed by applied research in a specific hydraulic engineering project: the water supply dam of the Momos River, in the prefecture of Phocis in central Greece. This project involves an analysis of the landscape, as well as a design and planning proposal which aim at the ecological improvement, the sustainable development of the area, and the enjoyment of the landscape by residents and visitors.