Water Factory: High-Performance Courts for Rahovec Central City Square

Other Lands Studio (Thomas Hogge) and JIM (James Huemoeller) produced this project “Water Factory: High-Performance Courtsfor Rahovec Central City Square” for the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the Municipality of Rahovec urban regeneration design competition.

Situated in Rahovec, in western Kosovo, the proposal’s two civic squares and park system reconcile the tragic conflicts of the 1990s, damaging floods, and modern history to amplify the city center. Water management is key to Hogge and Huemoeller’s proposal and they emphasize a balance between civic identity and infrastructure needs.

This submission didn’t place in the competition and the team reflects on why, seeing a potential tension between perspective and plan rendering methods—ultimately seeking to “unapologetically prioritize productive spaces where humans are not always at the center.”

This idea finds it’s home in Ditched Schemes: A Landscape Zine - a space for ideas that have not been realized or awarded but still have a hold on our imagination.