San Cristobal de los Angeles, Madrid, Spain, year 2080, the average temperature is the highest recorded, there are more frequent water shortages and extreme climatic phenomenon have become a regularity . The Heat Island Effect makes the summers unbearable. Water will be more important than ever before.
The first approach of this project is to take a step back and reestablish the natural infrastructure lost during an era of invasive urbanization, where advancements were linked with paving . This entitles the resurfacing of the stream El Butarque that flows under the neighborhood. Linked with this stream there is a complex infrastructure made up of storm tanks, lakes and depuration systems, that help regulate it. These infrastructures are nowadays perceived as liminal spaces hidden from the urban territory.
The second step of the project is to remodel this water network to a smaller scale and to integrate it with the city. One way of reorganizing the space would consist of adding Storm Tank and Depuration systems inside San Cristobal. During heat waves these infrastructures could become a refuge against the extreme weather conditions. More precisely this projects tries to reestablish a mutually beneficial relationship in which the river can increases the wellbeing of the habitants and is able to restore its original place in the landscape.
In the Cittá Invisibili, ISAURA is a city that lives upon a vast system of water deposits. Isaura’s existence is motivated by its veneration to the natural element that lies beneath it.