HYDRA
2022 - CORTEN steel - Unbuilt project
HYDRA is a sculpture that collects rainwater, stores it and uses this resource to irrigate parks, gardens and urban gardens. HYDRA is a work of public art that responds to the challenges that climate change poses to urban areas, contributing to a transition to a more sustainable and resilient city model.
Designed for the Lisbon metropolitan area, it could, however, serve as a prototype for installation in other contexts. A recent United Nations document reports that climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of droughts, which contributes to food insecurity, poverty and inequality. Drought and lack of water are precisely one of the effects of climate change that has more visibly affected the Iberian peninsula, and Portugal in particular. The increase in world population, which by 2050 will reach 10 billion, will imply a 55% increase in water demand, particularly in urban areas of the planet. Despite using a range of technologies to preserve water reserves, cities have been recognized as profoundly unsustainable and inefficient in terms of managing natural resources, water in the first place. Water management will therefore be an essential point in the development of sustainable and green cities of the future.