topos 111 | Water

TOPICS

topos 111 will examine water as one of the most urgent problems of our time. How can we design sustainable, healthy and resilient waterscapes? What does water mean to us – as a resource and a design element, and as a vital part of our urban and rural landscapes? This issue will be about the design of resilient water infrastructures, flood protection in the context of climate change, the preservation of aquatic ecosystems, and approaches to challenges like rising sea levels, drought and water scarcity, both in developing and developed countries. We will look to those who have time-honoured knowledge, people who have lived in harmony with nature for centuries and have adapted to its imponderables. It’s high time we rethink how we deal with water in urban and rural areas.

DYING WATERS 
Photo series Fading Flamingos: The unnoticed vanishing of Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran

“WATER IS THE DRIVER OF CHANGE” 
Henk Ovink about the potential of water to improve society's life in terms of health, economy and equality

LITTLE ISLAND
New York City’s latest addition to the transformation of its waterfront: Little Island at Pier 55

AWAKENING A LIFELINE
The redevelopment and beautification of Shanghai’s riverbanks – Huangpu River

WATER AS A LEVERAGE TO REDESIGN
The Waterplan of Antwerp: Planning for three water cities to cope with climate change

RETROFITTING URBAN LANDSCAPES
How to deal with Chicago’s paradoxical relationship with water

WATER: FACTS & FIGURES
Illustration by Mélanie Corre

TOWARDS A NEW VERNACULAR
Learning from LO–TEK: Julia Watson’s design approach values indigenous philosophies

ISLAND WATERS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Why climate change only tells part, but not all, of the water story of islands

AFRICAN WATERS
The German photographer Florian Wagner travelled through ten African countries on the search for water

AQUATIC KINGDOM
Preserving a precious aquatic ecosystem: Iberá Wetlands in Argentina

WATERLESS WORLD
Learning from Sciene Fiction: how to deal with water scarcity without relinquishing one's identiy

A DIFFERENT VENICE
Searching for a comprehensive design strategy to preserve the Northern Lagoon in Venice

LANDSCAPING A STONY INTRUDER
Dams and landscapes and their role in the field of hydraulic structures