WDE Talk: How can we cohabitate with water?
A deluge of water this summer. The drought of the previous summers. These weather conditions make it clear that our relationship with water needs to change, says Anouk van der Poll, curator of the Embassy of Water. We see it as a product that is always available to us; to drink, to wash in and to wash with. Water never receives anything in return. But it runs out. And sometimes there is too much.
The Embassy of Water puts man back in the natural water ecosystem and shows that the water transition is more than retaining, delaying and infiltrating. Together with designers and partners, the Embassy investigates how architecture and design power can contribute to a central, respectable role for water. One in the heart of society. At Dutch Design Week (DDW), designers Axel Coumans and Fides Lapidaire provoke thought with their Mensput-Wensput; “What kind of people would water wish for?” Lapidaire connects and talks about the role she thinks design can play in water cohabitation.
With designer Peter Scheer we talk about his work, Semilla Sanitation Hubs. With this applied work, Scheer wants to offer a solution for two problems: 650 million people have no access to clean drinking water, and one billion people have no toilet. Semilla Sanitation Hubs has developed a sanitation unit in which people from disaster areas, refugee camps and developing countries can go to the toilet and wash their hands.
Conny van Rooij, Innovation Advisor at De Dommel Water Board and Karla Niggebrugge, Policy Officer for Water at the Province of Noord-Brabant, tell more about their role and importance of the Embassy, and how they work with designers within their organisations. Where do they want to go and what does it get them?
Please note, this Talk is in Dutch.
Locations
Virtual