Architecture, urban planning and research in, on and next to water
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Floating solutions for upgrading wet-slums

By Berry Gersonius
UNESCO-IHE
Innovations for water and development

 

Among the many challenges caused by the rise of global urban population is the accompanied growth of slum population. Around one billion people live in slums – most of them being close to open water. Being most vulnerable to floods, they are least attractive for upgrading investments. Neglected by civil authorities and confounded by a lack of space and money along with vulnerability, these already precarious slums are pushed into a negative spiral.

Using a bottom-up approach, the Floating City Apps Foundation, aims to upgrade waterfront slums with small scale instant solutions. Comparable to adjusting a smart phone with apps according to changing needs, the infrastructure in a slum can be adjusted by adding functions with City Apps.

These apps are floating developments built using a standard sea-freight container. The container is assembled in the Netherlands and shipped to the wet-slum where it is placed on a locally constructed floating foundation. Because of their flexibility and small size they are suitable for installing and upgrading facilities for sanitation, housing, communication etc. They can be added to a slum using the available space on water.

 

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Inhabitat interviews Olthuis, Global Mobile Assets

Inhabitat, Bridgette Meinhold, July 2014

INHABITAT INTERVIEW: Water Architect Koen Olthuis on How to Embrace Rising Sea Levels

Sea levels are rising, floods are prevalent, and cities are at greater risk than ever due to climate change. Now that we’ve accepted these facts, it’s time to design and build more resilient structures. Koen Olthuis, one of the most forward-thinking and innovative architects out there, has a solution for rising sea levels. His solution: Embrace the water by incorporating it into our cities; creating resilient buildings and infrastructure that can handle extreme flooding, heavy rains, and higher water. Olthuis and his team at Waterstudio.nl have been showing coastal communities the benefits of building on the water. With countries like the Maldives and Kiribati having to build oceanside or move in order to escape rising sea levels, New York learning to battle storm surges, and Jakarta dealing with massive flooding, embracing water may be our only option for survival. We chatted with Olthuis about how coastal cities can become more resilient in the face of change—read on for our interview!

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Waterstudio team back from Korail slum

For the continuation of the Appgrading Wet Slums project, the Waterstudio team did a field research on the Korail slum in Dhaka

The Waterstudio team just returned from a field research with the goal to research on the possibilities of the implementation of the first City App in the Korail Wet Slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Waterstudio together with Dutch Docklands support the Flood Resilient Group by conducting and sharing beneficial research on City Apps for Wet Slums. The Flood Resilient Group is a multidisciplinary research group affiliated to UNESCO-IHE and Delft University of Technology.

Waterstudio wins Architecture & Sealevelrise Award

Waterstudio has won the prestigious “Architecture & Sea Level Rise” Award 2012 from the Jacques Rougerie foundation with their entry: App-grading Wet Slums.

“Architecture & Sea Level Rise” Award 2012 for App-grading Wet Slums

Koen Olthuis and his Waterstudio team have won the prestigious “Architecture & Sea Level Rise” Award 2012 from the Jacques Rougerie foundation with their entry: App-grading Wet Slums.

Koen Olthuis’ architectural firm Waterstudio aims to upgrade slums by using floating urban structures called City Apps. City Apps are, essentially, floating functions that can easily be added to a city by placing them on water where needed.

Wet Slums are characterized by high density, a scarcity of free space and are located by the water. By using floating solutions new space is found on water. City Apps offer a flexible and adaptable design, creating solutions for the specific needs of each area. City Apps are catalyst functions.

A set of City Apps are developed for Wet Slums that provide food, sanitation, shelter and energy. Floating technology that has been used in projects for the “rich” will now be used for the people that really are in need.

City Apps are envisioned as products instead of projects which makes them reusable as they can be easily moved elsewhere once they are not needed. In this approach, City Apps are leased out to the local community.

The prize money provided by the foundation will be used to implement the first City App in the Korail Wet Slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Official name of the award and foundation: Laureate 2012 – Promo Emmanuel Hervé – “Architecture & Sea Level Rise” Award from the Fondation Jacques

Rougerie – Génération Espace Mer – Institut de France.

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