We collect, pump and distribute water from natural sources to highly curated destinations for consumption, protection and health, all hidden in an extensive path of purification and pressurization and rarely revealed. Whether our infrastructure lies under or above ground, we benefit from intelligent and active landscapes that empower and elicit stewardship of our resources. By using the existing infrastructure of the 965+ water samplings stations throughout the city, we can simply replace the top access box with a communicative and technologically-advanced testing system and skin to see these small pieces of invisible infrastructure take on a heroic role in the city.

Residents of Flint, MI from 2014 to 2015 and Washington D.C. from 2000 to 2004 consumed contaminated water without public acknowledgment. Today we are grappling with the timeline and impact of Newark’s lead exposure in the water system. Unfortunately, these examples represent a small percentage of people in the U.S. that have been exposed to contaminated water. While New York City has the highest quality municipal water supply in the U.S. and a proactive list of infrastructure projects, WALTER in NYC can have three major impacts: securing trust and stewardship, future-proofing communication, and being a demonstration to other cities that have a vulnerable system that will benefit from a visible, immediate and public communication system today.

WALTER receives Honorable Mention from the Architect's Newspaper Best of Design Awards.