ENVIRONMENTALLY ADOPTING ARCHITECTURE; CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS MATERIALS

ENVIRONMENTALLY ADOPTING ARCHITECTURE; CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS MATERIALS

Floating Architecture adapting to climate Rising Sea level

Climate change and its associated consequence of increasing sea levels pose an indisputable existential threat to coastal populations across the globe. In light of the rising sea levels and diminishing shorelines, there is a pressing need for new approaches to adapt and establish resilient human habitats. One avant-garde approach gaining traction is floating architecture – designing buoyant buildings and neighborhoods that rise and fall with the tides. Floating architects have been developed since the early years (Wang, 2019). From flood-proofed floating homes to entire amphibious communities, this field holds promise as a sustainable model for living with water. This essay explores the cutting edge of floating urbanism through four case studies: the floating villages of Asia, the stilted houses of Tonle Sap, Lake Sulawesi’s iconic floating temples, and South Korea’s flood-resilient ‘floating islands.’ Applying critical theoretical frameworks, it analyses how these projects creatively elevate human dwellings in response to environmental challenges. The essay’s central research problem is to explore how floating architecture can provide adaptive, sustainable models for coastal regions facing rising seas.

Floating architecture represents a paradigm shift in how we occupy dynamic flood zones. These buoyant buildings self-adjust to fluctuations in water levels, enabling continuous habitation of susceptible sites. Materials and construction methods are designed to withstand aquatic conditions while minimal environmental impact preserves sensitive ecological contexts. As climate refugees multiply, such amphibious architecture may point towards future ‘oceanic cities’ that embrace water as a living element. This study synthesizes cutting-edge studies on floating urban design, evaluating real-world cases through lenses of resilience, sustainability, and human-centered solutions. It provides an original, systematic analysis illuminating floating architecture’s potential as an adaptive response to sea level rise. The essay makes a sophisticated, critical contribution to the discourse on climate-conscious, next-generation settlements in our fluid future.

The concepts of Environmentally Sensitive Architecture

Environmentally sensitive design in architecture encompasses the deliberate endeavor to conceive and construct structures and places that exhibit a harmonious relationship with their immediate surroundings while concurrently mitigating adverse environmental effects and optimizing sustainability. The technique incorporates ecological considerations throughout all phases of the design process, encompassing site selection, materials selection, and energy utilization.

Climate change poses one of the most formidable challenges recently faced by our species, exacerbating natural disasters like floods and hurricanes and increasing sea levels—portending a future defined by escalating damages unless immediate, sweeping actions are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In response to the increasing severity of weather events, architects and urban planners actively develop environmentally adapting designs to foster climate-resilient buildings and communities (El-Shihy and Ezquiaga, 2019). This approach represents a paradigm shift in design thinking, integrating adaptation to climate impacts as a key priority. Rising greenhouse gas emissions are linked to frequent and intense flooding, hurricanes, typhoons, and elevated sea levels. Coastal cities face high risks, with flooding projected to displace over 800 million people by 2050. Even inland areas are susceptible to heavier rainfall, overflowing rivers, and new floodplains. These hazards endanger lives, property, infrastructure, and socioeconomic stability worldwide.

Environmentally sensitive design strategies aim to mitigate climate risks by working with, rather than against, nature. Examples include using permeable surfaces to better absorb floodwaters, elevating structures above likely flood levels, harnessing green stormwater management, and employing natural cooling techniques like shade trees and ventilation. Building codes and zoning can also steer development away from high-risk zones. Architecture moves from static to flexible designs that dynamically respond to shifting conditions (Lami and Mecca, 2021). Floating buildings rise with surging waters, while modular constructs can be disassembled or moved. Sustainably sourced local materials reduce environmental footprints: renewable energy and passive temperature regulation lower emissions and costs. Nature-based solutions like wetland restoration and bioswales protect sites from storms and flooding. Environmentally sensitive design is a multidimensional challenge requiring collaboration between ecologists, planners, governments, businesses, and communities. Integrating adaptive, sustainable principles into construction and urbanization is critical for resilience as climate disruption accelerates. With foresight and innovation, architects can spearhead built environments that weather coming storms, serving as global models for liveable cities in our climate-changed future.

Floating Village in Asia

Asia has been at the forefront of floating architecture, with communities building buoyant structures adapted to the region’s flood-prone deltas and coasts. Theoretical frameworks like aqua pelagic urbanism, amphibious design, and resilient water cultures inform these amphibious settlements. The fundamental principles underlying the construction of floating houses in Southeast Asia are buoyancy and flexibility, which enable them to accommodate fluctuations in water levels effectively. These characteristics are of utmost importance in a region that frequently experiences seasonal flooding and the ongoing challenge of rising sea levels. This versatility is achieved by utilizing buoyant foundations, which can be fabricated using locally available materials such as bamboo, recycled barrels, or purpose-built floating platforms (Winston, 2014). These materials’ inherent buoyancy and capacity to withstand damp conditions formed the basis for their selection. The architectural design of the houses also includes provisions for adaptability in response to water currents and fluctuating water levels, preserving the structural integrity and safety of the residents.

Adaptive design strategies enable inhabitants to live in harmony with rivers and seas. Prominent examples can be seen in flood-vulnerable regions of Vietnam and Cambodia. Houses are constructed on sealed barrels or bamboo floats, rising and falling with rivers. Neighborhoods emerge as clusters of these amphibiously designed homes, linked by floating roads and footbridges. This vernacular architecture enhances mobility and enables fishing livelihoods. Theorists have highlighted how such Settlements emulate the hydrological rhythms of seasonal flooding. Infrastructure facilitates the inhabitation of waterscapes, with floating schools, markets, and healthcare.

Figure 1: A floating house in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam (Owoo, 2023)

The Mekong Delta is an epicenter of aquatic living, with 800,000 Vietnamese in floating villages. Houses are crafted from wood, bamboo, and reeds, integrating curve-shaped roofs and open floorplans suited to hot, humid climes. Solar panels, satellite dishes, and cellphone towers enable modern, connected living. This fusion of traditional and contemporary design sits lightly on the waters, exemplifying resilience (Nguyen, 2022). Architects have sought to enhance localized aquatic living through experimental prototypes like the Salamander Amphibious House. Designed as inexpensive DIY kits, these modular floating homes have off-grid solar power, water harvesting, and battery systems – enabling self-sufficient aquatic living.

Culturally, these villages share an ingrained amphibious orientation that welcomes water as a source of livelihood. Theoretical frameworks celebrate this hybrid, fluid existence as a model of resilience, decentralization, and reduced environmental impact. Renewed attention is paid to the wisdom of vernacular construction techniques attuned to seasonal ebb and flow. Climate concerns drive innovations like prototype solar-powered floating farms that can produce crops year-round, immune to floods. Planners are exploring artificial floating islands in flood-prone cities like Jakarta that can handle density and infrastructure. Eventually, such adaptable architectures could transform into entire floating cities – conceptualizing future ‘Oceanopolis’ models. Asia’s floating settlements illuminate how architecture can harmonize with challenging environments by working with water rhythms (Brake, 2022). Their amphibious design approaches potentiate adaptive responses to climate crises, applicable worldwide.

Floating Village in Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Tonle Sap Lake is highly susceptible to flooding, making floating architecture a fitting solution for its waterside settlements. The stilted vernacular houses creatively adapt to the ebbing and flowing water levels. Architectural theories like amphibious design, climatic determinism, and resilience inform these communities.

Figure 2: A floating village in Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia ( Morby, 2015)

Floating villages have existed on Tonle Sap since the 15th century. Houses are constructed from bamboo, wood, and thatch, lifted on floats of plastic barrels, foam, or salvaged materials. This elevates homes above floodwaters, which fluctuate up to 14 feet between dry and wet seasons. During monsoons, the entire ground floor is submerged. This amphibious architecture allows continuous habitation despite seasonal shifts, exemplifying resilience. Traditional house forms optimize air circulation and shading for the hot climate. Projecting roofs, open walls, and floorplanes promote cross-ventilation while providing shade. Buildings are oriented to prevailing winds for natural cooling. These passive climate control strategies align with climatic determinism theories, which posit that vernacular designs optimally evolved in response to local environments.

Tonle Sap’s stilted structures showcase the adaptive use of local materials. Buoyant bamboo, wood, and thatch enable the floating foundations, while the angled stilts raise walls and floors above water. Spatial and structural design is attuned to seasonal transformations. Homes can rise by up to three meters on pulley systems, while additional stories can be added to accommodate rising families. This ingenuity illuminates a hydrological culture finely tuned to the ebbs and flows of water. At the village scale, floating homes are clustered together for stability and moored to trees or poles (Yoshimura et al., 2022). Neighborhoods are linked by wooden docks and ladders, enabling social connections during floods. Boat garages accommodate fishing vessels. The houses can also be towed to new locations as desired. This flexibility and interconnectivity maintain community cohesion amidst fluctuating conditions, enacting resilience principles.

Today, external influences like increasing population, tourism, and climate change impact Tonle Sap’s floating settlements. However, efforts to improve local adaptive capacity continue. For instance, the Salamander Amphibious House prototype, created by an international team, aims to enhance affordable floating housing using DIY techniques. The modular design incorporates solar panels, water harvesters, and composting toilets – enabling decentralized, eco-friendly living.

UN-Habitat has planned climate-conscious upgrades like elevated flood shelters, floating vegetable gardens, and solar-powered floodlights to extend economic activity into the wet season. ICT technologies like mobile phones facilitate early warning systems when waters rise. These initiatives promote resilience and human-centered adaptation. Tonle Sap illustrates how vernacular and contemporary amphibious architecture can sustain communities within challenging hydrogeographies. The symbiotic, adaptive housing models provide theoretical insights and practical pathways for human habitats to stay afloat amidst rising tides worldwide. With appropriate technology transfer and place-based ingenuity, such floating architecture can be replicated to enable resilience.

Lake Temple floating house in Sulawesi, Indonesia

The iconic floating settlements on Indonesia’s Lake Tonle Sap showcase ingenious architectural adaptation to fluctuating water levels. Blending vernacular wisdom and contemporary design, they exemplify theories of amphibious architecture, ecological sustainability, and climate resilience.   Sulawesi’s lakeside communities live atop centuries-old Rakit structures constructed from a bamboo platform lashed to wooden poles. The modular floating foundations can be assembled into entire floating villages, adapting organically based on family size and resources. Houses built atop rise and fall naturally with the lake’s water levels, varying up to 6 meters seasonally.

The elevated floors create open space during rainy seasons to accommodate rising waters. This amphibious quality enables continuous occupation of sites despite flooding, avoiding displacement. It aligns with architectural philosophies of resilience, flexibility, and living harmoniously with nature’s rhythms. Using local natural materials like bamboo, wood, and water hyacinth fiber embodies sustainability principles. Building elements are biodegradable, reducing environmental footprints (Arifin et al., 2023). Modular construction from renewable resources makes extension and repairs easier, exemplifying adaptive design. Traditional architectural forms suit Sulawesi’s tropical climate and hydrology. Lightweight bamboo structures with atap roofs, overhanging eaves, and ventilated walls promote air circulation. Lifts, ladders, and catwalks provide vertical connectivity while allowing water to flow beneath. This integrates mobility within the floating settlement.

Contemporary additions like rainwater harvesting channels, solar panels, satellite dishes, cellphones, and wifi demonstrate modern adaptation. Handcrafted biogas units generate energy from organic waste. These technologies enhance sustainability and resilience without compromising cultural heritage. Some floating villages have reinvented themselves as cultural tourism destinations, adding art studios, galleries, micro-museums, and aquaculture. Creatively co-opting their unique built heritage for eco-tourism improves incomes while sharing indigenous lifestyles shaped by water (Naing, 2021). Recent initiatives have expanded on vernacular ingenuity to create educational and ecological floating structures. The Rumah Apung nursery school is fabricated from recycled plastic quarried from the lakebed, showing circular economy principles. The floating eco-park attached is an artificial wetland fostering aquatic plants that act as natural water filters.

Such projects highlight how Sulawesi’s ancient floating architecture continues evolving with new applications that address modern priorities like sustainability, resilience, conservation, and participatory development. The community-based innovations potently demonstrate climate-conscious, equitable, water-based living theories in action. The amphibious settlements of Sulawesi Lake reveal the potential of co-creating adaptive habitats with local communities that harmonize with environments. Their blending of vernacular and contemporary eco-design illuminates pathways for sustaining aquatic lifestyles amid rising tides worldwide.

The floating communities of the Ijburg artificial islands in Amsterdam

The Netherlands has pioneered floating architecture as an adaptive response to increased inland and coastal flooding exacerbated by climate change. Amsterdam’s Ijburg artificial islands demonstrate innovative floating urban design theories to create resilient, sustainable communities afloat. The artificial islets provide expandable space for Amsterdam to grow as the population increases. Housing shortages and flood risks were drivers for this aquatic development solution. The islands host floating residential neighborhoods along with recreational marinas. A critical architectural theory enabling Ijburg is the hydraulic engineering of buoyant foundations. Floating concrete bases anchored to the seabed provide stable platforms for modular homes to be craned atop. This creates resilient neighborhoods that rise and fall with fluctuating water levels, adapting to possible floods.

Sustainability principles are also showcased. The primary color scheme of the floating houses consists of predominantly white front and rear facades, complemented by generous glass openings and plastic moldings with a smooth metallic finish (Floating houses Ijburg NL n.d.). They are designed for energy efficiency, with rooftop solar panels, heat pumps, and green roofs: rainwater harvesting and community waste recycling lower environmental footprints. Landscape architecture theories like water-based urbanism and the aqua pelagic are demonstrated through the islands’ integration with canals, docks, and an aquaculture farm. Residents live in close connection with the water. Bridges and pedestrianized streets link the district, which feels maritime and metropolitan. Resilience thinking underpins the modular, adaptive infrastructure. Homes can be unbolted and relocated if needed. Critical utilities are waterproofed with submersible pumps and marine-grade equipment. Emergency flotation devices add redundancies.

Climate-conscious urban design reduces car dependence. Mixed-use planning focuses on amenities near public transit nodes. Bike paths, parks, and community gardens encourage eco-mobility and wellbeing. This synthesis of hydraulic, ecological, and social architecture theories creates a future-focused water-based community tailored to Amsterdam’s hydrogeography. Ijburg provides a working model for climate-resilient, sustainable floating urbanism that could be replicated in coastal cities worldwide, from Jakarta to New York. The possibilities are fluid. Ijburg’s innovative floating architecture applies adaptive, amphibious design supported by advanced engineering. Sustainability, resilience, and aquatic urban theories guide an inclusive, eco-conscious community that embraces its maritime setting. This real-world case provides abundant examples of architectural approaches to rising sea levels.

Role of Architects in addressing sea level rise.

Rising seas threaten coastal settlements worldwide. As climate change accelerates, architects must find adaptive solutions to oceanic encroachment. A vanguard of practitioners is already exploring next-generation floating cities, with the Maldives as a pioneering location. Applying innovative design thinking, architects are creating future models of resilient aquatic living. The Maldives, an Indian Ocean island chain, has an average elevation of just 1.5 meters above sea level, making it acutely vulnerable to rising tides (Ideas worth floating: Architects Adapt to Rising Sea Levels 2016). With its existence endangered by projected sea level rise, the nation is planning a sustainable floating city as a climate-conscious urban model. Conceptual designs showcase how architects are applying adaptive design to address rising seas. The proposed Maldives Floating City features neighborhoods with affordable housing, healthcare, renewable energy, farming, and recreation, all afloat interconnected platforms. This urban-scale initiative is a dramatic advancement from existing floating building projects. Radical hydroengineering is required to construct durable, buoyant platforms that can withstand oceanic forces. Shifting architecture from static land-based forms to floating on unpredictable seas is a design challenge requiring innovation.

However, floating structures are better adapted to handle flooding and wind damage. Architects use marine-grade materials and anchored mooring systems for stability and durability against harsh maritime conditions. Building shapes and sizes are designed for buoyancy distribution and wind resistance. Flexible seals, expansion joints, and breakaway components add resilience. Sustainability is critical, as an ocean-based city must minimize its ecological footprint. The Maldives plans to use modular integrated renewable energy, desalination, waste recycling, urban food production, and public transit on its platforms. The city aims to be self-sufficient, net-zero carbon, and environmentally regenerative.

Adaptable infrastructure is also crucial, using modular components that can be modified for changing needs and reconfigured if damaged. Architects employ flexible design elements like movable walls, raising and lowering units, and multipurpose structures. Floating foundations enable the relocation of entire buildings if required.   Climate-conscious master planning reduces emissions with mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods around clean transit. Community resiliency is fostered through communal hubs, learning centers, and recreational spaces to unite people. Equity, inclusion, and affordability are emphasized in the architecture to provide opportunity for all. Floating cities must also be designed according to ecological principles, integrating aquatic ecosystems and mimicking biological forms to enhance livability. Biophilic elements like mangroves, wetlands, and green roofs can be woven into hydro-urbanism. The Maldives plans edible landscape architecture, fish farms, coral restoration, and water recreation to connect people to the marine environment.

Ambitious visions like the Maldives prototype illuminate architecture’s increasing role in creating next-generation floating habitats. As climate impacts accelerate worldwide, spatial designers must meet sustainability and resilience challenges head-on. Their creativity and problem-solving skills are crucial to realizing radically adaptive, nature-integrated settlements that stay afloat (SIMOVIC and STANKOVIC, 2019. With ingenuity and technology, architects can build vibrant floating cities where people can live, work, and thrive on the ever-shifting seas ahead. The existential threats rising oceans pose are daunting, but visionaries see possibilities. With interdisciplinary collaboration and ecological foresight, architects are responding proactively to design our blue future. Projects like the planned Maldives Floating City exemplify this new wave of aquatic thinking. Though untested, such thought experiments push the boundaries of human habitats into uncharted waters – seeding possibilities that may soon need to be made real.

Challenges faced in building floating Architects

Architects on the vanguard of floating structures face immense design hurdles, from flood dynamics to salt corrosion. However, the solutions they pioneer may soon be essential as rising seas reshape our geographies. Though still a niche, aquatic architecture is likely to proliferate. A key challenge is developing durable, buoyant foundations that withstand wave impacts, salt exposure, and perpetual motion on water. Unstable bases risk structural failures. Floating platforms must be lightweight for buoyancy yet strong enough to handle loads. Engineers are devising novel materials like reinforced concrete, plastic, and composite polymers to achieve stability.

Mooring and anchoring systems prevent structures from drifting out to sea. However, these must be flexible to allow vertical and horizontal movement with tides and wind. Anchors that minimize seabed disruption are ideal environmentally but may lack strength. It is a delicate balance. Water construction is far more complex than on land. Assembling, transporting, and installing amphibious structures requires creative logistics. Modular building techniques allow prefabrication in shipyards before ocean installation. This enhances quality control and safety.

Aquatic conditions bring persistent material corrosion and fouling concerns. Metals and concrete degrade more quickly in saltwater’s oxidative environment. Periodic maintenance is needed. Architects consider corrosion resistance when selecting construction materials. Anodized aluminum, stainless steel, and reinforced concrete fare better than carbon steel and wood. Water, electricity, and ventilation systems require thoughtful design for ocean access. Plumbing must withstand constant contact with saltwater. Electrical systems need shielding and insulation to avoid short circuits. Air circulation systems should leverage passive ocean winds while limiting moisture ingress.

Coastal sites face more significant climate risks from intensifying storms and floods. Floating structures thus need resilience engineering for adaptation. Breakaway connections allow segments to detach in emergencies without destabilizing the whole. Redundancies and backups for power, water, and mobility provide key fail-safes. Sustainability is imperative. Renewable energy, like offshore wind and wave power, can enable self-sufficiency. Some futurist designs aim for closed-loop systems that recycle all waste without any ecological discharge. However, operating fully off the grid on seas has yet to be achieved to scale.

The essence of the floating structure

As climate change causes rising seas, floating architecture offers a paradigm-shifting solution for human habitats to stay afloat. Instead of fixed, static buildings, floating structures embrace fluctuation, adaptively moving with ever-changing tides. This ancient yet innovative approach is now gaining renewed relevance worldwide. Floating designs speak to resilience, flexibility, and harmonious coexistence with water (Has Architecture an Essence? 2021). Amphibious homes have long allowed communities to dwell in flood zones by rising atop rivers and lakes. Vernacular examples like Cambodia’s floating villages, Vietnamese deltas, and Seattle’s historic floating homes foreshadowed future needs. Today’s cutting-edge floating buildings apply adaptive high-tech engineering, from a flood-proof floating mosque in Malaysia to eco-luxury ‘seascraper’ villas in the Maldives.

However, entire floating cities are on the horizon. Proposed sustainable metropolises for the Maldives, French Polynesia, and Hong Kong envision a future of vibrant aquatic urbanity. Theoretical designs showcase self-sufficient communities floating amid corals and mangroves, tapping the ocean’s renewable energy. Though not yet built, such bold visions are making waves. Floating architecture is adaptive. Structures morph to find equilibrium atop ever-moving waters, dynamically responding to tidal flows, waves, and sea swells. Buildings mounted on hydraulic jacks or floating platforms maintain shifting flexibility with changing conditions. This meta-stable state suits our fluid era of climate instability and rising seas.

Minimal fixed foundations free architecture to ebb and flow with our planet’s hydrological rhythms. Floating buildings can thus sustainably inhabit coastal areas and waterways without disrupting ecosystems. Moreover, they are easily reconfigurable or transportable based on needs. Such adaptive spatial mobility enables continuity of place despite surrounding flux. Living with water is the essence of floating urbanism. While concrete levees and walls resist tides, floating architecture embraces the ebb and flow. Architectures accept inevitable inundation, positioning our habitats to float on swelling seas rather than sink beneath them. It philosophically moves from the rigid ground towards more dynamic possibilities of living in tune with rivers, lakes, and oceans.

Symbiotically designed with ecology, future floating cities could act as regenerative aquatic ecosystems. Algae bioreactors, coral nurseries, aquaculture, and marine stations foster biodiversity while supplying food, fuel, and fertilizer. Biomimicry studies fish schools and water lily pads to optimize fluid dynamics. Applied ecology is integral to functional floating settlements. Socially, floating architecture requires community-centered planning to foster inclusive, connected neighborhoods on water. Resilience comes from the strength of collective ties. Sharing public spaces, resources, and transit while embracing cultural heritage sustains communities amidst hydrological change.

Technologically, next-generation materials and renewable energy systems make self-sufficient floating cities conceivable. Continued progress in hydroengineering, nanotechnology, and Biodesign expands possibilities. Science fiction may soon emerge from the deep. Floating architecture ultimately represents the human spirit of imagination and invention, outpacing even a rising tide. Expressing optimism and adaptability, the aquatic design opens the potential for future cultures who feel at home on the dancing swell of the open seas. Come what may, afloat we shall remain. While the path ahead is unclear, the imperative is to begin envisioning harmony with Earth’s changing waters. Floating architecture offers a way forward for Aquarian thinking. Our designs can shape liveable realms that ebb and flow across tomorrow’s fluid terrain by floating away from fixed forms tied to sinking land.

Conclusion

As our world faces the unprecedented challenges of climate change and rising oceans, floating architecture presents a bold vision for resilient human habitats attuned to aquatic environments. The pioneering projects explored in this essay showcase how embracing fluctuation and living symbiotically with water can sustain communities amidst hydrological transformations. Floating architecture is still an emerging field. Significant technical hurdles remain in achieving durable, eco-friendly designs scalable to urban levels. Public acceptance and equitable integration with existing infrastructure pose socio-cultural challenges as well. However, the flood-proof amphibious buildings profiled here provide promising proofs of concept and springboards for further innovation.

With interdisciplinary collaboration between policymakers, engineers, ecologists, and designers, floating cities can transform from utopian ideas to viable models for climate-conscious development. As the existential need arises, humanity’s adaptability and ingenuity may enable our structures to stay afloat, buoyed upon swelling tides. Ultimately, we seed opportunities for connection and resilience in contemplating speculative aquatic futures. Floating architecture inspires technological creativity, communal ties, and ecological integration (Onaran, 2022). Thus, it represents the human spirit rising to the challenges ahead, charting unknown waters, but staying afloat. Come what may, by thoughtfully designing in harmony with nature’s flows, our currents will bear forward.

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