Designed in a pattern similar to brain coral, the city will consist of 5,000 floating units that will include homes, restaurants, shops and schools, with canals running in between. The first units will be unveiled this month, with residents starting to move in early 2024 and the entire city is expected to be completed by 2027. The project – a joint venture between real estate developer Dutch Docklands and the Maldives government – is not seen as a wild experiment or a futuristic vision: it is being constructed as a practical solution to the harsh reality of rising sea levels. An archipelago of 1,190 low-lying islands, the Maldives is one of the world ‘s most vulnerable nations to climate change. Eighty percent of its land area is less than a meter above sea level, and with levels projected to rise to one meter by the end of the century, almost the entire country could sink. But if a city floats, it could rise along with the sea. That’s the “new hope” for more than half a million people in the Maldives, said Koen Olthuis, founder of Waterstudio, the architectural firm that designed the city. “It can prove that there are affordable housing, large communities and normal cities on the water that are also safe. They (the Maldives) will be transformed from climate refugees into climate innovators,” he told CNN.
Node of floating architecture
Born and raised in the Netherlands – where about a third of the earth is below sea level – Olthuis has been near water all his life. His mother’s family were shipbuilders and his father came from a number of architects and engineers, so it seemed natural to combine the two, he said. In 2003, Olthuis founded Waterstudio, an architectural firm dedicated exclusively to water construction. There were signs of climate change at the time, but it was not considered a big enough issue that you could build a company around it, he said. The biggest problem then was space: cities were expanding, but the land suitable for new urban development was running out. Do you want to protect your home from rising sea levels? Make it float In recent years, however, climate change has become a “catalyst,” leading floating architecture toward the prevailing trend, he said. Over the past two decades, Waterstudio has designed more than 300 floating homes, offices, schools and health centers around the world. The Netherlands has become a hub for movement, a house in floating parks, a floating dairy farm and a floating office building, which serves as the headquarters for the Global Adjustment Center (GCA), an organization focused on scaling up adaptation solutions in the climate. Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of GCA, sees floating architecture as both a practical and a cost-effective solution to rising sea levels. The Global Center on Adaptation headquarters are moored on the Nieuwe Maas River in Rotterdam. Credit: Marcel IJzerman “The cost of not adapting to these flood risks is enormous,” he told CNN. “We have a choice to make: either we delay and pay, or we plan and prosper. Floating offices and floating buildings are part of this design against the climate of the future.” Floods cost the global economy more than $ 82 billion last year, according to reinsurance Swiss Re, and as climate change causes more extreme weather, costs are expected to rise. A report by the World Resources Institute predicts that by 2030, more than $ 700 billion worth of urban property will be affected annually by floods on the coast and rivers. But despite the momentum in recent years, floating architecture still has a long way to go in terms of scale and affordability, Verkooijen said. “This is the next step in this journey: how can we scale, and at the same time, how can we accelerate? There is an urgent need for scale and speed.”
A normal city just floats
The Maldives project aims to achieve both, building a city of 20,000 people in less than five years. Other floating city plans have been launched, such as Oceanix City in Busan, South Korea, and a number of floating islands in the Baltic Sea developed by the Dutch company Blue21, but none are competing on this scale and schedule. The town of Waterstudio is designed to attract locals with rainbow-colored houses, large balconies and sea views. Residents will be able to travel by boat or be able to walk, ride a bike or ride electric scooters or trolleys on the sandy roads. The capital of the Maldives is overcrowded, with no room for expansion beyond the sea. Credit: Carl Court / Getty Images AsiaPac It offers hard-to-find space in the capital – Male is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with more than 200,000 people crammed into an area of about eight square kilometers. And the prices are competitive with those in Hulhumalé (a man-made island built nearby to reduce congestion) – starting at $ 150,000 for a studio or $ 250,000 for a family home, Olthuis said. The modular units are built at a local shipyard and then towed to the floating city. Once installed, they are mounted on a large underwater concrete hull, which is screwed to the seabed on telescopic steel stilts that allow it to swing smoothly with the waves. The coral reefs that surround the city help provide a natural wave breaker, stabilizing it and preventing residents from feeling nauseous. Olthuis said the potential environmental impact of the construction was rigorously assessed by local coral experts and approved by government authorities before construction began. To support marine life, artificial glass foam coral banks are attached to the bottom of the city, which, he said, helps stimulate corals to grow naturally. Residents can travel to the city by boat, while the capital and the international airport are only about a 10-minute drive away. Credit: Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands The goal is for the city to be self-sufficient and to have all the same functions as one on land. There will be electricity, which will be supplied mainly by locally produced solar energy, and wastewater will be treated locally and reused as manure for the facilities. As an alternative to air conditioning, the city will use marine cooling in deep water, which includes pumping cold water from the deep sea into the lagoon, helping to save energy. Developing a fully functional floating city in the Maldives, Olthuis hopes to take this type of architecture to the next level. It will no longer be “crazy architecture” found in luxury locations commissioned by the super-rich, but a response to climate change and urbanization that is both practical and affordable, he said. “If I, as an architect, want to make a difference, we have to scale,” he said.
title: “A Floating City In The Maldives Is Beginning To Take Shape " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-25” author: “Michelle Dacosta”
Designed in a pattern similar to brain coral, the city will consist of 5,000 floating units that will include homes, restaurants, shops and schools, with canals running in between. The first units will be unveiled this month, with residents starting to move in early 2024 and the entire city is expected to be completed by 2027. The project – a joint venture between real estate developer Dutch Docklands and the Maldives government – is not seen as a wild experiment or a futuristic vision: it is being constructed as a practical solution to the harsh reality of rising sea levels. An archipelago of 1,190 low-lying islands, the Maldives is one of the world ‘s most vulnerable nations to climate change. Eighty percent of its land area is less than a meter above sea level, and with levels projected to rise to one meter by the end of the century, almost the entire country could sink. Do you want to protect your home from rising sea levels? Make it float But if a city floats, it could rise along with the sea. That’s the “new hope” for more than half a million people in the Maldives, said Koen Olthuis, founder of Waterstudio, the architectural firm that designed the city. “It can prove that there are affordable housing, large communities and normal cities on the water that are also safe. They (the Maldives) will be transformed from climate refugees into climate innovators,” he told CNN.
Node of floating architecture
Born and raised in the Netherlands – where about a third of the earth is below sea level – Olthuis has been near water all his life. His mother’s family were shipbuilders and his father came from a number of architects and engineers, so it seemed natural to combine the two, he said. In 2003, Olthuis founded Waterstudio, an architectural firm dedicated exclusively to water construction. There were signs of climate change at the time, but it was not considered a big enough issue that you could build a company around it, he said. The biggest problem then was space: cities were expanding, but the land suitable for new urban development was running out. 1/8 The threat of rising sea leads to a new form of floating architecture. In the Maldives, a nation on the front lines of climate change, the first blocks of a floating city are being towed into place. Once completed, it should look like this performance and about 20,000 people will call it their home. Credit: Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands In recent years, however, climate change has become a “catalyst,” leading floating architecture toward the prevailing trend, he said. Over the past two decades, Waterstudio has designed more than 300 floating homes, offices, schools and health centers around the world. The Netherlands has become a hub for movement, a house in floating parks, a floating dairy farm and a floating office building, which serves as the headquarters for the Global Adjustment Center (GCA), an organization focused on scaling up adaptation solutions in the climate. Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of GCA, sees floating architecture as both a practical and a cost-effective solution to rising sea levels. The Global Center on Adaptation headquarters are moored on the Nieuwe Maas River in Rotterdam. Credit: Marcel IJzerman “The cost of not adapting to these flood risks is enormous,” he told CNN. “We have a choice to make: either we delay and pay, or we plan and prosper. Floating offices and floating buildings are part of this design against the climate of the future.” Floods cost the global economy more than $ 82 billion last year, according to reinsurance Swiss Re, and as climate change causes more extreme weather, costs are expected to rise. A report by the World Resources Institute predicts that by 2030, more than $ 700 billion worth of urban property will be affected annually by floods on the coast and rivers. But despite the momentum in recent years, floating architecture still has a long way to go in terms of scale and affordability, Verkooijen said. “This is the next step in this journey: how can we scale, and at the same time, how can we accelerate? There is an urgent need for scale and speed.”
A normal city just floats
The Maldives project aims to achieve both, building a city of 20,000 people in less than five years. Other floating city plans have been launched, such as Oceanix City in Busan, South Korea, and a number of floating islands in the Baltic Sea developed by the Dutch company Blue21, but none are competing on this scale and schedule. The town of Waterstudio is designed to attract locals with rainbow-colored houses, large balconies and sea views. Residents will be able to travel by boat or be able to walk, ride a bike or ride electric scooters or trolleys on the sandy roads. The capital of the Maldives is overcrowded, with no room for expansion beyond the sea. Credit: Carl Court / Getty Images AsiaPac It offers hard-to-find space in the capital – Male is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with more than 200,000 people crammed into an area of about eight square kilometers. And the prices are competitive with those in Hulhumalé (a man-made island built nearby to reduce congestion) – starting at $ 150,000 for a studio or $ 250,000 for a family home, Olthuis said. The modular units are built at a local shipyard and then towed to the floating city. Once installed, they are mounted on a large underwater concrete hull, which is screwed to the seabed on telescopic steel stilts that allow it to swing smoothly with the waves. The coral reefs that surround the city help provide a natural wave breaker, stabilizing it and preventing residents from feeling nauseous. Olthuis said the potential environmental impact of the construction was rigorously assessed by local coral experts and approved by government authorities before construction began. To support marine life, artificial glass foam coral banks are attached to the bottom of the city, which, he said, helps stimulate corals to grow naturally. The goal is for the city to be self-sufficient and to have all the same functions as one on land. There will be electricity, which will be supplied mainly by locally produced solar energy, and wastewater will be treated locally and reused as manure for the facilities. As an alternative to air conditioning, the city will use marine cooling in deep water, which includes pumping cold water from the deep sea into the lagoon, helping to save energy. Developing a fully functional floating city in the Maldives, Olthuis hopes to take this type of architecture to the next level. It will no longer be “crazy architecture” found in luxury locations commissioned by the super-rich, but a response to climate change and urbanization that is both practical and affordable, he said. “If I, as an architect, want to make a difference, we have to scale,” he said.
