Guardians of Water

This anthology approaches water not as a resource to be managed but as a vital condition shaping territories and cultures. Emerging from the paradox of water’s disappearance from everyday awareness even as floods and droughts intensify, the book repositions water as a spatial agent.Rather than advancing technical fixes, it asks a fundamental question: What does it mean for designers to become “Guardians of Water”? Landscape architecture is reframed as an ethical and political practice grounded in reciprocity and long-term stewardship.Structured in three chapters, “Fluid Soils”, “Cloud Forests”, and “Rituals of Care”, the book presents landscapes as active hydrological and social systems. It challenges extractive logics and technocratic paradigms, demonstrating how landscape architecture can foster regeneration and collective engagement.Forewords by Tim Waterman (Bartlett, UCL) and DevayaniDeshmukh Upasani (Indian Society of Landscape Architects)A decolonial approach to landscape design, addressing fragile landscapes26 tales ranging across Europe, Africa and Asia