World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced the 2018 winner of its inaugural Water Research Prize, an innovative, community led water management system, designed by a team of students from Pontificia Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) which captures, stores, and treats rainwater and inserts it into pre-existing water networks.

Construction process

The winner will receive a £10,000 prize from Grohe, the world's leading supplier of sanitary fittings, to support further research. The PUCP team beat a shortlist of 12 projects drawn from over 60 entries who were assessed by a panel of experts including Judge Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Kingdom of The Netherlands. 

Each entrant was asked to identify a new challenge or opportunity related to design and water, and in doing so advance an understanding of water in relation to the built environment. The prize money will supplement existing research that seeks to outline ways in which human settlements in the Amazon Rainforest can better adapt to their specific environmental and cultural context.

Rainwater Collection System as a Bioclimatic Curtain Wall for the Amazon Rainforest by Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

The design team’s focus was to overcome the challenges around the integration of water and sewage provision in the Peruvian Amazon, where only 31% of the population has access to water, despite living in an area with the highest levels of annual rainfall worldwide. Differing from a traditional water tank system, the PUCP team developed a system of tubes that capture, store and treat rainwater, and serves as a non-load-bearing wall that occupies less space and can be more easily integrated with existing architecture. 

The number of tubes can be increased or decreased according to the user's water needs. The system also incorporates traditional architectural solutions, such as promoting permeable walls and facilitating cross-ventilation, allowing users to address the high temperatures of the Amazon without the need for artificial systems like air conditioning.

Medicinal garden

By designing an independent system from conventional networks, the designers sought to reduce the costs of implementation and maintenance that they generate. The system is also communal and not individual, therefore reducing costs per family. In the same way, its communal use promotes activities, such as washing clothes and cooking, that generate public platforms for inclusion and dialogue.

Construction diagram

Construction diagram-2

"Ingeniously addressing the ironic condition that communities in the Amazon do not have adequate water despite having the highest rainfall in the world, this proposed communal water management system admirably addresses both the social community and environment challenges interlinked with water shortage and quality. Plus, it is an adaptable idea, there is the ability to replicate the design in similar environmental terrains. It is a worthy winner of our inaugural WAF Research Prize," said Paul Finch, Programme Director of World Architecture Festival.

Maintenance diagram

The prize was the first to be announced following the 2017 launch of the WAFX Manifesto, which identified the key challenges architects will need to address over the next ten years, including climate, energy and carbon; ageing and health; re-use; smart city technology; building technology; cultural identity; ethics and values; power and justice; and virtual worlds.

The annual World Architecture Festival is taking place at RAI Amsterdam this year between 28-30 November, and World Architecture Community is an official media partner for the event.

Prominent Architects have been announced to discuss this year's theme "identity" at WAF's 2018 Stage. See the speakers and the full program here.

In this context, World Architecture Community, in collaboration with WAF, offers to its Professional Members 10% discounted tickets over regular festival prices during registration! All you have to do is to upgrade your World Architecture Community membership to Professional here or visit your WAC Settings page and send us ([email protected]) an email to get your promo code for your WAF registration!

All images courtesy of WAF

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