La Forma dell’Acqua

Villa Reale di Durazzo
3 July 2024

A Short Story of the Relationship Between Architecture and Water

Water manifests itself in architecture in three fundamental ways.The first manifestation of water in architecture is essential. It is the basic relationship between architecture and rain. Every building must respond to this fundamental question: How do we protect architecture from rain? Answering this question defines the vertical ending of a building—its roof, its crown. The relationship with the sky is, at the same time, a relationship with water.The second manifestation of water is accidental. It occurs when a building stands near water—a river, a lake, or the sea. Often this relationship is purely visual, almost Platonic, existing only through the view. But not always. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to build directly on the water. Building on water introduces a particular condition: water is always flat, always horizontal. Yet this second relationship remains largely theoretical; it concerns orientation and perspective. Fundamentally, architecture itself does not change.The third manifestation of water in architecture is intentional. It appears when water is used as a material, when we shape it and hold it in place—when we “freeze” it into forms, much like we shape space. In this case water becomes a fully architectural element. It becomes a constructed experience. Water may become a pool in which we can enter, a canal we can cross by bridges, or a surface we can walk alongside. Water becomes, in a sense, frozen space.

Prizren, 1954 – Water Channels

Prizren was born from water. Its shape and urban structure were defined by water. In this sense, the city can be understood as the result of the first manifestation of water in architecture.The morphology of the city, the direction of its streets, all developed in relation to the flow of water. Channels begin in the river and wind their way through the city, irrigating gardens and passing beside or beneath houses before returning again to the river. Many streets naturally descend toward the water.As a child, one of my favorite occupations was to follow these channels through the city, memorizing the streets and trying to draw a map of them in my mind.I particularly loved a block near Shën Premtja, where the channels passed from one garden to another, sometimes even flowing beneath houses.

My First Concrete House in Prizren

When you build a house with a flat roof, rainwater must eventually descend. Usually this happens invisibly, hidden inside pipes, disappearing mysteriously into the sewage system.I wanted to make the movement of water visible.The house has two flat roofs, and therefore two exposed channels that carry the rainwater down. Around the house I created a series of small basins that collect the water before it passes beneath the building.

Garden House in Prishtina

The Garden House includes two small ponds filled with rainwater. The upper channel flows into a second, lower basin crossed by Japanese stepping stones, which provide the only access to the garden and the house.In this way, one must literally walk across the water to enter the house.

Buqalla Pools and Hotel

The Buqalla Pools and Hotel, developed and built between 2002 and 2008, was a much more ambitious project. It is a project in which all three manifestations of water appear simultaneously.The project is located along a small river, very close to its source. My idea was to build partly on the water, allowing the natural flow of the river to fill the swimming pools. After passing through the pools, the water would be filtered through a series of underground basins and then returned clean to the river.In this way we could use the water without harming the river.The pools were designed to operate mainly during the summer months. For the rest of the year the river would continue its natural flow.At the time, there were almost no regulations in post-war Kosovo, which allowed a great deal of freedom. Unfortunately, ten years later the authorities required chlorine treatment for the pools. This made it impossible to return the water directly to the river, and the owners had to adopt conventional filtering systems.Originally, the water was collected upstream in a filtering basin, then guided into the first pool, then the second, and finally the third. On the hotel side, water passed beneath the building and filled several small basins before returning to the river.My first definition of the project was simple: to create a place where a person could encounter himself.After arriving by a winding mountain road, you suddenly find yourself in the middle of nature. But what you see is not only nature—you also see yourself.Nature becomes a stage set, a scenography. Paths lead along the river, up and down. Ramps guide visitors through the landscape. One can remain on the bridge looking at the flowing water, walk down to the riverbank, or stand on small platforms floating above the surface.