Towards a hydraulic society: An architecture of resource perception

The earth has a finite supply of fresh water operating within a specific natural cycle. Due to population increases, massive industrialization of developing nations, and a culture of water consumption based on endlessness, the world is facing a massive crisis of freshwater shortage. Past and present solutions to local crisis have focused on supply management, when the real solution is demand management. Demand is founded on societal habits, cultural practices, and an individually based perception of water's value. The built environment mirrors this perception, where architecture as a cultural construct becomes an access terminal for various resource infrastructures. This thesis proposes an architecture that renders visible the cyclic specificity and finitude of water by proposing a new typology of public building that experientially transforms the inherited habits of citizens towards a balanced perception of water