Bodies of Water is a geohydrological investigation into Berlin's regional groundwater systems and their specific qualities and challenges. The project explores the complexities that lie beneath the city, providing artifacts that allow for a new perspective onto the groundwater reservoir shapes and geological elements that impact our everyday lives but often remain invisible.

The first part of the project is based upon state-of-the-art scientific research into groundwater, where Berlin receives almost 100% of its drinking water from. The data of two dimensional geological sections of the city was interpreted and translated into sculptural glass vessels that visualize the three dimensional shapes of Berlin’s groundwater reservoirs.

The second part gives an insight into the aquifers beneath the earth's surface – the water-bearing permeable rock that filters sediment and other particles (like bacteria) and provides natural purification of the groundwater flowing through it over centuries. The artwork uses specific rocks from the geological layers beneath the city of Berlin to change the water quality of other waters into water, that has a mineral content and taste similar to Berlin water.

This project is realized by Studio Johanna Schmeer & Studio Lapatsch|Unger and co-commissioned by STATE with the support of the RISE Cities Program of the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt and the STARTS program of the European Union and supported by Prof. Dr. Irina Engelhardt from the Technical University of Berlin.

Repairing the Present received funding from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement LC01641664.

Anja Lapatsch and Annika Unger are Studio Lapatsch|Unger, a design duo based in Berlin. Their research-based work explores material cultures and cultural phenomena revealing layers of knowledge between the past, the present and the future resulting in critical reactions and envisions of future scenarios within historical, ecological and cultural contexts. Their work has been exhibited internationally, including the ZKM in Karlsruhe, the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur, the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and London Design Biennale. They are design lecturers for various Universities and Institutions around the globe. Both are teaching as Artistic Associates at the University of the Arts Berlin (UdK).
Johanna Schmeer is a designer and interdisciplinary researcher based in Berlin. She is a professor of design at Folkwang University of the Arts. Her inquiry-based work explores technologically augmented ecologies, industrial flows of matter, and the refram- ing of the human within its interspecies, geospatial, and technosocial entanglements. She holds a degree in Digital Media from the University of the Arts Berlin (UdK) and a MA and PhD from the Royal College of Art London. Her work has been awarded, and exhibited internationally, including at the ICA in London, the National Museum Stock- holm, the Venice Biennale, and Ars Electronica Center.