The wondrous
watersquare

This is the story about a smart idea: the water square. It is a story about the city and about rain. We will experience more extreme rainfall worldwide. That is a problem for many cities, especially for cities in delta regions. Rotterdam is such a city. It is located on the river Maas and also below sea level. The city needs space to retain its rainfall and smart measures are needed for this. For this, De Urbanisten designed the water square: a square that functions as a playground, a theater, a place to skate,  but also a square that retains rainwater that would otherwise flood the streets and flood cellars.

This graphic novel tells the story of the water square from different perspectives. It shows the origins of the water square: from the first idea via the drawing table to consultations with municipal politics on the eve of the first square to be built in the Netherlands. It tells the story of what you can do on a water square, how it works and about the countless forms that the water square has. But it also shows why this idea was conceived, what the problem is now and why the water square is such a smart idea. And it tells the story of Max: an adventurous boy who explores the water square when it rains heavily and what he experiences then ...

With the support of the Netherlands Architecture Fund.

type
graphic novel

role
co-author

year
2010

with:
Dirk van Peijpe
Florian Boer

links
NAi Booksellers
De Urbanisten