When the Ocean Calls, You Answer with Code
When the PartArt4OW Consortium reached out to me in 2024, I knew immediately this wasn't going to be just another website project. The commission was clear and beautifully documented from the start — and even the project's name told a story: Participation, with Art and Society at the center, 4 the Oceans and Waters.
It was an ambitious vision, yet refreshingly focused: participatory art — collective, community-driven projects — all centered on our oceans and waters. As someone who works with code and architecture every day, I found myself asking: how do you build a digital space that does justice to something so fluid, collaborative, and alive?
The Challenge: Translating Vision into Pixels
From my perspective as both software architect and developer, three key challenges emerged right away:
- Translation — How do we turn this beautiful vision into an effective communication tool?
- Distribution — How do we create a structure that makes guides and resources easily accessible?
- Reporting — How do we design a reliable system for tracking and reporting activities?
These weren't just technical questions. They were about understanding how artists, scientists, and communities would actually use this space.
Choosing the Foundation: Why Structure Matters
Here's something I've learned over the years: when building websites for projects like this, you can choose from countless frameworks. Some promise to make the editorial experience smoother. Others focus on structural solidity.
I always favour the latter.
Why? Because editors are often either dedicated specialists who know exactly what they want, or developers themselves who refine and adapt content as part of their workflow. What they really need isn't a fancy interface — it's a rock-solid foundation that won't let them down.
For PartArt4OW, I chose Drupal 10.x, an open-source CMS that's known for three things: outstanding scalability, robust security, and long-term stability. But more importantly, Drupal has a philosophy I really respect: it encourages you to minimize technical dependencies and avoid commercial components that might compromise the core functionality.
For this project, I took that philosophy to heart. I worked exclusively with Drupal Core, adding only the absolute essentials for security and privacy management. Nothing more, nothing less.
Making It Beautiful: From Brand to Browser
The graphic design process started exactly where it should: with the project's core identity elements — the logo, brand guidelines, colors, and typography. These weren't just aesthetic choices; they were the visual language of ocean stewardship and participatory art.
For the site's graphic theme, I went with a completely custom design built on Tailwind CSS 3.4. Now, I could have used a pre-made theme, but custom meant we could craft every detail to match the project's unique character.
I also leveraged Drupal Core's Twig templating system to integrate Tailwind classes directly into the markup. This technical choice gave us tremendous flexibility — for layout adaptation, responsiveness, and content-type abstraction. The result? Rapid development cycles and excellent scalability for whatever the project might need in the future.
Content That Flows: Building for Flexibility
Here's where Drupal really shines. Unlike other content management systems that often limit you to just two basic content types (think: landing pages and articles), Drupal allows you to create content types by extending the Content Type node in the form of "bundles," each linked to its dedicated Twig templates.
What does this mean in practice? It means we could define completely separate structures for different types of content: Articles, News, PAIs (Participatory Art Initiatives), and Newsletters — each independently configured, each behaving exactly as it needed to.
For image galleries, I implemented a minimal JavaScript script and leveraged Drupal's Media entity type, which allows fully configurable and instantiable components. Each gallery could be set up easily with distinct styles — we used masonry and slideshow layouts most frequently, giving the visual content the breathing room it deserved.
Keeping It Simple (But Smart)
The project didn't require complex business logic, so I didn't develop custom entities. This was a deliberate choice: don't over-engineer what doesn't need engineering.
That said, if future needs arise, Drupal is already prepared. It can behave as a full backend capable of distributing APIs comparable to other compiled or JavaScript-native stacks. For now, PartArt4OW is already set up to generate AI-readable resources through JSON endpoints — ready for whatever comes next.
Performance Meets Purpose
One specific requirement stood out: performance and integration with social networks. While SEO optimization wasn't explicitly requested (though traffic data now shows we're achieving good organic positioning anyway), we made sure critical meta tags and Open Graph data were managed automatically and efficiently.
The performance benchmarks we defined at the outset? We hit them quickly — and we've consistently exceeded them since launch.
How? By deliberately avoiding over-engineering. I used direct hard coding for landing pages and specific design components whenever it ensured clarity and performance. Sometimes the straightforward approach is the best approach.
The result is a fast, efficient user experience that doesn't get in the way of what matters: the content, the community, the ocean and waters.
Working Together: The Human Side of Development
Finally, let me share something that made this entire project smoother than most: coordination with the editorial team was excellent.
We made a key decision early on: centralize communication through a single contact person and use a dedicated HelpDesk system - Jetbrains Youtrack. This might sound bureaucratic, but it was actually liberating. It meant everyone knew where to go with questions, updates, or issues. It meant continuous integration workflows moved quickly and clearly.
In web development, technical choices matter. But so do human ones.
What We Built Together
Looking back at the finished site, I'm proud of what we created: a digital space that's robust enough to handle whatever the project throws at it, flexible enough to evolve as needs change, and beautiful enough to honor the art, the ocean and waters at its heart.
The PartArt4OW website isn't just a collection of pages. It's a tool for connection — between artists and scientists, between communities and oceans, between vision and action.
And that's exactly what it was meant to be.
Technical Stack Summary:
- CMS: Drupal 10.x - Core only, minimal dependencies
- CSS Framework: Tailwind CSS 3.4
- Templating: Twig - Symfony-powered
- Content Types: Custom bundles (Articles, News, PAIs, Newsletters)
- Media Management: Drupal Media entities with custom galleries
- Project Management: YouTrack HelpDesk system
- Performance: Optimized for speed, SEO, and social media integration
- Future-Ready: JSON endpoints for AI-readable resources
Want to see the result? Visit partart4ow.eu and explore how participatory art is making waves for ocean conservation.
Written by Bruno Italiano