Circular Water Stories: Revealing the Wisdom of Traditional Water Systems for Today's Challenges

Inge Bobbink has been an Associate Professor in the Section of Landscape Architecture since 2007 in the Department of Urbanism at Delft University of Technology (TUD) in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment in the Netherlands. She holds a post-master’s degree from the Berlage Institute and a PhD from TUD. In cooperation with others, she developed and coordinated, from the start of 2010, the educational program for the master track of Landscape Architecture. She teaches and supervises master and PhD students, lectures internationally, coordinates the graduate studio and other courses, serves on the education management team, and participates in diverse advisory boards. She is the founder of the Circular Water Stories lab. Her research focuses on identifying landscape-architectural and sustainability values in (traditional) water systems worldwide. The goal is to learn from the past and transform that knowledge for today’s design challenges. Good mapping and drawings are crucial in this regard and require close attention. Therefore, developing an illustrative method and researching how to draw time as a design tool are ongoing topics in her research. In collaboration with colleagues, alumni, and students, various books and articles bear witness to this agenda.

Monica Veras Morais is a Brazilian researcher based in the Netherlands graduated at Delft University of Technology (TUD) in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment in the Netherlands in Landscape Architecture in the Circular Water Stories lab (2020). Her work today explores shared landscapes through the evolving interplay of design, governance, and social-ecological systems. She approaches landscape architecture as a situated, time-based, and relational discipline, exploring how humans and non-humans jointly shape landscapes and contribute to their reimagining. Her research spans a range of contexts, from residential gardens and urban interstices to peri-urban territories. Her doctoral research at TUD examined the long-term transformation of shared residential gardens, leading to the development of design principles that support evolving social and ecological needs. More recently, she explored networks of urban leftover spaces as sites of multiple forms of inhabitation through the project Everyone’s Land: Reimagining Urban Interstices for the More-than-Human. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at TUD on the project FAIR: Fostering Water Circularity in Peri-urban Landscapes, in cooperation with Inge Bobbink, collogues from Vienna, Austria and Florence, Italy co-designing circular water strategies for European peri-urban regions and explores how water, as a shared landscape resource, drives spatial transformation.

Amina Chouairi is an Italian Moroccan landscape architect based between the Netherlands and Italy.  She graduated at Delft University of Technology (TUD) in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment in the Netherlands in Landscape Architecture (2020) and was part of the Circular Water Stories lab. She is a lecturer in Landscape Architecture at Wageningen University & Research and holds a PhD in Urbanism from Università Iuav di Venezia. Her practice centres on transitional wet territories, interrogating their contested epistemological, ontological and ethical matters from a landscape architecture perspective. Her doctoral thesis discusses the agency of the barene (brackish marshes) in the Venice Lagoon landscape and their urgent call for restoration. It acknowledges their role in unveiling and rethinking Venice as a city in a landscape, a fluid “Venice-in-a-Lagoon”. Chouairi actively raises public awareness by showcasing overlooked areas of the Venice Lagoon through curated talks, symposia, and landscape explorations, among other formats. Among others, she has given guest lectures at the AA London, TUD, TU Munich, Ghent University, Université Libre de Bruxelles, the University of Virginia, and the National Institute of Technology Calicut. She was a finalist for the Canadian Centre for Architecture-Mellon Research Program, In the Hurricane, On the Land. Her research has been exhibited at the 10th International Architecture Biënnale Rotterdam, It’s About Time and the 19th International Architecture Exhibition Biennale Architettura Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.

Naeema Ali is an interdisciplinary designer at Witteveen+Bos, working from their Dubai office. An emerging professional in the built environment sector, Naeema collaborates with diverse teams to develop landscape design strategies, nature-based solutions and climate-resilient infrastructure. In her role as a project coordinator, she oversees international and urban development projects. Her work portfolio spans the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India, and Azerbaijan, where she applies systems thinking, nature-based engineering methods, and community engagement to her projects. Focusing on cities and climate change, she has further explored these issues through publications, activism, research, and academia. She works closely with global think tanks and research groups like the LoTEK, which designs climate-proof futures by applying indigenous knowledge. During her graduation year, she developed an integrated water management approach to landscape architectural design, using the case of the below-sea-level Kayalnilams in Kerala, India. This project “Land can sometimes be Water” conducted in the Circular Water Stories lab (2020), was exhibited in the London Design Biennale, 2021, inside the India Pavilion under the clean water category. Naeema holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, India and a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Delft University of Technology (TUD), the Netherlands.

Emmanouela Maria Armoutaki is a Greek architecture engineer, currently working for the Department of Environmental Structures at the Directorate of Engineering Projects in Iraklion Regional Unit, Crete on public building projects. She holds a Master of Science in Landscape Architecture from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands and a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Architecture in Architecture Engineering from the School of Engineering of Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. Her graduation project “Yofyros. A river beyond banks”, focused on revealing and redefining a river landscape and the locals living with water, connected to the place’s water-related memories and traditions. She conducted het graduation project in the Circular Water Stories lab (2022). Armoutaki’s primary professional experience on a wide range of projects, such as housing, playgrounds, and the restoration of historical heritage, progressively oriented her towards designing collective spaces open to everyone while incorporating their natural, cultural, and historical backgrounds. 

Farnoosh Bazrafkan is a landscape designer based in Amsterdam with a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. She conducted her graduation project “From ambigious borderscapes to pluralism: An alternative landscape representation as a way of integrating ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ around the Hunze valley” in the Circular Water Storis lab (2022). Her interest lies in an interdisciplinary understanding of the landscape, between the natural world, cultural context and architecture as a human endeavour. She has long been inspired by biophilic theory and, in her work, seeks to ensure that people have exposure to and interaction with green environments and living ecosystems. To unearth new connections, through research and design, between nature, cities and our place within them. Farnoosh currently works as a landscape and urban designer in Rotterdam, contributing to new residential projects and urban transformations where different scales, disciplines, and users intersect. 

Anjana Bhagyanathan is a landscape architect, researcher and educator, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Planning at the National Institute of Technology Calicut. Her work explores the intersections of nature, culture and spatial design, with emphasis on sacred groves, traditional landscapes, riparian systems, urban ecology and climate resilience. She engages with landscape urbanism practice, integrating ecological processes into urban design and planning frameworks. She leads interdisciplinary research on local ecological knowledge, environmental attitudes, deep ecology and sacred geography, translating traditional ecological knowledge into planning and nature-based solutions. Her publications examine the spatial logic and ecological significance of sacred landscapes, including their role in headwater and riparian conservation along the Malabar Coast. Through teaching, research and collaborative projects, she seeks to develop culturally grounded approaches to landscape restoration, water security, biodiversity conservation and resilient human settlements in India. She collaborated on the workshop Circular Water Stories, which is documented in the essay Stories from Akalapusha.

Anubhuti Chandna is an architect and urbanist specialising in sustainable spatial development and energy transition. Trained in architecture in India and holding a master’s in Urbanism from Delft University of Technology (TUD), the Netherlands. She graduated in Urbanism (2019) and became part of the Circular Water Stories lab out of interest. Chandna combines systems thinking, design, and visual communication to address complex spatial challenges. Now based in Germany, she previously spent five years in the Netherlands as a project leader and spatial designer at Generation. Energy, where she led integrated spatial–energy projects at regional and municipal scales. Her work bridges policy and design, using scenario building and serious gaming to support collaborative decision-making in the energy transition. Earlier, as a research fellow at the Charles Correa Foundation, she examined building crafts and heritage in Goa, and her formative experience with B. V. Doshi deepened her understanding of architecture’s social and cultural dimensions.

Keng Ching Chen works as an assistant in the County Government of Yilan, Taiwan and is also a designer and passionate researcher. He holds a master’s degree focusing on the Dutch lowlands and their potential futures, particularly the polder landscapes and their engaging character. After graduation at University of Technology (TUD) in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Netherlands in the Circular Water Stories lab (2023) he returned to Taiwan to work as an independent researcher, drawn to the river delta and its traditional water systems while exploring their renewed meanings today. His interests include participatory research, and with support from the NHBOS Institute (2024, Talent grant), he applies multi-method approaches to study public perceptions of landscape. As a government worker, Chen is enthusiastic about lobbying for funds for landscape projects, promoting farsighted visions, and acting as an intermediary among officials, designers, NGOs, and the public. He believes that, in addition to political means, serving people and the country is best achieved through environmental quality, thoughtful spatial design, robust communication, and cooperation.

Nicole Filippoli is a junior landscape architect based in Bergamo, Italy. She earned a bachelor’s degree in architectural design from the Politecnico di Milano and a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Delft University of Technology (TUD) taking part in the Circular Water Stories lab (2023). Currently working at Studio Architettura & Paesaggio (SAP) in Bergamo, Filippoli focuses on projects that merge ecological restoration, urban design, and community resilience. Her recent work includes the landscape design for the restoration of the Geirato stream in Liguria, integrating nature-based solutions and adaptive strategies to mitigate flood risks and enhance biodiversity. Believing that design can actively shape resilient and livable territories, she explores how landscape architecture can reconnect people and place through ecological awareness and spatial innovation. Filippoli is also a member of the Associazione Italiana di Architettura del Paesaggio (AIAPP), which is affiliated with the International Federation of Landscape Architects Europe (IFLA Europe).

Liang, Wanning holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from Delft University of Technology (TUD), Netherlands (2023). Her research done in the Circular Water Stories lab explores how traditional water systems can inspire adaptive solutions for contemporary water challenges, with a focus on the Amunas system in the high Andes of Peru, a method of groundwater recharge that channels mountain streams into hillsides. She approaches water management through the lens of cultural-ecological dialogue, emphasising the reciprocal relationship between communities and their watersheds. By reinterpreting ancestral practices through contemporary design, Wanning seeks to create landscapes that balance ecological resilience with cultural continuity, transforming water infrastructure into spaces of shared memory and innovation. Outside of academia, she is drawn to water in all its forms, whether tracing the edges of lakes on long hikes, or imagining the hidden stories carried by rivers to the sea.

Amritha P. K. is an Indian architect and landscape architect currently serving as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Planning at National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC), where she also earned her PhD. Alongside her academic career, Amritha has professional experience with internationally renowned firms, HOK in the United Kingdom and Cracknell in Dubai, where she collaborated with interdisciplinary teams to develop landscape design strategies that integrate ecological function with vibrant, inclusive public realms. Her research and publications span sustainability, landscape urbanism, environmental planning, waste management, Landscape conservation and restoration, building on her doctoral research on productive urban landscapes. She coordinated the Kerala–Delft Water Dialogue Workshop on NITC side, bringing together students and researchers from Kerala and the Netherlands to explore the riverscape through the Circular Water Stories methodology.

Pouderoijen, Michiel is a full-time research and teaching assistant of Delft University of Technology at the section of Landscape Architecture of the faculty of Architecture in the Netherlands. He started his career in architecture while always being drawn to design at every scale. He has been involved for twenty years in cartographic research on a broad range of aspects of landscape architecture in the Netherlands and abroad. His specialisation in applying GIS methods and techniques has resulted in extensive knowledge of maps and digital spatial data, and of their applications in spatial research and design. Michiel followed the development of the Circular Water Stories lab and helped mapping the projects whenever his knowledge was needed.

Sánchez Jiménez, Javier is an Architect (Madrid, 2018) and graduated in Landscape Architect in the Circular Water Stories lab (2023) at University of Technology in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment in the Netherlands. His main interest is the potential of space for storytelling, with an emphasis on the complex relationship between history, culture, function and perception. Understanding the spatial disciplines as a continuum and their evolution as a concatenation of largely happy-ending stories, he believes in the importance of continuing this by building our own tale and facing the challenges of our time. Water is, thus, for him, one of the most important (landscape) architectural materials, and one whose proper handling will be the key to our future. His work includes private gardens, public spaces, and, most notably, the landscaping for the domes of the Pavilion of the Kingdom of Spain for the 2020 Dubai World Expo.

Pingyao Sun is a Chinese urban planner, landscape designer, freelance researcher, and executive director of the start-up company Co-hab Design Consulting (Zhuhai) Co., Ltd. She holds a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and in Town & Regional Planning from the University of Sheffield in England. Between her studies, she gained 6 years of professional experience at the Zhuhai Institute of Urban Planning & Design, where she advanced to Project Manager and Urban and Rural Planning Engineer. Her passion for environmentally friendly design and the relationship between natural and cultural landscapes led her to pursue a degree in Landscape Architecture at Delft. During her graduation project in the Circular Water Stories lab (2022), she explored the UNESCO heritage site, the Canal du Midi, which deepened her interest in adaptive water design, cultural landscapes, and sustainable development. After graduation, she continued to enhance her expertise through entrepreneurship and ongoing research in her free time.

Catalina Rey-Hernández is a Chilean architect and landscape designer with a special interest in resilient and nature-based solutions to create design alternatives for a sustainable future. She gained her master in Landscape Architecture from Delft University of Technology (TUD), the Netherlands and was part of the Circular Water Stories lab (2019). She has worked as an architect in Chile and as a landscape designer in the Netherlands. Currently, Catalina is a PhD researcher in the Riverhood project at Wageningen University & Research, where she focuses on territorial design and counter-design in riverine landscapes. Her research aims to investigate how river management through landscape design and territorial planning has generated socio-material transformations that directly affect river communities and their livelihoods, generating local confrontations with imposed designs. Within this framework, she is particularly interested in investigating how these confrontations are supported through instruments of counter-designs and counter-cartographies. 

Gloria Rivero-Lamela is a faculty member at the Department of Architectural Graphic Ideation at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Until 2025, Rivero was a faculty member at the Department of Architectural Projects at the University of Seville. She trained as an architect at the University of Seville (2014), where she received the Extraordinary End-of-Degree Award, and completed a master’s degree in Architecture and Historic Heritage (2016). Rivero obtained her PhD from the same university in 2020, with a dissertation focused on the form and territorial structure of hydraulic architectures linked to productive landscapes. She has completed international research stays at Delft University of Technology where she got involved in the work of the Circular Water Stories lab and the University of Porto, participated in several international congresses, and published numerous articles in indexed journals. Her research addresses territory, heritage landscape, rural architecture, drawing, mapping, and cartography. She serves on the editorial board of the scientific journal Proyecto, progreso, arquitectura.

Rapa Surajaras is a landscape architect with a strong interest in the relationship between water, people, and changing environments. Originally from Bangkok, Thailand, where water has long played an integral role in urban life and culture, her upbringing inspired an enduring curiosity about how societies can adapt to environmental challenges. In 2017, she moved to the Netherlands to pursue a Master of Science in Landscape Architecture at Delft University of Technology (TUD). During her studies, she participated and graduated in the Circular Water Stories lab (2019), an experience that influenced her graduation project on adaptive strategies for living with water in informal settlements in Vietnam. The project received the Blauwe Kamer–KuiperCompagnons Graduation Award 2019 and second prize from IFLA Europe. Currently she is a Senior Landscape Designer at OKRA Landscape Architects in Utrecht, the Netherlands, she brings professional experience to projects across Europe and beyond. Working across diverse cultural and environmental contexts, she applies a water-sensitive approach to create resilient landscapes, bridging research and practice to develop adaptive strategies that enhance the quality of life for communities, cities, and the environment.

Tri Prestasia, Ayu is an Indonesian landscape architect with a special interest in the intersection of ecology, culture, and spatial design. After working on hospitality landscape projects across Asia and the West Indies, she earned her Master of Science in Landscape Architecture (2019) from Delft University of Technology (TUD), the Netherlands. Her thesis, 'The Living Estuary', addressed coastal erosion in Ghana’s Volta Delta through an integrated landscape approach that connected ecological, spatial, and socio-economic systems of local communities. Fascinated by the dynamic relationship between water, people, and place, Prestasia joined the Circular Water Stories lab after she graduated and published het research on Kampung Naga, Indonesia. As a research associate, she is currently involved in initiatives exploring adaptive design and equitable ecological transitions in Indonesian landscapes. Through her practice and research at the Indonesian Dream Design Studio, she continues to advocate for integrating traditional water wisdom into contemporary spatial development, envisioning resilient landscapes that reconnect nature and culture. 

Gerdy Verschuure-Stuip is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment of Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. She is a trained architect and holds a PhD in Landscape Architecture on Dutch country estates. She is the Program Leader of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus program Global Heritage and Development and departmental education manager for Urbanism.
Her research and education centre on themes such as landscape architecture, heritage, participation, and landscape biography. She collaborates on European and Dutch research projects across a wide range of topics, advises on European and national agricultural policy and feminism, and organises co-creative workshops. In Delft, she teaches several BSc and MSc courses in the Landscape Architecture and Urbanism master tracks. At the University of Leiden, she teaches interdisciplinary BSc and Minor courses on Heritage Landscape Design and Participation in the master's program Applied Archaeology, funded by the National Cultural Heritage Agency. She is greatly interested in the work of the Circular Water Stories lab and open to contribute to the research.

Ran Yan is a landscape designer with a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands in the Circular Water Stories lab (2021). Growing up in a riverfront city, she developed a deep curiosity about the relationship between water, landscapes, and communities. This interest has shaped her perspective on how landscape design can influence ecological systems and cultural identity. She is particularly drawn to landscape biography, water systems, and planting design, exploring how these elements interact to shape both natural and built environments. Currently based in the Netherlands, she works as a landscape designer. Her work and research reflect a continuous exploration of how landscapes evolve, how people engage with them, and how design can respond to both environmental challenges and local narratives.

Yitang Kao is a Taiwanese landscape architect with professional experience in therapeutic landscapes and hospitality landscape design across Taiwan, Thailand, Shanghai, and the Netherlands. Kao earned a master’s in Landscape Architecture from Delft University of Technology, where she was part of the Circular Water Stories lab. Her thesis, ‘Reviving Ponds in the Urban Network: Towards a Resilient Water Landscape for Taoyuan County, Taiwan (2021)’ explored reconnecting historic pond systems and urban fabric to strengthen blue-green infrastructure for climate resilience and was recognized by the Taoyuan City Government. Currently, Kao is a spatial design and project management professional, integrating landscape architecture and construc-tion management to deliver projects from concept through implementation.

Yuan Yuan is a Chinese landscape architect who focuses on ecosystem sustainability. After completing her undergraduate studies at Harbin Institute of Technology, she decided to pursue a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, where she gained extensive experience and knowledge of excellent European design concepts and methods. During her studies in the Netherlands, she joined the Circular Water Stories (lab, where she researched the circularity of the traditional water system in Yunnan's Hani terraced fields (2022). She delved thoroughly into the sustainability of agricultural systems and the millennia-long symbiotic relationship between terraced fields and residents, highlighting the tremendous importance of traditional wisdom for modern water and agricultural systems. She is currently a PhD student at Harbin Institute of Technology in China, where she conducts scholarly research. Her research interests include ecosystem service planning and biodiversity, to provide scientific and systematic theoretical underpinnings for sustainable landscape design.