An indispensable resource for the survival of all species and for the equilibrium of Planet Earth, water is at the centre of Koozarch’s second focus dedicated to this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale.
Our planetary physical reality is as evident as dramatic. Current record temperatures have led to ravaging droughts and wildfires through most of our continents whilst in Pakistan extreme monsoons have claimed at least fifty lives this year. According to the World Health Organization “over 2 billion people live in water-stressed countries”,1 a figure which can only be exacerbated against the backdrop of our changing climate. Sea level rise—induced by anthropogenic climate change—has already started redefining our coastlines, and, should we continue on our current trajectory of business as usual foregoing the 1.5 or even 2 degrees Celsius target set by the Paris Agreement, entire nation states such as the Marshall Islands and Maldives will be obliterated forcing “a mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale.”2
It is thus no surprise that three national participations to this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale—namely Denmark, Georgia and Portugal—decided to take water as the point of departure for their reciprocal projects. Whilst not directly addressing this resource, Spain’s participation is also intimately tied to water, considering that about 85% of total water resources in the world are used for agricultural purposes. All projects started by researching local case studies and perspectives and finished posing questions and addressing urgencies which resonate internationally.
“To defend the Earth is the most efficient way of defending Mankind.”
- Amílcar Cabral3
The threat of sea level rise instantly connects geographies around the world. Venice and Denmark are only one of many other international examples. Coastal Imaginaries, curated by Josephine Michau, explores the potential of nature-based design solutions in the struggle against this global challenge. An exhibition driven by the desire to inspire visitors to take climate action while offering a glimpse into a different way of practising architecture, the exhibition presents “concrete principles for how nature can be utilised for coastal protection and climate adaptation.”4 Departing from the contemporary present and the Danish capital of Copenhagen, the research draws inspiration and case studies throughout history and from distant geographies. Rather than “one size fits all,” the propositions offered are always “anchored in a deep understanding of the context of the specific location in which they are used” and strive to be part of "a growing global movement comprising a decentralised network of numerous "Laboratories of the Future."5 Proposing solutions which seek to protect our habitats—the introduction of elevations, dune formations, barrier islands and wetlands—the project recognises the impossibility and foolishness of thinking we can protect every square metre of land and control the constantly fluctuating body that is water. Ultimately, Coastal Imaginaries embraces the strategy of a planned retreat, critically questioning what we should protect: what must we surrender to flooding and how? Accompanying the exhibition, the publication Critical Coast juxtaposes the research undertaken in conversation with a multidisciplinary pool of thinkers—from Denmark, Italy and India—with a selection of carefully curated literature extracts which render the topic accessible to everyone visiting the Biennale, opening our minds to past, present and future imaginaries.
“Water is a beautiful description of how humans organise themselves.”
- Álvaro Domingues
Although water covers about 71% of the earth's surface, 97% of the earth's water is found in the oceans, meaning only 3% of the earth's water is fresh. Against the backdrop of climate change, freshwater appears to be an exhaustible resource for which it is imperative we find more inclusive, diverse and equitable means of management. The Portuguese participation to this year’s Biennale, under the curatorship of Andreia Garcia with the support of Diogo Aguiar and Ana Neiva, prompts us to imagine more Fertile Futures “heralding a greener, more imaginative, generous, abundant, positive, productive, responsible, feminine and plural future.”7 Undertaken in collaboration with a multigenerational and multidisciplinary team of researchers who trust in the “strategic complementarity between practice, theory and teaching,”8 the research presented at Palazzo Franchetti in Venice is emblematic of the potential of the dimension of the laboratory and offers “solutions for the reservoirs of the future through a critical study of seven Portuguese hydro geographies exemplifying the anthropocentric action of water.”9 From the “deterritorialization” of water in the Tâmega Basin—which shifted from being at the heart of the irrigated land to being the primary resource of Europe’s largest hydro energy plants—to the contamination of this by either the mining industry in the region of the Middle Tejo or by the excessive use of chemical fertilisers for pastures in the Lagoa das Sete Cidades, to the repeated occurrence of flash floods in Madeira’s streams as a result of the rapid and unplanned urbanisation of the territory, the project reiterates the transformative capacity of an architectural exhibition as a knowledge production platform which seeks to catalyse global action. Beyond the “local” and national dimension of Portugal, the publication expands the conversation and draws our attention to distant geographies and the paradoxical exploitation of water in industries such as the practice of lithium extraction in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Here, researchers Pedro Ignazio Alonso and Marina Otero point out the absurdity of electromobility and lithium batteries depending on the evaporation of water in the driest desert on earth, where to obtain one kilogram of lithium the evaporation of 1,900 litres of water is needed.10
“Water is not only a resource, but the resource.”
- Ana Tostoes11
Over the last 20 years, hydropower’s total capacity has risen by 70% globally. In 2020, this “clean” form of energy supplied 17% of global electricity generation, the largest percentage after coal and natural gas. Georgia is rich in water—60% of its territory is taken by sea, large rivers, streams, mineral and healing waters, lakes and underground springs. However, following the large-scale development policies of Soviet colonialism, and in the context of the current neoliberal order, the country’s resources have been commodified, transforming what was once a common good into a privatised resource. To date more than 80 hydropower plants (HPPs) supply electricity to the energy system of Georgia and hydropower accounts for between 75 - 90% of power generation. january, february, march, Georgia’s participation in the Biennale, specifically focuses on the first of the country’s hydroelectric power stations. Launched in the Dusheti region in 1985, the station opening led to the flooding of the village of Zhinvali: migration of the entire local population as well as the progressive destruction of the river’s local ecosystem followed. Directly supporting the water consumption of Tbilisi—which peaks throughout January, February, and March—the settlements of the Eneolithic age and cultural sites as the Jvaripatiosani church appear and reappear as the area is flooded and drained according to the capital’s necessities. Through this installation—itself inspired by the ancient remains discovered during the research and which reconstruct the spatial memory of the area through one of its primitive archetypes—the Georgian intervention draws attention to the politics and economics embedded in hydropower energy. The accompanying publication uses the Duseheti region dam as a starting point for an expanded statement on the importance of the commonality of water, unveiling the commodification of this by private companies—owned for the most part by subsidiaries of Russian state companies or Russian businessmen—as well as the environmental and social negligence undertaken prior and during the construction and operation of these HPP’s. Within this context, it is hard to see how the exploitation of Georgia’s hydro energy resources by neighbouring countries and the European Union corresponds to the declared goal of energy independence from Russia, as well as negotiating forms of sustainable energy.11
Despite the debate on and around energy being at the core of contemporary geopolitics, food production is the elephant in the room which remains largely unnoticed. Yet according to FAO, current food systems account for about 30% of globally available energy13 and are responsible for around 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions.14 Nowadays, 70% of the energy consumed by agri-food systems occurs after food leaves farms: in transportation, processing, packaging, shipping, storage, marketing, etc. Furthermore, an estimated one-third of the food we produce is lost or wasted and with it, around 38% of energy consumed in food systems. Considering that by 2050 it is estimated that the world's population will reach 9.1 billion (34% higher than today) and that food production will need to increase by 70% to meet those needs, it is imperative that we address this industry in terms of ecological urgency. Curated by Eduardo Castillo-Vinuesa and Manuel Ocaña, FOODSCAPES explores the Spanish agro-architectural context to unveil how the “way we produce, distribute and consume [food] mobilises our societies, shapes our metropolises and transforms our geographies more radically than any other energy source.”15 To this end the exhibition unfolds through five short films, an archive in the form of a recipe book and a public programme which traces the architectures that feed the world, from the domestic laboratories of our kitchens to the vast operational landscapes that nourish our cities.
Although water does not conform to geopolitical boundaries, it is a contested geopolitical resource. Put plainly, there is no life without water and due to anthropogenic climate change, water is increasingly becoming a precious and contested commodity, whose “use” beyond that of potable water for all species spans from the production of hydro-electric energy in dams, the extraction of raw materials and the intensive agriculture system which we have inherited from the so called “Green revolution.” It is clear that our current relationship to water is beyond broken and that rather than “electrifying the Titanic,” as put so poetically yet so scaringly by political scientist Patrick Ophulus, we need to undertake an urgent reversal of thinking and change everything.16
In this sense, we invite our readers to indulge in the coming interviews with the chief curators of the four national participations to reflect on the notion that our problems do indeed go far beyond climate change and require a restructuring of our society. As the great G.K. Chesterton would have it: “There are two ways to have enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.”
Bio
Federica Zambeletti is the founder and managing director of KoozArch. She is an architect, researcher and digital curator whose interests lie at the intersection between art, architecture and regenerative practices. In 2015 Federica founded KoozArch with the ambition of creating a space where to research, explore and discuss architecture beyond the limits of its built form. Parallel to her work at KoozArch, Federica is Architect at the architecture studio UNA and researcher at the non-profit agency for change UNLESS where she is project manager of the research "Antarctic Resolution". Federica is an Architectural Association School of Architecture in London alumni.
Notes
1 “Drinking-water,” World Health Organization. Accessed July 10, 2023. [online]
2 Damian Carrington. “Rising seas threaten ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’, UN chief warns.” The Guardian, February 14, 2023. [online]
3 Amílcar Cabral, as quoted in Andreia Garcia, Ana Neiva and Diogo Aguiar, eds. Fertile Futures. Volume I. (Porto: Architectural Affairs, 2023), 69
4 Danish Pavilion, “The Danish Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.” Press Release, February 1, 2023. [online]
5 Josephine Michau interviewed by KoozArch in an upcoming publication.
6 Andreia Garcia, Ana Neiva and Diogo Aguiar, eds. Fertile Futures. Volume I. (Porto: Architectural Affairs, 2023), 191
7Ibid., 18
8Ibid., 19
9Ibid., 19
10Ibid., 157
11Ana Tostoes, as quoted in Andreia Garcia, Ana Neiva and Diogo Aguiar, eds. Fertile Futures. Volume I. (Porto: Architectural Affairs, 2023), 210
12Elene Pasuri, ed. january, february, march. (Tbilisi: Tbilisi Architecture Biennial, 2023), page
13“Energy,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. Accessed July 10, 2023. [online]
14 Hannah Ritchie, Pablo Rosado and Max Roser. "Environmental Impacts of Food Production" OurWorldInData, 2022, accessed on July 10, 2023, [online]
15Pavilion of Spain. “Pavilion of Spain at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.” Press release, March 27, 2023.
16Andreia Garcia, Ana Neiva and Diogo Aguiar, eds. Fertile Futures. Volume I. (Porto: Architectural Affairs, 2023), 88
Bibliography
Aslaug Lund, Anna, Jeppe Sengupta Carstensen, eds. Critical Coast. Copenhagen: The Danish Architectural Press, 2023. Published following the exhibition Coastal Imaginaries at the Danish Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.
Carrington, Damian. “Rising seas threaten ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’, UN chief warns.” The Guardian, February 14, 2023. [online]
Danish Pavilion, “The Danish Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.” Press Release, February 1, 2023. [online]
Garcia, Andreia, Ana Neiva and Diogo Aguiar, eds. Fertile Futures. Volume I. Porto: Architectural Affairs, 2023. Published following the exhibition Fertile Futures at the Portuguese Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. “Energy.” Accessed July 10, 2023. [onlinehttps://www.fao.org/energy/home/en/ ]
Pasuri, Elene, ed. january, february, march. Tbilisi: Tbilisi Architecture Biennial, 2023. Published following the exhibition january, february, march at the Georgian Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.
Pavilion of Spain. “Pavilion of Spain at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.” Press release, March 27, 2023.
Ritchie, Hannah, Pablo Rosado and Max Roser. "Environmental Impacts of Food Production." OurWorldInData, 2022,accessed on July 10, 2023, [online]
World Health Organization. “Drinking-water.” Accessed July 10, 2023. [online]
