{"id":1076,"date":"2025-05-16T10:55:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/arch\/news\/2025\/05\/dreamed-water-towers-reimagining-texas-infrastructure\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T12:18:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T17:18:32","slug":"dreamed-water-towers-reimagining-texas-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/arch\/news\/2025\/05\/dreamed-water-towers-reimagining-texas-infrastructure\/","title":{"rendered":"Dreamed Water Towers: Reimagining Texas Infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A New Purpose for a Familiar Icon<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What if one of Texas\u2019 most recognizable structures could help solve the challenges of tomorrow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 1,000 water towers rise above Texas towns and cities. Painted with mascots, logos and local pride, they quietly store water, stabilize pressure and support communities during power outages. But what if these utilitarian structures could do more?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That question drove a senior architecture studio at Texas A&M University, where students reimagined water towers as tools for climate resilience, civic engagement and environmental innovation. Titled Dreamed Water Towers<\/em>, the course was led by Visiting Associate Professor Mar\u00eda Pe\u00f1alver Izaguirre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe propose prototypes and explore how these towers could play a critical role in future environmental strategies,\u201d Pe\u00f1alver said. \u201cThis is not just an exploration of infrastructure; it\u2019s a chance to reimagine the future of Texas\u2019s landscape through design driven by aspirations or the desire to inspire hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/strong>Uncovering Potential<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The studio, ARCH 406, brought together 15 graduating architecture students for a semester-long design challenge. Their task: study the current state of water towers across Texas and imagine how they might evolve to meet the needs of 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe most challenging part of this project was choosing a modern issue that Texas faces,\u201d said Katherine Isakson \u201925. \u201cDramatizing it without becoming fictional, and creating a logical solution to this problem in 2050.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students considered how water towers\u2014typically seen as purely functional\u2014could take on new roles, from ecological repair to public space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a visiting professor from Spain, Pe\u00f1alver encouraged students to approach the problem from unfamiliar angles, questioning assumptions about infrastructure and its potential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Studio in Two Acts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Documenting the Present<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The semester began with a focused research phase. Inspired by photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, famous for capturing industrial architecture in black-and-white typologies, each student studied 14 water towers from across Texas. In total, the class analyzed 210 towers, collecting data and creating detailed drawings to better understand each structure\u2019s form, function and cultural context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working in a unified grayscale graphic style, students documented factors such as age, shape, location, purpose and symbolic meaning. By visually standardizing their work, they highlighted how this seemingly uniform infrastructure can reflect the distinct character of local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was unique in that it challenged my graphic capability to design and draw in a style that was uniform to a collective,\u201d said Paige Barrow \u201925.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The class\u2019s research was also supported by a custom interactive map, which visualized the towers\u2019 distribution across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preview the map with the following image and explore it here: Texas Water Tower Map<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Map<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Designing the Future<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the second half of the course, students looked ahead. They were asked to imagine Texas in 2050 and redesign water towers to meet the social and environmental challenges of that future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some towers became community gathering places. Others incorporated renewable energy systems, urban agriculture or ecological features like rainwater harvesting and pollinator habitats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe intention in our individual project was to discuss the importance of infrastructure in the event of environmental and social crisis,\u201d Barrow said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To communicate their visions, students created drawings, models and narrative concepts that combined creativity with realism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why It Matters<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rather than seeing infrastructure as static, students were encouraged to think of it as adaptable. Water towers, once background features of the landscape, became platforms for innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents define projects that are not only functional but also aim to provoke reflection or challenge conventional boundaries,\u201d Pe\u00f1alver said. \u201cThey sharpen their skills in creating new narratives, drawing, model making and representation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The studio concluded with a final review on April 25. While the course has ended, there is interest in continuing the research and submitting the work to the 2026 World Congress of Architects in Barcelona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about this event: uia2026bcn.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Texas prepares for an uncertain future, Dreamed Water Towers<\/em> reminds us that even the most ordinary infrastructure can inspire extraordinary ideas. The question isn\u2019t just \u201cWhat is a water tower?\u201d\u2014but \u201cWhat could it become?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Studio<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Browse through student work with the following documents: <\/p>\n\n\n\n