Climate change is an extremely critical phenome- non for both urban and rural areas. In the latter case it can cause a malfunction in the ?technical machine? of the countryside, based on an impor- tant historical infrastructural system that consti- tutes its shape and structure. In constituting the founding act of architecture, the topography of the soils allows the network to function at its best and to properly drain and manage water with a view to saving and reusing it. The works for soil containment, slope management and water col- lection, conservation and distribution constitute the ?zero layer? that allows architecture to function at its best. Water-saving strategies represent a ne- cessity for contemporary architecture just as they did for architecture in the past, being precious cogs in a complex ecological machine. Work pro- ceeds with the study and comparison of a series of international projects that address the issue of water management from different points of views.