There’s been a lot of activity around water – predominately its use and inevitable misuse. In this version of the dump… some choice bits worthy of another look.
:: Big Squirt – image via Treehugger
An interesting ephemeral art-piece, “STREET FOUNTAIN by HELMUT SMITS, 2002: Small water pumps in existing pot-holes in the road surface. When it rains, small fountains appear” (via VULGARE)
:: image via VULGARE
Read about bad stuff in the waters in India (via BLDGBLOG), as well as thinking about what you flush and what the consequences to water quality may be (via INFRASTRUCTURIST): “The list of pharma-contaminants includes carbamazepine, an epilepsy treatment that lowers alcohol tolerance, and estrone, a hormone in birth control pills that causes gender mutation in fish.”
:: image via INFRASTRUCTURIST
Or on the flip side, how about: “…growing an entire world’s worth of crops in the middle of the dessert with ocean saltwater?” (read more at Treehugger)
:: image via Treehugger
The importance of the role of water in urbanism is not to be taken lightly, as there are some particular form-giving properties that span the gamut of restoration, education, and commerce. The London Rivers Action Plan plans for “…9.3 miles of the city’s rivers will be restored to a natural state in the next six years. Of the the 14 waterways to be reclaimed, seven have been buried. Others have been made into channels, originally built to combat flooding. It is hoped that wildlife such as kingfishers, otters and voles will then return to the city shores as well. “
:: image via Treehugger
The suburban ‘water banking’ will become the norm in areas fed by the Colorado River (via InfraNet Lab):
:: image via InfraNet Lab
And from BLDGBLOG: “As part of their new water-themed issue, the beautifully designed New York Moon has produced this interactive map of the water systems of Manhattan. …Beneath New York’s lattices of concrete, iron and landfill lie dozens of organic waterways,” they write. “Using data from an 1865 sanitation map and contemporary satillite photographs, this projection depicts Manhattan as a vascular organ, whose obscure opperation has had powerful bearing on the fate of the city.”
:: Manhattan as a Vascular Organ – image via BLDGBLOG
Really great round up. I especially like the Manhattan waterways map. Imagine how different cities would look if care was given to existing features like that. I know here in Chicago, the river is something that was totally ignored as public feature and was instead given to manufacturing,which doesn’t exist anymore.