water – curse or blessing: encouraging architectural projects in asia-pacific aedes am pfefferberg, berlin, germany september 9th to october 21, 2011

‘sunny water lillies’ by the why factory, delft images courtesy of aedes am pfefferberg

beginning in early september, the ‘water – curse or blessing’ exhibition will be held at the aedes am pfefferberg, presenting a series of urban, infrastructural, architectural and planning proposals for east, south and southeast asia. it is essential to highlight that over 50% of the world’s population lives in cities and 90% of those individuals live near substantial bodies of water. the region’s growing population living within close vicinity to oceans and rivers will become increasingly affected by a range of issues including water shortages, droughts, floods and a rise in sea levels.

the presented proposals were generated by a sampling of architects and urban planners to assist the affected countries in coping with their water related issues. topics addressed by these proposals include rainwater harvesting, desalination, flood protection and other infrastructural improvements to contribute to improved water management.

‘sunny water lillies’ by the why factory, delft

tailored solutions for australia, china, india, korea, singapore, taiwan, thailand and the united arab emirates address a wide range of different climates with the hopeful result of resolving their respective water management issues upon implementation. ranging in scale from extensive constructed wetlands to artificial islands to floating buildings, they comprehensively aspire to allow coexistence with water.

lectures from prominent experts in the field will expound upon the link between the changing climate and architectural or urban manifestations to counter its negative affects. film screenings by american filmmaker michael buckley and indian filmmaker rintu thomas will present alternative perspectives to the exhibition’s collection.

‘xinjin water town’ by the urban planners of MVRDV, winy maas, rotterdam/xinjin

‘xinjin water town’ by the urban planners of MVRDV, winy maas, rotterdam/xinjin

‘seoul floating islands’ by taeman kim of haeahn architecture, seoul

‘seoul floating islands’ by taeman kim of haeahn architecture, seoul

shanghai houtan park: landscape as a living system’, kongjian yu, turenscape, beijing/shanghai read more about this project here.

‘shanghai houtan park: landscape as a living system’, kongjian yu, turenscape, beijing/shanghai

‘tidal garden’ by richard black, times two architects/rmit, melbourne

‘a post diluvian future’ by songsuda adhibai, ponlawat buasri + taylor lowe of the young office s+pba in bangkok

‘a post diluvian future’ by songsuda adhibai, ponlawat buasri + taylor lowe of the young office s+pba in bangkok

‘alila villas uluwatu’ a sustainable resort on the island bali, by richard hassell and wong mun summ, WOHA, singapore read more about this project here.

‘alila villas uluwatu’ a sustainable resort on the island bali, by richard hassell and wong mun summ, WOHA, singapore

‘hathi gaon – village for a hundred elephants’ by rahul mehrotra, rma architects, boston/mumbai

‘visionary masterplan for singapore 2050’ by WOHA for singapore read more about this project here.