Aesthetic of water – the early 16th century

The noble, humanist, translator of Ovid and poet Petar Hektorović from Hvar built the Tvrdalj villa according to his own project, on the very edge of water and above five sources of fresh water that he poetically called «sweet water». He planned a big pond in the central atrium, where the sea mixed with fresh water, so it was populated by fish that spawn in brackish water. A system of underground pipes was built like a fishing net; once the mullets enter into the pond, they cannot go back to the sea any more. It was forbidden to fish them. They die a natural death and are still buried in the villa’s large garden. In that architectural center of the structure, water could be watched, listened to, examined and drunk.

This relationship between water and architecture is original in the context of Renaissance architecture of villas and indicates a high level of water culture in our part of the Mediterranean.

Water economy = water ecology – 2006

Tourism and the attitude towards resources shown in the example of fresh water on the island.

Tvrdalj as a conceptual starting point for a new cultural center

The program of the Sweet Water project includes the reconstruction and conversion of the neglected structure of the old cinema/theater into the town’s new multimedia center creating a modern, technological space:
for the activities of local ecological associations,
for social and cultural activities,
for alternative projects of young islanders.