LIQUID GROUNDS

LIQUID GROUNDS

Instructor: Paul Steinbrück

Engagement: Craftsmanship

Location: Ghent

Language: English

Semester 2, Spring 2026

View the presentation (pdf)

Description / Inhoud:
Outdoor swimming in open water is a profoundly urban and social activity. It has the potential to overcome societal segregation, to support individual health, to offer much-needed relief in increasingly hot summers, and, not least, to provide shared pleasure. Ghent, with its extensive network of waterways, holds great potential for such practices. The Ghent-based NGO Waterland seeks to make outdoor swimming possible in these waters, encountering both sympathetic interest and political hesitation. Meanwhile, citizens already make use of the city’s water infrastructure despite a general ban, informally claiming the right to swim.
Supporting the mission of Waterland, students will develop proposals for projects in, on, or at the water that enable swimming, while appearing to serve another primary function to be defined by each student. How can architecture emerge where conventional land-based methods fall short? What new possibilities arise when structures are anchored to a fluid base, inherently linked to mobility and temporality? And how can such projects be realised with the limited means of an NGO and its potential partners?

Line of inquiry / Onderzoekslijn:
For Real / Material Reality

Topic, Thematic Focus / Thema:
water, hybrid infrastructure, temporality, construction methods

Key Questions or Provocation / Centrale vragen en provocaties:
How can architecture be made in, on, or at the water?
How does the fluid base affect the temporality and location of a structure?
How can a structure serve multiple purposes—both explicit and disguised?

Methodologies or Formats / Methodologie:
Client engagement, contextual research, exploration of construction methods, scenario development, prototyping and on-site testing, reality checks, and potential realisation.

Design / Expected Outcome(s) / Ontwerp / Verwachte Resultaten:
Students will develop a concrete proposal for a water-based structure up to a stage of potential realisation by the client organisation. Proposals should address design, construction methods and procedures, as well as scenarios of use and maintenance.

Deliverables / In te dienen documenten:
Representation of the proposal through visuals, text, models, and/or other media, to be presented publicly during Dobberdag (“Floaty Day”) in May 2026. Project development records. Postcard.