Words do not merely describe the world — they actively shape it. Every architectural idea, every cultural shift, begins with language, with new terms emerging precisely at the threshold where existing words fail to encompass new realities.
In an era defined by unprecedented environmental urgency, where our very relationship to water is undergoing profound transformation, the necessity for a new lexicon becomes not merely linguistic, but epistemological.
Our existing vocabulary — rooted deeply in outdated paradigms of dominance, extraction and control — proves inadequate to articulate the emerging complexities and urgencies surrounding water. Modern western terminology limits our ability to envision and therefore enact alternative relationships with the world’s most vital resource. If we are to reimagine our future with water, we first must redefine the language we use to describe, interpret and engage with it.
100 Words for Water: A Projective Ecosocial Vocabulary addresses precisely this epistemological need. Through a collaborative effort involving thinkers, scientists, activists, philosophers and architects from around the globe, this collection constructs a fresh, conceptual toolkit aimed at reformulating our relationship with water in a context of growing ecological urgency.
By redefining how we speak about water, we initiate a vital shift in consciousness, capable of producing radical ecosocial change. In the face of climate emergency, new vocabularies open pathways to previously unimaginable futures. This is not simply a collection of terms, it is a lexicon of possibility, a glossary for survival, coexistence and stewardship. 100 Words for Water: A Projective Ecosocial Vocabulary calls upon us to rethink language as activism, architecture as dialogue and water as the living voice that binds all life. To engage with this vocabulary is to participate actively in reshaping not just how we talk about water—but how we live with it, share it and protect it, in a collective quest for hydric justice.
Contributors
Dele Adeyemo, Stacy Alaimo, Farah Alkhoury, Pere Almeda, Animali Domestici (Alicia Lazzaroni + Antonio Bernacchi), Markus Bader, Marta Ball-llosera Font, Batlleiroig Architecture, Lola Ben-Alon, Ferran Bertomeu, Nigel Bertram + Catherine Murphy, Neeraj Bhatia, Josep Bohigas Arnau, Shumi Bose + Arinjoy Sen, Manuel Bouzas Barcala, Eduardo Cadava, Nerea Calvillo, Tei Carpenter, Laia Celma i Adrover, Rosa Cerarols Ramírez, Carson Chan, Sria Chatterjee, Emanuele Coccia, Beatriz Colomina + Mark Wigley, Lluis Corominas, Guim Costa, Fernando Cremades + Agnès Villette, Jingru (Cyan) Cheng + Chen Zhan, Cooking Sections, José Luis De Vicente, Carolyn Dry, ecoLogicStudio (Claudia Pasquero + Marco Poletto), Elvira Dyangani Ose, elii [architecture office] (Uriel Fogué, Eva Gil, Carlos Palacios), Carles Enrich Giménez, Espacio Común (Paula Villar Pastor + Daniel Canchán Zúñiga), Eudald Espluga Casademont, Sonia Fernández Pan, Nati Franch Ventura, Sana Frini, Cristina Gamboa Masdevall, Andreia Garcia, Miriam García García, Macarena Gómez-Barris, Carlos Gonzalvo Salas, Jia Yi Gu, Alejandra Guerrero Lozada, Ariane Lourie Harrison, Samia Henni, Mea Hoffmann, Elise Misao Hunchuck, Joyce Hwang, Nahyun Hwang + David Eugin Moon (N H D M), Carles Ibáñez Martí, Andrés Jaque, Lydia Kalipoliti, Daryan Knoblauch, Ivan L. Munuera, Adrian Lahoud, Beatrice Leanza, Dominic Leong, Mary Maggic, Areti Markopoulou, Sandro Marpillero + Sonal Beri, Ana Miljački, Carlos Mínguez Carrasco, Timothy Morton, Christina Moushoul, Sethembile Msezane, Toni Navarro, Nikhil Anand + Lalitha Kamath, Sarah Nuttall, Katie O’Bryan + Kate Harriden, Serpil Oppermann, Marina Otero Verzier, Kaan Özgün, Spyros Papapetros, Marta Peirano, Lorenzo Pezzani, Quim Pou i Rovira, Boonserm Premthada, Maria Ptqk, Regner Ramos, Philippe Rahm, Grit Ruhland, Juan Francisco Salazar, Mehak Sawhney, Rosario Talevi, Masamichi Tamura, Dorothy Tang, André Tavares, James Taylor-Foster, Robel Temesgen Bizuayehu, Montserrat Termes-Rifé, José María Torres Nadal, Mio Tsuneyama, Christina Varvia, Enric Vicedo-Rius, Kateřina Vídenová, Fleur Watson, Julia Watson, Lydia Xynogala, Liam Young, WAI Architecture Think Tank (Nathalie Frankowski + Cruz García), Feifei Zhou.
EDITING AND PRODUCTION
Institut Ramon Llull
Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC)
PUBLISHER IN ENGLISH
Lars Müller Publishers
EDITORS AND ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
Eva Franch i Gilabert, Mireia Luzárraga, Alejandro Muiño
EDITORIAL COORDINATION
Esther Fernández Cifuentes
Twist Editors
CONCEPT DESIGN AND CREATIVE DIRECTION
Arauna Studio + Paratext
BOOK DESIGN AND PHOTOGRAPHY EDITING
Arauna Studio + Paratext
Esteve Padilla
Dani Rubio Arauna
Sergi Llambrich
Lidia Puig
Pol Pintó
Violeta Araujo
DESIGN PRODUCTION COORDINATION
Pep Quílez
3D ILLUSTRATIONS
Santi Grau
Arauna Studio + Paratext
TRANSLATION AND PROOFREADING
Mireia Alegre
Miquel Arderiu
Emilie Delcourt
Anna Turró
