Stockholm's Holy Water Revisited : Creating possibilities in, on and around the body of water between Ekerö and Skärholmen.

Sammanfattning: Water is one of the fifth element that is the most attractive to humans. We drink, we swim, we admire, we touch, we play... we can’t live without it, and yet it remains a foreign body to us. A mysterious and yet fascinating element, to which we are constantly attracted to. What would Stockholm look like if the city had not taken very pre-cautious measures to protect the body of water that surrounds it? One wonders on the shores of the magni cent Gamla Stan and admires the splendid architecture re ecting itself on the water, which makes Stockholm a very unique, visually peaceful and romantic city: The Venice of the North. Unlike Venice though, Stockholm has kept its water rather «intact», keeping aside a few exceptions. It has a tight control on what happens in, on and out of the water. As an example: waterfronts should never have lights pointing towards the water, or too close to the shore, in order to preserve the ecosys- tem as well as possible. Regulations have turned Stockholm’s water into a «Holy» body. On the other hand, Viking Lines are traveling in and out of the city like planes on a landing strip. The Royal Seaport is developing at a great speed, and the trend keeps accelerating. Furthermore, in the current context of housing shortage and unavailable lands, the municipality has proposed a plan to build an elementary school on the water, because of land shortage. What is the body of water supposed to be? Should it be preserved as an undisturbed place, highly regulated and tightly controlled like natural reserve areas? Or could it also be considered as an actual «place» rather than a simple element - a place in which or with which, inhabitants would be able to fully experience.  With this in mind, I wish to investigate the possibility of connecting two fundamen- tally di erent areas through the body of water that appears to be the only barrier that separates them: the Ekerö area (Parksidan and Solsidan) and the western shore- line of Skärholmen. Ekerö is the third wealthiest municipality of Sweden and Skärholmen regroups a very modest, low income population. I wish to explore the possibilities of developing on, in and around water places that will connect both areas, and that will counteract the segregated aspect of these two neighborhoods. The design of this project will be around the development of connective and interactive spaces for the inhabitants, while fully integrating the qualities of water and the natural forest reserves present in the area. The design will fully respect Stockholm’s regulations on preserving and protecting natural ecosystems, but will also be around the concept of «touchability». Through this design, I hope to show that water can be understood as a whole «place»on its own, on/in which people can live, interact and play. I wish to create oppurtunities for people to connect naturally, rather than forcing the bridging of societies.