Archeworks Water Project
2008-2009

Envisioning ways that Chicago can become a sustainable urban model for dealing with the local/global water scarcity dilemma.

Access to clean water is fundamental to the lives of healthy human beings. While the United States is by and large considered to have adequate water resources, water scarcity and droughts occur regularly throughout the country. Water shortages are even routinely reported in cities directly adjacent to the Great Lakes, which hold 20% of the Earth’s freshwater and 95% of the freshwater in the U.S.

The Archeworks Water Project will be a collaborative multidisciplinary project that promises to have significant impact on environmental sustainability, social equity and educational programming in the city of Chicago. The Water Project reflects a report from the United Nations that two out of every three people in the world will be facing water shortages by 2025, a situation that will inevitably lead to global conflict. In the very near future, clean water will be the world’s most valuable resource, the new oil.

With the support of the Office of the Mayor of Chicago, Archeworks will work with a broad array of governmental, community, and academic colleagues to develop the Water Project. The project will strive to become a catalyst for the sustainable revitalization of several neighborhoods within the city and as a “Green Legacy” for Chicagoans.