'The Temptation of Water'

Inner-city water spaces are undergoing a process of transformation. They are no longer perceived only as infrastructure, local recreation or biotope spaces worthy of protection, but increasingly also as spaces of opportunity for urban development. Thus, they are increasingly being played with (built) projects (e.g. floating houses) and/or new practices (e.g. river swimming). In addition to the already complex demands on inner-city water spaces, new requirements have been added that have not yet been formulated, but only implied in the projects and practices.

The research question is why or how the perception of inner-city water spaces is changing. How do readings and thus narratives of these spaces change? (...)

The initial proposition is that the motives of the projects are to be found more on a metaphorical than on a functional level. Starting from this, data is collected empirically and theoretically in an iterative research process and further condensed via initial conclusions and new propositions. This approach corresponds to the style of ‚Grounded Theory‘. During the investigation, various theories serve as >tools< to structure and decode the findings. Namely, these are the theories of Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari and, marginally, Bruno Latour. Some of the theories refer directly to each other (as in the case of De Certeau and Foucault, for example) or were developed through mutual influence (as in the case of Deleuze and Foucault, for example). All of these theories have influenced the so-called ‚spatial turn‘ in spatial discourse. For an investigation into the reading of inner-city water spaces in a relational understanding of space, they thus offer the appropriate foundations.

At the end of the investigation, a series of methodological tests in three experimental design studios will test the application and transfer to urban design practice. Some selected works are presented in the appendix. The design methodological tools formulated and tested within the framework of this work are also explained in the appendix.

1Rost, F.-A.: Die Verführung des Wassers. Stadträumliche Entwicklung und Fortschreibung der Narration innerstädtischer Wasserräume. TUM School of Engineering and Design. Dissertation. http://mediatum.ub.tum.de/?id=1647301, 2022