Mediating Grounds participatesin the existing urban dialogue between the two sides of the river in Florence,the rigid and the loose. The northern city fabric speaks arigid grid language, starting out with the clear grid of the romancity and expanding to the later shifts of the urban fabric. While the other,speaks a looser more organic language. With strictguidelines, the landscape is restrained within the found grids ofthe city, while the other liberates the natural spread of thelandscape. One side expresses its materiality through the roofscapes, yet the othercommunicates with the natural landscape. A grid language indicatesa directpath, as shown from one piazza to another, while the other manifests ameandering indirect path throughout the picturesque Poggi plan. The rivercan be seen as a transitory device between the two languages, fluctuating between the two. Thus, Mediating Grounds will negotiatebetween the two sides, strengthening the relationship between them.

Mediating grounds reconnectsthe people to the natural landscape while enhancing the ecologies living withinthe city. It uses the river as a supporting element, creating a programmaticand environmental relationship to the project. The water from the river isre-used and filtered through the site and feeds other programmatic elements inthe project. It is also an indicator of circulation of both the natural andprogrammatic components. MediatingGrounds tries to attract people living in the city, holding large gardenspaces, community/vegetable gardens, food markets, restaurant, music hall, anda swimming pool. A new interconnection is established between the programs, inwhich the community/vegetable gardens attract farmers and the community. Thesegardens become the produce that is sold in the markets. The market attractspeople within the city, a water feature near the market act as washing stationsfor the goods and produce. Another connection occurs with the large fields oflandscaping that attract bird species found in the site and become filteringdevices for the water. The water from the river is then reused within the siteto irrigate the farm, and used in the smaller pools. With the flooding of thewater levels, some of the programs disappear and are not used. MediatingGrounds establishes a new strengthened cycle of living ecology for all threespecies, man, nature, and water.