HS23 Seminar Week: Following the Water on the Slopes of Banyalbufar in Mallorca.
Seminar Week Prof. Teresa Galí-Izard
Banyalbufar, Mallorca (Spain)
22nd - 27th of October 2023
Price category C (max. 750 CHF)
10 - 20 students
Contact: breit@arch.ethz.ch
Water is the wealth of Banyalbufar. It is the element that turns the steep slopes of the municipality into a productive garden. A centuries-old network of channels and reservoirs distributes the water that accumulates in underground aquifers inside the mountains onto the terraced fields. Vine, tomatoes, lemon, and olive trees grow here, crops that nourish the Mediterranean way of life. The original agrarian society of Mallorca, however, has long vanished and new actors have entered the scene: Witty goats are sneaking onto the cultivated terraces to snack on the crops and pine trees are stretching their roots causing dry-stone-walls to collapse. Ever more often unpredictable forces - wildfires and tornadoes - are fighting over the sovereignty of the territory.
During the seminar week, we will follow the water on the slopes of Banyalbufar, from the mountain top to the Balearic sea, and all the traces it has left in between. We will learn from the irrigation system and celebrate water as the source of life, invited and guided by local geologists, historians, and architects. We will hike to the local wells, survey the state of the water reservoirs, maintain dry-stone walls, celebrate the fruits of the irrigated fields and listen to the elderly of the village on how the water is governed and distributed. Throughout the week we will hike, swim, observe, listen, taste and feast, building a collective understanding of the place with the aim to uncover potentials of this landscape.
To offer you the most affordable and flexible travel options, we ask you to arrange your own flights to and from Palma (included in price category C). The official program lasts from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon. Accommodation, breakfast, and dinner are included.
