Send message to Author

Paper short abstract:

A feature of the traditional irrigation system is used in a design project to build up the narrative of the sharing-out of water. I also use here it as a conceptual figure to explore how different ideas on how to timeshare a common future are being shaped by several landscape transformations.

Paper long abstract:

The Mediterranean landscapes of mass tourism in Spain, with its rapid urbanization of land and change of the uses of space, were preceded by a transformation in the traditional uses of water. Today, from an ecological perspective, the future of these landscapes is being rethought. Institutions, businesses, and active citizens are looking back to what is left of medieval irrigation systems. Some, to relearn the arts of taking care of water and take better care of the landscape; others, to make water management more efficient in the future; and yet others, to reorient the tourism destination from sun and beach to idyllic views of the rural. I draw from fieldwork done while, as an architect, I have been part of the repurposing of the headwaters of the 'Horta d'Alacant' into a center to welcome visitors that will be attracted, hopefully, by how different temporalities meet in this landmark building: from here to the agro-industrial plantations, treated water is impulsed by photovoltaic panels, but torrential rainwater is still collected and shared-out among traditional irrigators. A 'partidor' is a board attached to a screw and a wheel to help lift it and let pass, or not, the water through each irrigation canal. In our design, the 'partidor' has become a central feature of the narrative of the sharing-out of water. I also use it as a conceptual figure to explore how different ideas on how to timeshare a common future are being shaped by several landscape transformations.