A Change of Matter

Abstract

The following project falls within the Rights of Nature movement as a response to the climatic crisis. It is situated in the Alps. From the moment Hannibal managed to lead his Carthagnian army, including their elephants, through the Alps until the construction of modernist glacial skiing resorts and monumental hydroelectric power plants, the Alps have been seen as an object to be overcome and exploited. This resulted in extensive infrastructural projects throughout the whole territory and at all elevations. In order to restore the agency of this living entity, the project repositions the Alps as an active subject with their own right. Moving through three phases – listening to - speaking with - negotiating on behalf of the Alps – results in the foundation for the Parliament of the Alps, composed of a group of people which will act as guardians of the Alps, and the illustration of their most urgent project.

The site of the project is the Gepatsch glacier in the Ötztaler Alps in Austria, one of the largest and most rapidly melting glaciers in the territory. Glaciers are a record of time, connecting past, present and future. On one hand, the memory of the past – an archive of human interventions – shedding light on vernacular knowledge practices, gathered in their yearly deposited layers of ice and atmospheric particles. On the other hand a holder of meaning for the future, as their disappearance is causing major changes and challenges within the biophysical environment of diverse biotic and abiotic socioeconomic and cultural systems.

The Alps are a true representation of the web of life, as the interdependencies of each part of their ecosystem are vital for the survival of each species. Many elements contribute to it, such as their East to West orientation, their ability and responsibility to collect water from the atmosphere, store it for dry seasons and years, carry it through their veins, and share it equitably and steadily with all living beings which are dependent on freshwater to survive – from the top of the mountains to the deltas of Europe. With increasing temperatures and the further realization of infrastructural projects for the sake of European visions on green development, which often neglects local conditions, this essential role and responsibility of the Parliament of the Alps, to share freshwater democratically, is at risk.
The changing states of water, from frozen to fluid, brings with it the need for all places and ecosystems connected to the Alpine water system to adapt to non-glacially influenced conditions.

By envisioning an Alpine Ocean, which emerges from the synergy of water and soil, and empowering the natural dynamics, which were defined through the establishment of prominent characteristics of the Alpine range – erratic, connected, mosaic-like and cyclic – the transition shall secure the democratic share and availability of freshwater for all living beings, now and for future generations.