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Experts say that relieving the Dutch housing shortage will require the construction of one million new homes over the next 10 years. Floating homes could help relieve pressure on the shortage of land available for development. As sea levels rise and supercharged storms cause waters to swell, floating neighbourhoods offer an experiment in flood defence that could allow coastal communities to better withstand climate change. Waterstudio will oversee construction this winter of a floating housing development near the low-lying capital of Male in the Maldives, where 80 percent of the country sits less than one meter above sea level. It is composed of simply designed, affordable housing for 20,000 people. Underneath the hulls will be artificial coral to help support marine life.
When people from a wide range of cultural spheres are living on the ocean, how do people coexist with other people or with the environment? This design prototyping examines people’s life at sea in 2050 and the ecosystem they create from the perspective of housing. Life at sea—it sounds far away, like a distant lifestyle reserved for Navy seamen, ocean trawlers and submarine captains. But as shorelines recede, populations grow and property-ownership ideas evolve, designers and architects are prompted to re-think how—and where—we live. Houses and other buildings that rise and fall with water levels are becoming more common in Dutch cities. The raised structure of the SeaPod provides 73 square meters of living space.
House of Wills
– Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development celebrated the future of housing in downtown DC at the conversion ceremony of the old Vanguard building into the new Elle Apartments. The Vanguard building opened in 1965 and, for years, was home to the Peace Corps. The conversion of the building marks a significant step in reimagining the downtown area as a more vibrant mixed-use community, where residents can live, work, and play. At the event, Mayor Bowser also highlighted her Housing in Downtown Abatement Program, which will encourage new residential conversion projects downtown. A rendering of a floating city planned for the Maldives, which is threatened by rising seas. KOEN OLTHUIS / WATERSTUDIOFloating homes pose numerous challenges, however.
Olthuis says the housing shortage in the Netherlands could fuel demand for floating homes, including in “Room for the River” areas where floods will be, at least for a portion of the year, part of the landscape. Experts say that relieving the Netherland housing shortage will require the construction of 1 million new homes over the next 10 years. Floating homes could help make up the shortage of land that is suitable for development. Olthuis says the housing shortage in the Netherlands could fuel demand for floating homes, including in "Room for the River" areas where floods will be, at least for a portion of the year, part of the landscape.
Floating Homes Of The Future
Mr. Olthuis envisions public buildings like schools, stadiums and even parks being moved to different waterside neighborhoods according to need. Yet, according to Koen Olthuis, the lead architect on the project, it is part of the greatest transformation in urbanism since Elisha Otis built the safety brake that gave rise to the modern elevator, skyscrapers and ultimately urban density. It has also accused local authorities of lacking understanding of the technology available when it comes to their application of planning policy.
The concept defended by Ocean Builders is available in three versions, all designed by the Dutch architect Koen Olthuis and his Waterstudio team. The three models are quite similar, but differ in the environment for which they were designed. As global warming provokes increasingly severe weather events, however, the gap between art and life is fast narrowing, with apocalyptic flooding scenarios now as common in reality as in the imaginations of Hollywood scriptwriters.
This innovative pocket device makes sure you’ll never feel lost in a foreign country
The undersides of the islands are equipped with anchor points for marine life that resemble holds on artificial climbing walls, leading to a collaboration with Ocean Futures Society, established by Jean-Michel Cousteau, the son of the explorer Jacques Cousteau. Mr. Olthuis’s architectural firm, Waterstudio, which he founded in 2003, has completed more than 200 floating homes and offices. It’s a bold solution and clearly the idea of a floating home is not going to be for everyone.
Severe wind and rainstorms, or even the passing of large cruise ships, can make the buildings rock. Siti Boelen, the Schoonschip resident, said that when she first moved in, stormy weather made her think twice before venturing up to her third-floor kitchen, where she felt the movement the most. “You feel it in your stomach,” she said, adding that she has since gotten used to the feeling.
The Housing in Downtown Abatement Program will incentivize future residential transformations by providing tax relief for new residential projects in the Central Business District. The program requires projects to include 15% of units to be affordable at 60% of the Median Family Income. DMPED will issue regulations in early 2023 for public comment and a Request for Applications later in the year. Beginning in FY24 through FY26, $2.5 million will be available for this abatement, increasing to $6.8 million in FY27 before increasing by 4% annually. While he is mostly known in design circles for his open glass constructions, Mr. Olthuis sees a broader mission.
Dutch firms specializing in floating buildings have been inundated with requests from developers abroad to undertake more ambitious projects. Rotterdam, which is 90 percent below sea level and the site of Europe’s biggest port, is home to the world’s largest floating office building, as well as a floating farm where cows are milked by robots, supplying dairy products to local grocery stores. Since the 2010 launch of the Floating Pavilion, a solar-powered meeting and event space in Rotterdam’s harbor, the city has been ramping up efforts to mainstream such projects, naming floating buildings one of the pillars of its Climate Proof and Adaptation Strategy. Rotterdam, which is 90% below sea level and the site of Europe's biggest port, is home to the world's largest floating office building, as well as a floating farm where cows are milked by robots, supplying dairy products to local grocery stores.
These areas have a high probability of flooding, at least 1 in 100 years. Zone 2 and 3a areas have a wide spectrum of flood risk, and Floodline believes there is the capacity to release such land which can be sustainably developed. Where there are no reasonably available Flood Zone 1 sites, local authorities take into account reasonably available Flood Zone 2 designated sites.
Schoonschip, designed by the Dutch firm Space&Matter, consists of 30 houses, half of which are duplexes, on a canal in a former manufacturing area. The neighbourhood is a short ferry ride from central Amsterdam, where many of the residents work. Community members share nearly everything, including bikes, cars and food bought from local farmers. These floating communities are inspiring more ambitious Dutch-led projects in flood-prone nations, from French Polynesia to the Maldives. Share your views and read others' thoughts in the Just Imagine forum.
We all know how fabulous living on a floating home is, but our good fortune was illustrated more than ever during the pandemic as we enjoyed concerts, uninterrupted access to open space and the sense of community that flourished more than ever. Due to the housing shortage and changes in state housing law, all Bay Area jurisdictions have seen large increases in the amount of housing they are expected to build. The 6th Cycle requires Sausalito to plan for 724 additional housing units.
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