Not only will global climate change result in more extreme weather conditions; it will also cause the average temperature of Earths atmosphere to rise, which might mean a meltdown
of the polar caps, of glacial ice, and may precipitate a rise in sea levels. In the process, the
situation will escalate further since the global demand for water is rising. While flooding keeps occurring in some of the worlds regions time and again, other states battle with the consequences of water scarcity and resultant droughts. Apart from unforeseeable ecological consequences, in particular human settlements in close proximity to water are endangered. For over 50 % of the global population living in cities – with a rising tendency as far as the mega-cities of Asia are concerned – of which almost 90 % are located close to oceans and rivers, sustainable strategies urgently need to be developed to take account of and integrate changing climatic conditions into urban and architectural planning and design.
The exhibition project “Water – Curse or Blessing!?” curated by Ulla Giesler, Aedes East International Forum for Contemporary Architecture NPO, addresses the question of how
architects and urban planners in the Asia-Pacific region deal with water in terms of these perspectives. The projects selected provide insights into specific scenarios in urban areas
of neighboring regions of China and India, across both parts of Korea, to Thailand,
Indonesia, Taiwan and Singapore all the way to Australia, which face opposing interests
with regard to a finite resource: too much or too little water, contaminated water, etc. Water
management, water treatment, rainwater management, desalination of seawater, protection
against flooding, improvements in infrastructure as well as the urban quality of life by revitalizing
abandoned industrial sites are some of the headlines of the projects.
Catalogue
An Aedes catalogue was published.
With a text by Ulla Geisler
ISBN 978-3-937093-19-2
English
Price € 10,-
