Life is Much Better Under the Sea?

Well, it only is for the incredibly rich and probably only for a few weeks. Currently under construction in Dubai is Hydropolis, one of the world's few luxury underwater hotel. The new underwater wonder contains the land tunnel, connecting station and finally the submarine leisure complex. Architect Joachim Hauser is leading the project located 20m below the surface of the Arabian Gulf.  He takes the building of Hydropolis further than just a project, but a passion. His general plan is to create a living space in the sea and also believes the future of architecture and city planning lies within it. By creating this 260 hectare hotel underwater, Hauser believes this will bring attention to the problems marine ecosystems face such as the destruction of coral reef's. 

I'm not exactly sure how sustainable the practice of building and maintaining an underwater hotel is, but it would be an interesting alternative to our land use practices. Underwater architecture could be a possibility for coast settlements to adapt to rising sea levels. A positive aspect I foresee in being completely submerged in water is that we wouldn't have to worry about flooding anymore.

 The subject of underwater architecture is one with little known about it and there are even more aspects about the ocean that are unknown. I definitely have some reservations about the idea of building in marine ecosystems: whether if humans can adapt to being underwater for long periods of time or if expanding our cities into the ocean will only cause more damage to Earth's ecosystems. There has definitely been in a trend for human settlements to wreck havoc on nearby ecosystems. Perhaps Hauser could have chosen a more appropriate gesture to save the coral reefs, I feel that a 260 hectare underwater hotel would do more damage than good to marine life. 

Biomimicry: Oyster Shell Seawalls

When I think about water and architecture paired together, a part of me thinks about cool houseboats or living cities on the water, marrying water with the design as a cohesive unit. The other part of me thinks of protection from water, disaster relief, working with nature, not working to combat it, but to preserve and protect it and us from ever harming one another. Coastal erosion caused by hurricanes and sea storms can cause serious damage to shorelines supported by man made structures such as bulkheads, beams or sea walls. As a new way to contain the erosion, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Dauphin Island Sea lab have turned to nature for inspiration rather than resorting to the conventional barrier technique. Oyster shells are dumped all along the shoreline to create a sort of barrier reef that functions further as a thriving habitat for sea life, standing against strong storms, even hurricanes. The project encompasses the direction of thought that should be taken when confronted with any sort of environmental issue. This is yet another example where the processes inherent in the natural world can lead us in a right direction for much more sustainable change.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/11/19/protecting-eroded-coastlines-with-oyster-seawalls/#more-16506

Sink or Schwimm!

Both the last studio project, where my group built a water metropolis, and Eduard Epp's lecture last week have led me to consider alternative dwellings to cope with floods. The Schwimmhaus by Confused Direction is one possibility of after-flood architecture. This modern, sustainable houseboat is constructed from reclaimed wood and it has a green roof!
As Epp mentioned last class we need to consider new ways of living for the future, and a future with water seems likely. These houseboats help me envision exciting new inhabitations. Like in Amsterdam and Venice, perhaps most of the world's city streets will one day become water and people will reside along canals, sipping lattes on the patios of these cool little structures.

lilypad

Using my previous post as a starting point, I wanted to also introduce the idea of creating not just structures capable of functioning on water, but entire communities. As I mentioned, global warming and climate change are on everyone's mind, and some designers are creating feasible, beautiful designs to accommodate the uncertain changes that are certainly eminent. Vincent Callebaut Architects have developed their lilypad refugee camp in response to the shocking reality that as Ocean levels continue to rise more and more people will be displaced, and eventually, entire nations will be underwater.

Lilypad, a prototype of auto-sufficient amphibious city was created to house 50,000 inhabitants and is in itself a self sufficient eco-system, operating on solar, wind, tidal and bimass, the community will harmoniously integrate human and natural environments all the while floating atop of water.

Although this prototype is not going to be built any time soon, it may be needed sooner than we think.

living on water

Our last studio project forced us to examine design on a city scale. We were asked to design based on different conditions and many of my fellow classmates, including my fellow bloggers, chose incorporate the idea of flood into their designs. A relevant condition to discuss considering that in the last few years we have seen, on a global scale, many area’s ravished by flooding.
Coincidentally Ed Epp came to speak with our class on Thursday about his own research into flood architecture and touched on a few interesting projects that have been done.

Although my studio assignment did not touch on floods I think that the ideas behind flood architecture are quite logical. Designing based on the preexisting natural environment is something that is rarely implemented. More often than not we find ways to change the natural environment to accommodate our designs rather than the other way around.
Koen Olthuis of waterstudio is one of the most highly regarded experts on flood design. His design firm focuses exclusively on projects that are built on water instead of land and his work is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. His passion stems from growing up in the Netherlands where 1/3 of the country is actually below sea level, and complicated “levy” and pump systems have been implemented to keep the water out. Olthuis argues that instead of taking on the huge undertaking of keeping the water out, instead we should “make friends with the water”.

Many of waterstudio’s designs that have been realized are modern houseboats, but with commissions in Dubai and across Europe Olthuis’s concepts are certainly gaining ground, and rightfully so. With all this talk of global warming and climate change our landscapes are undoubtedly going to continue morphing. I feel like the time has come to stop fighting with what we already have and begin embracing it. As Olthuis has shown the technology and creativity is there, we just need to start using it.