Building with Water: Concepts / Typology / Design

Water has been an important topic in architecture and urban planning for years. The revitalization of the waterfront has been a prevalent trend in cities around the world. On the other hand, architecture also had to respond to the threat of floods.The theme of Building with Water is the use of water in architecture. It presents buildings that explicitly refer to water in their design and form. It establishes a typology of building by the water: residential structures, recreation facilities, industry and infrastructure, buildings for culture and art. The various design parameters are explored in four essays. Subsequently, twenty-two international projects are presented, organized according to their locations by a river, a lake or the sea. The authors concern is not to show luxurious buildings in privileged locations but rather presenting projects that seriously grapple with the main criterion of the locationnamely, waterin an ecologically sustainable way and respond to it with their design.