Water in the city, Luca Rossi / Point Supreme

Athens has lost its relation to water. Part of a general absence of any conscious, let alone designed, integration of nature in the contemporary city, the presence of water has been completely eradicated from the city center and its urban experience ; an ironic fact considering that in Ancient times Athens was covered by a network of rivers that were sacred. Athenians considered water to be a supreme good, an inextricable part of daily routine with cisterns at the center of the Academies.

The rivers of Athens were built upon and turned into highways in the years of intense construction. There are extremely few public or open pools. There are not even any drinking fountains on streets or public spaces. It is difficult to explain why and how the city erased water from its daily public life so dramatically, especially considering the climate change causing record-high global temperatures and life-threatening heat waves that are going to be longer and more frequent, a condition coupled with reduced rainfalls.