Raftlike homes and buoyant buildings may be a fix for rising sea levels. unpredictable storm surges. But rather than simply building higher seawalls to hold back floodwaters, many builders and urban planners are turning to floating and amphibious architecture - and finding ways to adapt buildings to this new reality.
Projects range from simple retrofits for individual homes in flood zones to the construction of entire floating neighborhoods - and possibly even floating cities.
"It's fundamentally for flood mitigation, but in our time of climate change Sharp Toner http://dghd14.com/cp/686.html
a nonprofit based in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana and Cambridge, Ontario. "What I'm trying to do is to take existing communities and make them more resilient and give them an opportunity to continue to live in the place that they're intimately connected to," she says. Amphibious architecture isn't about to displace conventionally designed buildings. But experts say it could become the norm in parts of Virginia, Louisiana, Alaska, and Florida, and other areas that are vulnerable to rising seas. "For some communities this might be a saving grace," says Illya Azaroff, director of design at New York-based +LAB Architect PLLC and an associate professor of architecture at the New York City College of Technology.
designed by the Dutch firm Barcode Architects and the Danish firm Bjarke Ingels Group. When construction is completed in 2020, the complex will have 380 apartments as well as floating gardens and a restaurant.
Floating buildings and neighborhoods are not a new idea, of course. Vietnam and Peru, among other countries, have had floating communities for centuries. But floating architecture could allow cities around the world to grow and evolve in new ways, says Waterstudio founder Koen Olthuis.
Olthius envisions cities with floating office buildings that can be detached and rearranged as needed. "It can be that you come back to a city after two or three years and some of your favorite buildings are in another location in that city," he says, adding that buildings might be moved close together to conserve heat and separated when summer arrives.
unpredictable storm surges. But rather than simply building higher seawalls to hold back floodwaters, many builders and urban planners are turning to floating and amphibious architecture - and finding ways to adapt buildings to this new reality.
Projects range from simple retrofits for individual homes in flood zones to the construction of entire floating neighborhoods - and possibly even floating cities.
"It's fundamentally for flood mitigation, but in our time of climate change
Sharp Toner
http://dghd14.com/cp/686.html
a nonprofit based in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana and Cambridge, Ontario. "What I'm trying to do is to take existing communities and make them more resilient and give them an opportunity to continue to live in the place that they're intimately connected to," she says.
Amphibious architecture isn't about to displace conventionally designed buildings. But experts say it could become the norm in parts of Virginia, Louisiana, Alaska, and Florida, and other areas that are vulnerable to rising seas. "For some communities this might be a saving grace," says Illya Azaroff, director of design at New York-based +LAB Architect PLLC and an associate professor of architecture at the New York City College of Technology.
designed by the Dutch firm Barcode Architects and the Danish firm Bjarke Ingels Group. When construction is completed in 2020, the complex will have 380 apartments as well as floating gardens and a restaurant.
Floating buildings and neighborhoods are not a new idea, of course. Vietnam and Peru, among other countries, have had floating communities for centuries. But floating architecture could allow cities around the world to grow and evolve in new ways, says Waterstudio founder Koen Olthuis.
Olthius envisions cities with floating office buildings that can be detached and rearranged as needed. "It can be that you come back to a city after two or three years and some of your favorite buildings are in another location in that city," he says, adding that buildings might be moved close together to conserve heat and separated when summer arrives.