Résumé

Living with water is a daily fact of life in Slovenia, more than it might seem at first glance. Water – from rivers to glacial lakes, waterfalls, torrential hills, gullies, bogs, disappearing lakes, bays, karst and thermal springs – is one of the most potent and decisive factors determining both Slovenia’s landscapes and its supply of drinking water. Water is part of myriad myths and the subconscious, of thought and creativity, politics and protest. At the same time, water is full of opposites. A multidisciplinary team of 13 architects, landscape architects, urban planners, researchers and strategists explores and discusses the relationship between architecture and water both past and present and what a relationship should look like in the future. How to re-think water management and the protection of water resources? By understanding all the complexity and interconnectedness of natural and anthropogenic water systems and by developing alternative models, can we create a new, fairer, safer and less invasive living environment? Water management requires the input of informed people and important political decisions. The controversial and notorious unrealised Slovenian Parliament by architect Joze Plecnik, which incorporates a fountain hidden under the main hall designed as and meant to represent a mythical source of wisdom for the deputies, seems like an ideal space to talk about these pressing issues.