Underwater Cathedrals

Usually once a year Switzerland’s water reservoirs, which are located deep below ground, are emptied and cleaned. Silvio Maraini photographed the empty, abstract, and at the same time grand-looking spaces on precisely these days. They are monuments of our civilization, reminiscent of temples with columns, church domes, or even abandoned subway stations. The results are stunning architectural photos of rare and magnificent beauty with an almost spiritual character. In his preface, Benedikt Loderer writes: “A water reservoir is also a storage of patience that preserves a piece of eternity. In the future, after the next ice age, archeologists will discover these intact burial chambers and wonder what type of cult they belonged to.”