Groundwater-architecture : improving the social value of groundwater

Abstract

RESEARCH QUESTION: How can architecture improve the public awareness, understanding and appreciation of groundwater?

ABSTRACT: Groundwater sources are disappearing from highly populated areas around the world. Over harvesting, pollution and demand for space are some of the primary factors attributed to their decline. The absence of public support to protect these important water sources can be attributed to a lack of public awareness, understanding and appreciation for groundwater and the role it plays in the life and sustenance of a city. In Tauranga City for example, local residents are unaware of the dormant springs buried beneath their city library, war museum and police station. This project investigates how civil architecture can improve the social value of groundwater by improving public perception, knowledge and endorsement for the protection and restoration of local groundwater entities. This research utilises existing architectural case studies associated with groundwater to identify quantities and qualities that have improved the social value of groundwater. Common traits found across the sample group were evaluated and incorporated in the design process/outcome of a “Spring Observatory” at the source of one of the springs in the Tauranga City centre. This research identifies a number of gaps in the knowledge of groundwater-architecture and the historic landscape of Tauranga City. Future research in this field should investigate i) the social value of groundwater, focusing on indigenous communities, (i.e. Māori) ii) the historic landscape of the Te Papa peninsula prior to European settlement and iii) define groundwater-architecture to establish more specialised research within the generalised field of “water buildings”.

Case studies include: Puukenga, Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae (Unitec)