In 2020 I concluded External Waters, reflecting on the state of cities that live in the constant threat of floods - for example, Venice and most of the cities in the Netherlands.

 

My research started with the study of Venetian resilience and ways of adapting, after the flood of November 2019. In Venice, water is the main protagonist that regulates routines and people. Venetians have designed their way of living around the constant threat of high water, completely adapting to it. The result is a standard rule that transforms everything into a ritual: water needs to be accepted and integrated into everyday life in all its changing and uncertain nature. How Venetians navigate water can teach design the ability to not push for disconnected solutions; what brings rituality into practice is how the body -and bodies- become one with the land, mutually understanding and adapting to each other. In the framework of Venice, my project External Waters meant to translate the resilience of Venice and its inhabitants to the Netherlands, where the threat of high water is also very pressing. 

 

The research took the body as the primary adaptive tool to connect with the surroundings. The result was a training manual that used several techniques taken from theatre, dance and performance art to slowly teach the body what it could mean to co-exist with high water. With External Waters, I tried to explore if the knowledge of rituals could be stored in the body and taught through it, to connect even more deeply to its surroundings and adapt to new ones.