On 7 December 2020, water was traded for the first time on the Chicago stock exchange, allowing speculation to drive its prices, at least in the USA. Suddenly, the term ’blue gold’ took on a whole new meaning. If the news was met with outrage, it’s because it underscored, among other problems, two tragically inexorable trends: the commodification of a common good, and the increasing scarcity of an essential resource for the survival of people on Earth.

This new issue of L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui explores the subject of water as a limited resource – when it can also be a nuisance – and addresses the issue of this precious liquid. Can we build without water? Do we still have to control its course? How can architecture, urban planning and landscape design help to give water back to the community?

A poetic and political subject, water will never be owned: though having been wiped out by the Anthropocene, water keeps coming back to the surface. Invited by AA, landscapers, architects, artists, philosophers and scientists share their love for this element that we would be wrong to bury.

This issue 462 of AA is also the last to be edited by Emmanuelle Borne, our editor-in-chief since 2015. As a preamble, she looks back on ten years of publishing and architecture, ten years nourished by various contributions as well as shaken by the debates that have made the pages of AA so rich.

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In this issue:

WHAT’S NEW

Throught the eyes of : Mathieu Lehanneur ; AA’s book selection ; design : Anaïs Fernon, Design Parade, Hyères ; interview : The nuances of Manuelle Gautrand ; building : Atelier Philippe Madec, chai ; visit : The Harmonies of jean-Michel Othoniel ; representation : Moreau Kusunoki, Centre Pompidou, 2030 ; pioneers ; Adrienne Górska, Pologne (1899-1969).

VIEWPOINTS 

ART – Lionel Estève, Liquid Art, par Vanessa Clairet Stern 
PHILOSOPHY — Body of water, avec Astrida Neimanis
PHOTOGRAPHY – Luc Boegly, Arcueil’s Waterwork, avec Jean-Christophe Bailly
SCIENCE – Water, Carbon Keeper, avec Christine Dupuy
CARTOGRAPHY – Mississippi Meanders, par Harold Fisk

PROFILE

The Biopolitics of Paola Viganò, par Anastasia de Villepin

REPORT

PREAMBLE – Let It Flow, par Anastasia de Villepin, illustrated by La Cité Oasis photo report by Charly Broyez & Laurent Kronental
INTRODUCTION – The Shapes of Water, par Éric de Thoisy
LIVING WORLDS – Water of Democracy, par Valérie de Saint-Do
ESSAY – Wet and Dry, par Nicola Delon
UTOPIA – Sweating assets, par Maryam Aljomairi et Latifa Alkhayat
LANDSCAPE – Atelier Paysage, zone humide du domaine de Chevetogne, Ciney, Belgique 
DEVICE – Ciguë, une chambre pour demain, Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris, France, par Camille Bénard, Guillem Renard, Alphonse Sarthout
BUILDING – Pool is Cool, piscine en plein air, Anderlecht, Belgique
LANDSCAPE – Les Marneurs, aménagements publics et paysagers, France, Belgique, par Yên Bui
DEVICE – Alsar Atelier, Oscar Zamora, Caesar Salomon, Attrappe-brouillard et station d’hydroponie, Bogotá, Colombie,
HERITAGE – Jacques Rougerie and the Sixth Continent

TRENDS

In the news — Batimat 2024 Special Report, par Lisa Agostini 
Projects and products — AA’s selection