3491 WaterSchool, Alcova Milan, 2022

: Timothy Liu

WHAT DO WE NEED TO START FROM SCRATCH – TO START BEING HUMANE AGAIN?

In WATERSCHOOL’s Garden of Delight, human presence is not immediately perceptible. It is a place where the fundamental elements composing the human body and our essential resources simultaneously become valuable nutritional sources, building materials and filtering agents. The garden, a humble starting point, grows into a new type of household – fostering completely new ways of living.

WATERSCHOOL’s site-based research and a ‘learning by doing’ approach focuses on Rotterdam’s Merwe-Vierhavens (M4H) harbour district. Operating as a test site, WATERSCHOOL shows a speculative landscape where the 6,300 future residents implement the regenerative use of raw materials and resources, allowing for balanced cohabitation between all local organisms, communities, and environment.

WATERSCHOOL MILAN

You can find us in fabulous Alcova, a former factory building. The ex-industrial space is partly taken over by plants and vegetation, giving it a state of poetic semi-abandonment. In WATERSCHOOL Alcova we have invited Rotterdam based artists, designers and architects to contribute. The exhibition, supported by Stichting Droom en Daad, shows a sustainable, circular and regenerative learning environment in order to meet the looming ecological challenges.

 

In an intimate and personal setting, we will personally guide you through the Garden, connecting it to the Rotterdam M4H district and illustrating what a new living and working environment could look like when its development is guided by a resource use that ensures a fair interaction between all organisms, communities, and their environment.

PARTICIPANTS

Aliki van der Kruijs & Jos Klarenbeek
Ance Janevica
Arvid & Marie
Bart Hess & Govert Flint
Basse Stittgen
Emma van der Leest & Radboud University, NL
Flip the City
Frank Bruggeman
Gijs Schalkx
Helmut Smits
Lab AIR
Livin Farms
Maidie van den Bos | Forêt Atelier
Max Latour & Pierre Oskam
Paolo Patelli, Giulio Squillacciotti & Giuditta Vendrame
Philipp Kolmann, Suzanne Bernhardt & Liza Witte
Roberta Di Cosmo & Matilde Patuelli
Studio Klarenbeek & Dros
Studio Makkink & Bey
Studio Ossidiana
Tamara Orjola