Exciting news, the first island of the Floating City in the Maldives has arrived near Male!
The first island of the Floating City in the Maldives near Male. Inspired by traditional Maldivian sea-faring culture and developed in close cooperation with Maldivian authorities. MFC homes will eventually be joined by hotels, restaurants, stylish boutiques and a world-class marina. Maldives Floating City is the first of its kind across the globe – developed to equally embrace sustainability and livability
Se è vero che nel 2100 i’Adriatico si alzerà di 140 cm, molte saranno le zone sommerse dalle acque. E in Italia e all’estero si sviluppa il settore delle floating house
Il futuro (galleggiante) è adesso
In una recente intervista alla Bbc, l’architetto olandese Koen Olthuis, il guru dell’architettura galleggiante, ha citato uno studio secondo il quale il 78% delle grandi città nel mondo sono state edificate vicino al mare o comunque a grandi bacini d’acqua che ne influenzano la vita. «L’acqua è un’opportunità e l’architettura galleggiante è il prossimo step nell’evoluzione urbanistica delle città. Negli ultimi 15 anni abbiamo cercato di combattere la natura per cercare di sottometterla alle nostre esigenze mentre ora si comincia a pensare che è meglio assecondarla, soprattutto pensando al previsto innalzamento del livello delle acque dovuto allo scioglimento progressivo dei poli. In Olanda ci sono oltre 10.000 case galleggianti ma spesso sono solo ricavate da vecchi battelli. Gli edifici che oggi realizziamo con le tecnologie più avanzate sulla terraferma, domani verranno costruiti su piattaforme galleggianti».
Photo: Friso Spoelstra
Parte il Made in Italy
Ora anche in Italia il mercato immobiliare galleggiante sta muovendo i primi passi: se esistono già alcuni operatori turistici che hanno realizzato villaggi e resort galleggianti acquistando le houseboat all’estero – dalla Polonia alla Turchia – ora stanno cominciando ad apparire i primi costruttori che, pur producendo ancora a livello artigianale, propongono le prime case galleggianti Made in Italy.
Quanti tipi di floating house
Il mondo si divide in case galleggianti “fissate a terra”, che non hanno la capacità di muoversi autonomamente e che rispondono ai regolamenti comunali pagando gli oneri di urbanizzazione, e case galleggianti “a motore” che sono formalmente dei natanti e che, ad esempio, hanno l’obbligo di smaltire le acque nere senza collegarsi al sistema fognario. Oltre a queste due categorie, è rilevante anche la distinzione tra case galleggianti prodotte artigianalmente e case che escono da una catena di montaggio industriale; così come tra quelle che vengono progettate per essere domicilio stabile e continuativo (da qualche anno in Italia la legge permette di chiedere la residenza in un porto) e quelle destinate ad essere affittate solo per un periodo di vacanza estiva.
Tutto un altro mondo
Recuperare un vecchio battello, ormeggiarlo lungo un molo e ristrutturarlo in modo tale che possa ospitare una casa può essere scomodo, limitante e parecchio costoso. Spesso conviene costruire ex novo. In Italia – nonostante la presenza di centinaia di cantieri nautici (e di 7.500 km di coste) – non c’è ancora una realtà industriale che creda e investa nella realizzazione di case galleggianti ed è pur difficile trovare artigiani che possano vantare le necessarie competenze in ingegneria nautica e civile per creare un progetto certificabile dagli enti preposti. Questo è però il caso raro di Minimal, una sas tra Mantova a Verona che ha recentemente messo in acqua un ristorante da 200 metri quadri lungo l’Adige, una residenza abitativa su misura di due piani acquistata da una famiglia, che ha scelto di vivere nel porto turistico di Genova, e una serie di piccoli “camper galleggianti” di pochi mq, noleggiabili sul Canal Bianco in Polesine e guidabili senza patente.
Apriamo i porti sull’Adriatico
Quando pochi anni fa sono cambiate le leggi sulla nautica da diporto, molte barche di grandi dimensioni – soprattutto sull’Adriatico – hanno deciso di fare base nella molto più economica Croazia. C’è chi, di fronte ai porti italiani rimasti semivuoti, ha trovato una soluzione e li ha riconvertiti in villaggi di case galleggianti. È accaduto a Rimini, ad esempio, e a Lignano Sabbiadoro (che probabilmente è la località italiana con la maggior concentrazione di houseboat potendo vantare ben due diversi floating resort) alla foce del fiume Tagliamento.
Il modello chiavi in mano
Le houseboat scelte per la Marina di Rimini sono prodotte da una azienda slovena che da decenni opera nel settore di camper e caravan: un molo galleggiante lungo anche 25 metri dove viene installata una costruzione da 50 a 150 mq dotata di ogni comfort prodotta industrialmente. A corredo, ci sono due motori elettrici, una a poppa e uno a prua (smontabili quando non si intende muoversi) che permettono alla “chiatta” di spostarsi e le forniscono lo status di natante. Il valore aggiunto è dato però dal sistema di galleggiamento brevettato: 96 cubi di materiale plastico inaffondabile contengono un impianto innovativo per il riciclo e la depurazione delle acque nere, che permette alla houseboat di rimanere stabilmente in porto senza dover ricorrere costantemente allo spurgo o senza dover uscire per scaricare al largo.
Il modello chiavi in mano
Le houseboat scelte per la Marina di Rimini sono prodotte da una azienda slovena che da decenni opera nel settore di camper e caravan: un molo galleggiante lungo anche 25 metri dove viene installata una costruzione da 50 a 150 mq dotata di ogni comfort prodotta industrialmente. A corredo, ci sono due motori elettrici, una a poppa e uno a prua (smontabili quando non si intende muoversi) che permettono alla “chiatta” di spostarsi e le forniscono lo status di natante. Il valore aggiunto è dato però dal sistema di galleggiamento brevettato: 96 cubi di materiale plastico inaffondabile contengono un impianto innovativo per il riciclo e la depurazione delle acque nere, che permette alla houseboat di rimanere stabilmente in porto senza dover ricorrere costantemente allo spurgo o senza dover uscire per scaricare al largo.
Some argue that waterborne homes — and stadiums — could be a response to climate concerns
New York, London, Shanghai, Jakarta, Manila, Houston, Miami, Rio de Janeiro — all these cities and more are threatened by potential rises in sea level from climate change. Without dramatic action, in a century or less some of the world’s most expensive real estate could be under water. So it is unsurprising that architects and engineers are looking seriously at a future of floating cities. As often with water engineering, the Dutch are at the forefront. Living in a country which owes its existence to the struggle to find equilibrium with the sea, they are the pioneers of a small but increasingly important-looking architectural future. A short tram ride from central Amsterdam is IJburg, a well-planned suburb of decent housing and wide roads built on reclaimed land. At its edges the streets dissolve into jetties and houses sit on the water. One of the first large floating suburbs, it is an enticing vision of water living, with houses on concrete rafts and ducks swimming between. These are well-designed and built homes for city workers priced out of the centre of a city affected by gentrification, tourism and Airbnb-style rentals. Some houses are minimally modernist, others quirkily eccentric. Some look like suburban cottages on water, others like streamlined nautical hybrids, ready to sail away. One neighbourhood, Steigereiland, was built by architects Marlies Rohmer, an elegant Bauhaus dream of white walls, flat roofs, steel and glass. Could this be the future? Architect Koen Olthuis (“the Floating Dutchman”) has been at the forefront of floating design. “We love the water in Holland and we need to learn to see it as a tool,” he says. “I’ve seen floating architecture go from freak architecture to a real proposition. A hundred years ago the invention of the elevator allowed us to build vertically; now we need to understand water as an extra dimension for cities.” Mr Olthuis, whose Waterstudio practice has designed and built more than 200 floating buildings and who has plans for everything from entire cities to a football stadium, calls the floating metropolis a “blue city” and sees a four-stage process in its development. “They start in the city,” he says, “on the waterfront, where there is an established real estate market. Then they go into the sea but are still connected to the land via their energy and sewerage et cetera — which is an alternative to expensive land reclamation. The third phase is going into the sea, 1km into the water, but still connected, and the fourth is the self-supporting city in the sea with all its energy generated in the ocean.” What is the point of that? “I don’t know,” he laughs, “but rich people love the idea — an unregulated haven!” “We have 2bn people threatened by floods, these problems are in the cities right now.” Is this really a realistic solution to problems of urban overcrowding and resilience? “The big guys [the ‘starchitects’] are now showing idealistic cities in the ocean.” These are fantasies, he says, “but we have to group together as architects to make realistic proposals”. Mr Olthuis also worked on the Arkup, a “liveable yacht” launched last year in Miami. A luxury house with hydraulic legs which can be lowered to the seabed, it has solar power, desalination and a motor. He is also working on structures for the world’s slums, building a mobile platform in Bangladesh which uses waste plastic bottles for buoyancy. These will house toilets, internet stations, communal kitchens and other facilities. Floating architecture’s recent history has not all been plain sailing. Nigerian architect Kunlé Adeyemi designed the Makoko floating school for a Lagos slum. It looked like the perfect project — worthy, elegant and innovative — but it was destroyed by a storm. The idea of a mobile floating architecture is among the more promising futures. Mr Olthuis has even designed a sports stadium. “A football stadium could be leased by a city,” he says. “Why spend all that money? Rent it, like a car.” Architect Alex de Rijke also raises flexibility. “Cities have master plans but plans change and one of their failures is their inability to adapt,” he says. “A floating city could be endlessly reconfigured.” His practice dRMM’s plans for a “Floatopolis” in London’s Docklands show a city of multistorey structures. It went from research project to possible commission but was not built. “The world’s cities are full of post-industrial waterfronts,” Mr de Rijke says. “We were looking at how you create a community, with schools, shops and most importantly density. “We have overpriced land in London, a restrictive planning system and the paradox of a low-density city.” The floating city idea, says Mr de Rijke, goes in a cycle of fashion, “like the tide coming in and going out”. It is a relatively expensive way to build, with prefabricated concrete rafts and high-specification components. But in big cities or densely populated countries such as the Netherlands or UK, where land is expensive, it can be an economical solution. As the technologies become more mainstream, costs will fall. Of course, city centre waterways are a finite resource — but they may be becoming much less finite soon. The tide is coming in.
Koen Olthuis was one of the keynote speakers at the discussion at PlanB at Pakhuisdezwijger. He mentioned the Arkup as one of the answers on rising seas in this experst discussion “solutions for sealevelrise”.
The sea level is rising. Although the Dutch have been used to fighting water for centuries and are experts in raising dikes and constructing world-famous delta works, we must also discuss the other scenario. Given that international climate agreements are failing, can we still keep the water out in the future? And if not, are we prepared for that?
In the span of four weeks during August and September, hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria brought extreme rainfall and 100-mph winds to the US and the Caribbean, destroying thousands of houses and businesses in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere.
It’s unclear whether climate change caused these storms, but atmospheric scientists say a warmer planet likely made them more aggressive.
Across the globe, architects and developers are planning for a future when storms and other climate-related disasters become more common. Many are thinking about climate resilience — the idea that buildings should be designed to endure the impact of sea-level rise, increasing temperatures, and climate disasters.
Building designers no longer see climate change as a far-off prospect. To cope with rising waters and powerful storms, some are designing buildings to withstand them.
Following are some of the building designs of the future.
Instead of fighting against flooding and storm surges, some architects believe that cities should live in harmony with water. In other words, we should build more structures on water, rather than land.
Proponents of floating architecture say that sea-level rise is a reality that cities should accept and prepare for. The Netherlands has more than half its landmass below sea level.
“We can expect more flooding in the future,” Waterstudio CEO Koen Olthuis said.
“It’s not about technology — it’s about rethinking cities. We should start building for change. Most cities, like Miami, Tokyo, and New York City, see water as a threat. We see it as an asset.”
A decade ago, Waterstudio began designing floating houses that have the same look and feel as traditional houses.
In 2011, Marlies Rohmer Architecture constructed a floating neighborhood in Amsterdam with 75 houses that bob with water levels. Other architects have recently devised floating greenhouses, movie theaters, and schools.
Photo: Friso Spoelstra
Founded in 2003, the Netherlands-based firm Waterstudio has designed and constructed more than 200 floating buildings.
Some, like the one pictured, are amphibious. They are located right on the coast, sometimes on dry land, sometimes on water.
Amphibious houses, which can elevate as high as four feet when water flows underneath, have a foam base that’s wrapped in a layer of concrete and connected to steel cables secured to the ground.
Other Waterstudio buildings are designed to be completely on the water.
Their concrete foundations are buoyed to cables that attach to the ocean floor. Most can withstand Category 4-force winds. If water levels rise, so do the houses, similar to boats. Waterstudio’s philosophy is that instead of fighting the water, cities should just let it pass. “A ‘blue city’ takes advantage of the water. Building on the water is safe from floods, and it’s flexible. You can move structures in different configurations and from city to city,” said Koen Olthuis, Waterstudio’s CEO.
The largest challenge for the company has been persuading cities to advocate for amendments to building codes so that the company’s houses are recognized as normal houses instead of houseboats.
In December, the company debuted floating micro-units made from shipping containers, which serve as classrooms, health clinics, and sanitary facilities in Bangladesh.
Waterstudio recently completed a small floating neighborhood of five houses in the Netherlands. Olthuis anticipates building a floating neighborhood with 10,000 houses within the next five years.
The team is also working on a floating villa and a floating hotel in Dubai, and a floating wildlife habitat tower in Dianchi Lake, near Kunming, China, all set to be completed in 2018.
