The thesis seeks to propose a controversial economy that profits from climate change to the benefit of the city. Situated at the high point of Glasgow, Port Dundas, the manifesto imagines a hypothetical new market created by harnessing Scotland’s natural resources in the sale of fresh water, and represents the systems required to power this new economy. The programme reinvents Dundashill and the Forth & Clyde Canal as a key node in the city and generates a new landscape to capture, treat and export water while trading on its value.

The narrative of water capture and distribution becomes a powerful symbol for the existential threats of our time. Global fresh water sources are severely under pressure, as already experienced in the Global South, in contrast with the water rich climate and culture of the West of Scotland. While rainfall patterns may evolve, water scarcity is unlikely to be a severe threat to the population of Scotland with more extreme rainfall events increasing in frequency.

There is too much water, there is too little. The proposal aims to spark debate by highlighting the tension between moving forward in our current trajectory, versus responding to the social and environmental crises and reinventing how we live.

Tutors: Miranda Webster and Thomas Woodcock