2023 Retrospective: Embassy of Water
Water takes many different forms and travels many kilometres through the air, over land, through the soil and in the sea. But humans have interrupted this natural water cycle. We take, send, extract, pump, block, pollute and waste water. We have thus halved the natural cycle: water no longer seeps into the soil but is drained as quickly as possible via sewers and ditches, streams and rivers to the sea. These disruptions lead to drought and flooding. But something can be done about that: we can restore the water cycle.
Since 2018, the Embassy has shown how we can deal with water differently. The water excesses of recent years have also made it clear that things have to change. During Dutch Design Week 2023 (DDW23), the Embassy showed how buildings can function as a collective, natural purification system, where we borrow water from the cycle and return it to nature in a cleaner and more vital way. A water pavilion on the Stadhuisplein in Eindhoven shows how listening to water can form the foundation.
Read the Embassy of Water’s narrative here
Voice of water
The exhibition was an overview of what the Embassy has done in the five years of its existence. A period in which the Embassy gave a voice to water. First with water researcher Cees Kamp, which took some searching, says creative lead Anouk van der Poll. The second year with natural philosopher and biologist Matthijs Schouten, who held a press conference as the ‘voice of water’. Slowly Van der Poll saw a change. “When I talk about the voice of water, no one is surprised.” This year, architect Lydia Fraaije gave water a voice.
The idea for the water pavilion came about through discussions with the building developers of the homes around Stadhuisplein, says Van der Poll. “I suddenly had the inspiration to create a decentralised purification of ‘our’ Designhuis (Design House), with which we can purify the water used in that construction and return it clean to nature.” She made a drawing and was able to put all the results of projects that have passed the review in recent years in that drawing. “Ingredients that can be included in new construction plans. We depict those ingredients in the exhibition.”
Read more about the ideas behind the Embassy of Water in the interview with creative lead Anouk van der Poll.
Nine drops of inspiration
Various projects could be seen and listened to in the exhibition. Such as the podcast by designer Anne van Strien. With the task of dealing with water more consciously, Van Strien investigates how we can change our view of water. That starts with listening. At DDW23, she presented a compilation of the podcast ‘Listening to the voice of water’, developed last year, distilled down into nine drops of inspiration in which she lets the voice of water speak. In doing so, she hopes to increase awareness that we are part of a circular system in which water is worth honouring.
Melting glaciers
It also became visible what global warming is doing to the glaciers. Photographer Diewke van den Heuvel made a poetic ode to the Aletsch Glacier with the book ‘Melting Hearts’. Due to global warming, this Swiss glacier is melting so quickly that it will probably disappear in seventy years. The glacier’s disappearance has significant consequences for the people and rivers for miles around. Van den Heuvel’s photos could be admired in the pavilion.
Drinking water passport
With ‘The identity of our drinking water’, ceramist Lotte de Raadt wants to increase our awareness of water use. In 2019, with the water purification company Brabant Water, she designed a drinking water passport for the various water sources in Brabant. The drinking water passport gives the user insight into the role of nature and the journey of water from source to tap and gives our drinking water a clear identity.
Water change
In 2021, Axel Coumans and Fides Lapidaire presented a water change at DDW21 with their project Mensput – Wensput (Wish-Water-Well). They did this by actively asking the question of what reciprocity in our water systems would look like. The project is an invitation to rethink our relationship with water. From take and take to give and take. From water consumption to water reciprocity. With the question, ‘What would people want from water?’ The Mensput – Wensput challenges visitors to imagine themselves in water. During DDW23 people were able to express a wish for water again.
Why exactly?
The Embassy of Water wants to start a movement ensuring we deal with water differently. But why exactly? What is the cause? How does the current system actually work? Designers from Studio Corvers discovered during the research phase for the design of the water pavilion that there were varying answers to questions such as: “Where does the water from the tap come from, and where does it go once it flows away through the drain?”
This was why they wanted to design an accessible introduction to water. And who better to tell it than water itself? For the exhibition, Studio Corvers designed the installation ‘A Reflection of Water’, which reduces the natural and human water cycle to twelve filled containers. Tim Vermeulen provided the soundscape and lighting design and creative lead Anouk der Poll and Lydia Fraaije provided the text. The entire project was brought to life in collaboration with all Embassy of Water partners.
Watch the video of the tour through the water pavilion by creative lead Anouk van der Poll here.
underWATER world tour and vortexes
In addition to an exhibition, designer Fides Lapidaire took people on the underWATER world tour. A personalised tour at the DDW23 in which people learned to view ‘water’ from a different perspective. Lapidaire took them through designs that answered the water challenges we face and introduced them to what the changing power of art and design can mean.
There was also a lecture about the vortex by Dr. Elmar C. Fuchs, programme manager of Wetsus, a research institute for water technology. He gave a demonstration of this rotating motion called a vortex. He talked about its unique properties and benefits, among other things. The Embassy of Water wants to show this technology and other new knowledge to a broader audience, especially designers. Design power can help with the translation into possible applications on the market. There is still so much about water that we cannot yet explain. For example, what is the function of the vortex, the most wonderful movement of water?
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