Yale Presents the First Major Exhibition on The Role of Tubewells in Drastically Reconfiguring Cities and Agriculture

On view at the Yale School of Architecture Gallery from February 22–July 6, 2024, Groundwater Earth: The World Before and After the Tubewell uncovers the hidden narrative of the world’s largest distributed freshwater reserve: aquifers. Today hydrologists estimate that nearly half of the global population drinks groundwater daily and that over half of the world’s irrigated crops rely on it. Yet, how has this reshaped how we build and where we grow food? Exploring pivotal sites like the Indo-Gangetic plains and Sonoran Desert, the exhibition reveals the transformative impact of groundwater extraction on cities and farms. Curated by Anthony Acciavatti, the Diana Balmori Assistant Professor of Architecture at Yale University and a member of the South Asian Studies Council at the Yale MacMillan Center for International & Area Studies, the show merges over a decade’s worth of Acciavatti’s fieldwork and archival research to examine the scales and slow-motion impacts of groundwater extraction on phenomena including the tilt of the earth and the sinking of cities. 

The exhibition foregrounds the most ubiquitous technology for tapping into aquifers: tubewells. Constructed from perforated steel or plastic pipe that is bored between 1.5 and 300 meters below the ground, and typically driven by either an electric or oil powered engine, today tubewells are vital devices. A minor technology with global reach, tubewells are powerful instruments for observing a largely invisible yet critical infrastructure termed “groundwater earth”: the concealed component of the earth’s hydrological cycle that supports worldwide agricultural output and urban expansion. Offering a pioneering account and visual representation, the show depicts the evolution of this technology that has enabled billions to thrive but also threatens to bleed the earth dry.

Throughout, the tubewell takes center stage, showcasing how groundwater extraction technologies are as significant to farms and cities as the elevator was to the early-twentieth century American metropolis. Deborah Berke, J.M. Hoppin Professor and Dean of the Yale School of Architecture, reflects on the show: “Anthony’s research reveals how often unseen infrastructures have profound effects on what we build. Furthermore, the exhibition makes it clear that these forces are both highly local and broadly global in their effects.”

The show is structured into three parts. First, it explores the historical development of the tubewell from 1865, when it was first patented as a military technology, to its widespread use across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Second, it analyzes the impact of tubewells on the Indo-Gangetic Plains and the Sonoran Desert, emphasizing their effect on the life of the home, neighborhood, city, and region. Lastly, the exhibition presents portraits of five metropolitan regions that rely on groundwater extraction today: Phoenix-Tucson, Mexico City, Addis Ababa, Jakarta, and New Delhi. The drawings vividly reveal not only the deep relationship cities and agriculture have to aquifers, but also how these aquifers constitute an unevenly accessed global commons. Complimenting these portraits are a series of monthly op-eds that advocate for urban and agrarian strategies that recognize groundwater as one of our greatest collective resources.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

For upcoming presentations, talks, and events around Groundwater earth, please visit https://taplink.cc/anthonyacciavatti_sc for a full calendar of events.

PRESS CONTACTS

Richard Sosa, Sr. Director of Engagement, Yale MacMillan Center (richard.sosa@yale.edu)

A.J. Artemel, Director of Communications, Yale School of Architecture (alijohnpierre.artemel@yale.edu)

Yale Architecture Gallery Hours
Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.