Water Parliaments, presented at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, looks at water not just as a resource but as a powerful agent shaping culture, climate, and community. Led by architects and curators Eva Franch i Gilabert, Mireia Luzárraga, and Alejandro Muiño, the project reframes architecture as a collaborative space where humans, ecosystems, and water systems meet to rethink how we live, build, and share space on a warming planet.
As rising sea levels and frequent flooding reshape coastlines and everyday life, the project reflects a growing understanding that the climate crisis is inseparable from our relationship with water. Drawing from the United Nations’ declaration that the climate crisis is primarily a water crisis, Water Parliaments proposes new forms of ecosocial architecture, rooted in rivers, deltas, wetlands, and reservoirs. Focused on Mediterranean contexts like Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands, the exhibition speaks to global shifts that are redefining how we inhabit and protect the places we call home.
Inside Docks Cantieri Cucchini in Venice, a former shipyard comes alive with suspended tensile membranes, layered fog cycles, and seven immersive installations. These installations explore themes from water justice and climate migration to traditional knowledge and future infrastructures. A short film sets the tone at the entrance, followed by a series of spaces designed not to display finished work but to host critical conversations among architects, activists, scientists, and policymakers.
This project goes beyond the exhibition space and into community action. In addition, three other pieces support the exhibition:
The Future Labs: Through multidisciplinary workshops held across Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community, the voices of scientists, artists, farmers, and activists have been gathered. These sessions collectively identified both individual and transversal conflicts to explore present and future scenarios for sustainable water use and multispecies coexistence. Local knowledge has been brought to the forefront to imagine innovative strategies in response to the climate crisis, forming the basis for the work presented at the Biennale Architettura 2025.
The Book “100 Words for Water: A Vocabulary”: This is a collaborative effort by thinkers, scientists, activists, philosophers, and architects from around the world to create a conceptual toolkit that redefines our relationship with water amid growing ecological urgency. Words not only describe the world, but they also actively shape it. Every architectural idea, every cultural shift, begins with language—with new terms that emerge when existing ones no longer suffice to describe new realities. Edited by curators Eva Franch i Gilabert, Mireia Luzárraga, and Alejandro Muiño, the publication is jointly promoted by the Institut Ramon Llull and the Architects’ Association of Catalonia (COAC) and published by Lars Müller.
The Open Call for the ATLAS of Water Architectures: This is the heart of the project. It invites architects, artists, academics, independent researchers, activists, institutions, and organisations worldwide to submit built, speculative, or forward-thinking projects that interrogate and reimagine our collective relationship with water. By putting these proposals in dialogue, the ATLAS seeks to stimulate informed debate and foster international collaboration towards more sustainable water futures. The initiative aims to build a critical, global repository that centres ecosocial perspectives, celebrates practices that challenge dominant paradigms, and proposes transformative visions for water management and architecture.
It currently features over 130 proposals — discover them here. waterparliaments.org
Alongside this, an international open call invites architects, researchers, and organisations worldwide to contribute to an evolving ATLAS of Water Architectures, featuring over 130 proposals to date. These works highlight speculative and built projects that challenge conventional approaches to water management and environmental design.
Water Parliaments is a long-form conversation about survival, relationships, and cohabitation on a fragile planet. It shows us that resilience is not just about physical infrastructure but about designing ecosystems of care.
Posted as part of D5 Digital Design Week 2025: This year’s edition spotlights “Design Where It Matters Most”, a reminder that smart design isn’t just aesthetic, it’s a lifeline. From emergency shelters to solar-powered lights, we’re looking at work that responds to real needs with creativity, care, and impact. The project featured above is a powerful example of how design can step up when it matters most, offering practical solutions without losing sight of human dignity.
