Bodies of Water

The film Margarita with a Straw follows Laila, a young woman with cerebral palsy, through early adulthood and her growing independence. It highlights her daily challenges, desires, and dependence on supportive environments in both public and intimate situations such as cooking, bathing, and mobility.

While care is often situated in domestic spaces through the support of her mother, Zurich offers therapeutic environments such as physiotherapy places and relaxation facilities on the campus. Within HIL, however, spaces for bodily care remain limited.

Water connects these various forms of care through its sensory and healing qualities. Historically, public baths addressed limited domestic access to clean water, especially before wastewater treatment became widespread.

Today, water is embedded within complex systems of purification, storage, and reuse. However, within HIL this infrastructure mostly remains hidden; rainwater is drained away and interaction with water occurs only in few moments.

The Care Core responds to this condition by creating spaces where water and its different qualities become directly experienceable through bathing, washing and filtration. The rooftop becomes a central place for storing, slowing down and filtering water, creating an alternative water cycle is created, that cascades across the building's terraces and generates further moments of watery encounters.

Master Thesis Spring 2026

Project by: Jan Letze Teaching Team: Anna Puigjaner, Pol Esteve Castelló, He Shen 何珅, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Lisa Maillard, Paule Perron, Valentina Noce. In Collaboration with Guillaume Habert and He Yufei (BUK).

Images 1, 4, 10: Luís Úrculo