In search of water Enchantment
from disappearing water cultures to reviving water experiences on Mallorca
A.J. Meier (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
I Bobbink – Mentor (TU Delft - Landscape Architecture)
M.G. Vink – Mentor (TU Delft - History, Form & Aesthetics)
R.R. van den Ban – Mentor (TU Delft - Teachers of Practice / AE+T)
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Abstract
Mallorca, a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean, faces a growing crisis of water overconsumption, exacerbated by seasonal tourism, urban development, and unsustainable resource management. This graduation project investigates the island’s water scarcity through environmental, cultural, and infrastructural lenses, identifying the disconnect between consumption and natural limits. In response, the project proposes a bathhouse,a space that reconnects users with water as a precious, experiential resource, while also capturing and reusing rainwater.
During the heavy winter rains, water is collected and stored for use in the bathhouse. In the dry summer months, when water cuts are increasingly common in the village, only the communal showers remain in use, reviving a shared water system rooted in collective responsibility. The rest of the bathhouse transitions into a dry space for events and the drying of herbs. This project reintegrates a caretaker into the site and embraces the storytelling potential of water and enchanting infrastructures, allowing new narratives of care, resilience, and community to unfold.