Media Archives - Page 16 of 66

Flytende byer kan løse plassmangel og klimakrise. Slik tenker arkitektene

By Claude R. Olsen
TU Bygg
November.04.2018

De siste årene har et prosjekt i Fransk Polynesia fått mye oppmerksomhet. Gründere fra California ønsket å bygge en flytende øy i smult farvann som skulle fungere som en egen stat med null skatt. Planene førte til stor kritikk og Fransk Polynesia har avsluttet samarbeidet.

Men visjonene bak prosjektforslaget, har fått flere interessert i selve konseptet flytende byer.

Bakgrunnen er plassmangel i store byer og klimaendringer som truer lavtliggende bebyggelse. Stigning av havnivået vil ikke bare ramme øyene i Stillehavet, men også storbyer som Bangkok i Thailand.

Kan bli realitet om ti år

Den nederlandske arkitekten Koen Olthuis, administrerende direktør i Waterstudio er misjonær for å ta i bruk sjøen som tomt. Selskapet har tegnet en rekke boliger på kanaler og innsjøer i Nederland. Nå ønsker han å bygge ut større områder på havet, både flytende og i form av høye boligtårn.

– Det er ikke snakk om å bygge gigantiske byer midt på havet. De første flytende byene blir hybridbyer der deler av byen er på fastlandet og nye fasiliteter legges på sjøen, sa han på en workshop som Equinor arrangerte tidligere i år.

Øyvind Hellan, forskningsdirektør i SINTEF Ocean AS, tror de første flytende bydelene vil bli bygd i løpet av neste tiår, mest sannsynlig i Asia.

– Det å bygge flytende byer er innenfor det vi kan få til som ingeniører, med teknologien vi har i dag. Men det må utvikles løsninger som lar seg gjennomføre i praksis og som er regningssvarende, sier han. Forskere ved SINTEF og NTNU har lenge jobbet med flytende konstruksjoner til havs, og de siste årene også med konstruksjoner for flytende byer.

Sea tree: Flytende habitat for fugler, bier og smådyr i byer med liten plass til parker.

Stedene som ligger til rette for flytende byer ligger i et belte mellom fem grader nord for ekvator og fem grader sør for ekvator. I tillegg er deler av Middelhavet og Persiagulfen egnet. Og utenfor byer der det er smult farvann.

Equinor leter etter nye forretningsområder

Flytende byer har også Equinor begynt å snuse på. I London sitter en gruppe ansatte som skal komme opp med nye forretningsideer med utgangspunkt i Equinors lange offshore-erfaring. i et halvt år har de sett nærmere på flytende byer.

– Da jeg hørte om flytende byer, tenkte jeg det hørtes ut helt vilt ut og noe langt inn i fremtiden. Men da vi så nærmere på dette, lærte vi at det er en global utvikling på dette området, spesielt i land som mangler plass, sier Margaret Mistry, prosjektleder for strategi og innovasjon i Equinor Innovation Team i London.

For å finne ut om dette var interessant for Equinor, har selskapet gjennomført tre workshoper med arkitekter, ingeniører, byutviklere, folk med visjonære tanker om flytende byer og norske industriselskaper. I tillegg holdt de et åpen seminar om flytende byer på årets ONS.

– Vi lærte mye og er interessert i å gå videre med noen ideer der Equinor kan spille en rolle i fremtiden, sier Mistry.

Et av områdene de skal se nærmere på er gjenbruk av infrastrukturen i Nordsjøen for å skape nye verdier når feltene er tømt. Dette blir på svært langt sikt.

En annen idé er å bruke Equinors erfaring med flytende havvind til å vise hvordan flytende byer kan forsynes med energi.

Offshore: Margaret Mistry i Equinor Innovation Team ser forreningsideer i flytende byer.

Neste trinn i prosessen er et seminar om flytende byer i forbindelse med konferansen og utstillingen Evolve Arena i desember. Først neste år vil det bli klart hva Equinors rolle i utviklingen av flytende byer vil bli.

– Vi er foreløpig langt fra å ha svaret på hva som kan bli vår forretningsmodell. I denne omgangen handler dette mye om å utvide økosystemet og nettverket, sier Mistry.

Singapore leter etter mer tomteplass

I Singapore bor og arbeider fem millioner innbyggere og en million gjestearbeidere på et landområde ikke større enn Oslo, Asker og Bærum til sammen. Plass er mangelvare. Det har myndighetene til nå løst ved å bygge oppover, ned i undergrunnen og ved å fylle ut sjøen med sand og stein. Men nå begynner nabolandene å si nei til mer utfylling og mange områder i sjøen er for dype til å fylle ut. Nå har øystaten visjoner om å ta i bruk havoverflaten. Her har Sintef fått en viktig rolle.

Sprengt: Singapore har bygget i høyden og under bakken. Foto: Flickr

Forskerne i Trondheim fikk for to år siden et prosjekt der de sammen med forskere og myndigheter i Singapore skal utvikle nye tomter for Singapore med effektiv utnyttelse av sjøarealer og flytende konstruksjoner. Det treårige prosjektet er finansiert med forskningsmidler fra Singapore og støtte fra JTC, som er en offentlig etat med ansvar for utvikling av områder for industri og næringsliv i Singapore.

– I Singapore blir Norge sett på som en interessant samarbeidspartner basert på norsk offshoreteknologi, norsk betongteknologi og norsk kompetanse innen marine operasjoner, sier Hellan.

Fra fjellhaller til flytende konstruksjoner

At Sintef fikk et slikt prosjekt skyldes likevel først og fremst tidligere prosjekter med å utnytte fjellet under Singapore. Over en periode på mer enn 10 år har Sintef sammen med Multiconsult og den lokale partneren Tritech, blant annet vært med på å planlegge og lede et prosjekt med bygging av store undersjøiske fjellhaller for lagring av olje.

Hallen er plassert under havnebassenget i Singapore og med adgang via sjakter fra Jurong Island som er et tidligere innvunnet landområde. Hallene er bygd ut i flere trinn og den siste hallen i fase 1 blir tatt i bruk i disse dager. Oppdragsgiver for dette prosjektet var JTC og de ønsket å trekke med seg Sintef inn i forskningsprosjekter for å se på muligheten for å utvikle nye arealer for bolig og næring ved å legge det på store flytende konstruksjoner.

Samtidig vakte også E39 på Vestlandet, med sine planlagte lange flytende bruer, stor interesse.

Sintef og NTNU samarbeider med National University of Singapore om å utvikle innovative og optimale konstruksjons- og fundamenteringsløsninger, materialer, bygge- og installasjonsmetoder, samt anbefale retningslinjer for store flytende konstruksjoner. Som case har de valgt et flytende drivstofflager og et flytende industriareal.

På sjøen: I Nederland er vanlige boliger blitt flytende. Selskapet Waterstudio har tegnet og prosjektert boliger på kanaler, og mener det er fullt mulig å bygge tilsvarende ute i havet. Til å begynne med vil dette dreie seg om å bygge hybridbyer ut fra fastlandet.Foto: Miquel Gonzalez

Slik kan en flytende bydel bygges opp

En utfordring for en flytende by er at den vil bevege seg med bølger og vind. Spesielt boligområdene bør ligge rolig for at folk skal ønske å bo der.

– Folk undervurderer størrelsen på dimensjonerende bølger – det vi populært kaller «100-årsbølgen». I Nordsjøen kan dette fort tilsvare et nietasjers hus. Det er lett å la seg begeistre av visjonene og mulighetene, men du må aldri miste sikkerheten av syne, sier Hellan.

En flytende bydel vil bygges opp med store moduler der koblingen mellom dem blir spesielt viktig. De ytterste modulene vil være mest påvirket av vær og vind, og må ha mulighet til å bevege seg med bølgene. Lenger inne vil bevegelsene være mindre, og underlaget oppleves godt og stabilt. Randsonene kan for eksempel utnyttes til fritidsområder – i finvær kan folk ligge på stranda eller drive med sportsaktiviteter. Når det blir dårlig vær vil de naturlig trekke inn mot sentrum.

Cruiseterminal: Denne illustrasjonen viser hvordan cruisebåtene kan legge til ved et flytende kaianlegg. Foto: Waterstudio

Innenfor rekreasjonssonen kan det tenkes lagerbygninger og industri. Koblingen til de ytterste modulene må være fleksible og tillate bevegelser, mens de innenfor beveger seg mindre. I kjernen kan det legges boliger og forretninger. Her vil koblingene mellom modulene nærmest være faste.

– I Norge kan vi mye om hvordan slike konstruksjoner skal bygges slik at de tåler været. For eksempel har oppdrettsbransjen lært oss mye, der man har gått fra stive konstruksjoner til å bygge konstruksjoner som er ettergivende. De klarer å føye seg etter sjøen i stedet for å slåss mot den, sier Hellan.

Eget seminar under Evolve Arena

Den som satt Equinor Innovation Team på sporet av å se på flytende byer, var Anastasia Malafey, prosjektleder ved Evolve Arena. Det er et arrangement på Norges varemesse i desember som handler om utviklingen av smarte byer, mobilitet og fremtidens samfunn.

Da hun i fjor analyserte hvilke temaer som burde være med i en slik konferanse og møteplass, kom ideen om å vise hvordan norske bedrifter innen maritim og olje og gass kan bruke sin erfaring til å utvikle å flytende byer.

– Som ingeniør, fikk jeg fort forståelsen av hvor kompleks oppgaven med å flytte byer ut i sjøen er. Men flytende byer er ingen utopi. I Peru bodde folk på de flytende øyene på Titicacasjøen i mange hundre år. Etter en måned med arbeid og mange bra innspill fra nettverket i Singapore, Japan og SINTEF, begynte konseptet rundt flytende byer å ta form og jeg tok kontakt med Equinor, sier Malafey.

Dermed startet prosessen med å finne nye forretningsområder for norske bedrifter og samtidig løse problemer knyttet til den globale urbaniseringen og klimautfordringene.

– Det handler om å synliggjøre muligheter for nye forretningsområder, sier Malafey.

Click here for the pdf

Click here for the website

Nederlander ontwerp orkaan bestendige woonboot 3.0 a twee miljoen dollar

By Colouful Rebel

Mooi om te zien hoe verschillend objecten worden genoemd, afhankelijk van de locatie het object zijn plek vindt. Zo noemen wij hier in Nederland een huis op het water gewoon een woonboot, maar in Amerika noemen ze het een ‘Luxury Floating Home’. Wat jullie willen, maar wij blijven het gewoon een woonboot noemen! Toch hebben deze luxe woonboten een nogal Nederlands tintje, omdat ze zijn ontworpen door Koen Olthuis. De beste man is een waar genie als het aankomt op wonen op water. Mocht je daar meer over willen weten, dan vind je onderaan dit artikel een toffe Tedx Talk met Koen.

Omdat Amerika en de Caraïben eigenlijk altijd wel getroffen worden door orkanen, heeft Koen gekeken hoe hij huizen kan ontwerpen die hiertegen kunnen. Zijn oplossing is simpel: bouw ze óp het water. Samen met de startup Arkup heeft Koen huizen ontworpen die tegen categorie 4 stormen kunnen. Olthuis en Arkup noemen de huizen zelf ‘livable yachts’, omdat ze ook zijn uitgerust met een motor om eventueel naar een veiligere plek te varen. Wij zijn in ieder geval behoorlijk onder de indruk van het gedurfde ontwerp.

Click here to view the article in pdf

Click here to view the article on the source website

Koen Olthuis ontwerpt varende villa

By Robert Muis
Architectenweb
Oktober.26.2018
Photo credits: Waterstudio

Architect Koen Olthuis van Waterstudio.NL heeft voor de catalogus van de Amerikaanse onderneming ARKUP een ‘woonjacht’ ontworpen. Een eerste exemplaar van de varende woning wordt momenteel gebouwd en zal te zien zijn tijdens de Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, die in februari 2018 plaatsvindt.

Het Next Generation Floating House is vormgegeven als een luxueuze en ruime drijvende villa. De woning biedt een oppervlak van ruim 400 m².

Varen of staan
Het ontwerp van Koen Olthuis onderscheidt zich verder van de gewoonlijke drijvende woningen doordat het zichzelf kan voortstuwen. Voorzien van elektrisch aangedreven schroeven verandert de drijvende woning in een ‘bewoonbaar jacht’, in de woorden van de firma ARKUP.

Het ontwerp heeft nog een opvallend kenmerk. De drijvende villa is voorzien van een hydraulisch systeem waarmee het vier poten op de bodem kan zetten, indien de bewoners meer stabiliteit wensen. Het hydraulische systeem kan de villa zelfs boven het wateroppervlak uit tillen en het systeem zou zelfs orkanen kunnen weerstaan.

Zelfvoorzienend
Het Next Generation Floating House is in hoge mate autonoom en milieuvriendelijk. Het functioneert geheel op zonne-energie en is onder meer voorzien van een systeem voor opvang en zuivering van regenwater.

Het ontwerp kan naar wens van de potentiële koper worden aangepast. Olthuis heeft het Next Generation Floating House ontworpen voor de specifieke omstandigheden van de wateren van Florida, maar de drijvende villa kan aan andere omstandigheden worden aangepast.

Click here to read the article on source website

Click here to read the article in pdf

Floating homes that can withstand Category 4 hurricanes will soon become a reality

By Aria Bendix
Business Insider
September.20.2018
Photo Credits Waterstudio

As Hurricane Florence makes it way across the Carolinas, millions of coastal residents have reason to be concerned about the structural integrity of their homes. Already, nearly 300,000 homes and businesses have lost power, and officials are reporting damage to property in Onslow County, North Carolina.

When Hurricane Harvey swept Texas last September, it damaged more than 204,000 homes and apartment buildings. Around the same time, Hurricane Irma destroyed a quarter of the homes in the Florida Keys, according to federal officials.

While the idea of a hurricane-proof home may sound far-fetched, a housing startup called Arkup has created a residence that can withstand rising sea levels and Category 4 hurricanes. The key lies in its hydraulic while lifting it 40 feet above the ocean floor.

Arkup calls the residences “livable yachts” due to their buoyant nature, which allows them to bob with the water. After debuting the designs in 2017, the company teamed up with The Advantaged Yacht Charters & Sales, the oldest yacht charter company in Miami, to make the structures available for rent and purchase. In August, The Advantaged announced that it isaccepting charter reservations online.

The residences were designed by architect Koen Olthuis, who has pioneered the concept of the floating home.

Each 4,350-square-foot unit contains four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms.

The retail price for each home is $5 million.

The residences provide 360-degree views of the water.

They also have zero emissions and are powered by solar panels on the roof.

Guests can disconnect from sewage lines, thanks to a system that collects, stores, and purifies rainwater.

The units are just as mobile as a typical yacht.

Even as coastal residents become more fearful of rising sea levels, Olthuis wants cities to see water as an asset, not a challenge, to new construction.

Click here to read the whole article on the website

Click here to read the whole article in pdf

Die Neue Aqua-Kultur

By Till Briegleb
AW Complete

Überall in der Welt haben Städte in den letzten Jahren irhre Wasserfronten aufgewertet, häufig indem sie zentrumsnahe Hafengebiete in neue Viertel umwandelten. In Aarhus wurde als erster Signalbau fur das Vorhaben, 25000 Bewohners auf den alten Kaianlagen anzusiedeln, der “Eisberg” von Julien De Smedt errichtet, eine spektakuläre Wohnanlage mit Bezug zum Meer.

Click here to read the whole article

Les projets de villes du futur les plus fous

By Par Jean-Luc Barberi et Laurent Martinet
L’Express
August.01.2018

Et s’il y avait d’autres façons d’habiter la planète Terre? Voici quelques projets, plus ou moins avancés!

Avec une population mondiale qui ne cesse de croître, et des villes qui vont devenir de plus en plus denses, il faut trouver de la place pour des humains qui se préoccupent de plus en plus de leur environnement. Au point qu’ils rêvent de vivre en pleine nature, sans rien perdre des bienfaits de la technologie… Une gageure que relèvent pourtant nombre d’architectes avec des projets plus ou moins utopistes. Certains sont déjà sortis de terre, d’autres n’existent que sous forme de dessins, mais tous ont en commun de vouloir réconcilier tech et développement durable. Exemples.

Sea Tree, la mégapole flottante

A nouveau la mer, mais sans larguer les amarres. Conçue par le cabinet d’architecture néerlandais Waterstudio, et encore dans les cartons, Sea Tree est une construction en forme d’arbre de mer destinée à flotter le long des côtes qui bordent les grandes métropoles, comme New York ou Rio de Janeiro.

Bâtie suivant les technologies des plateformes pétrolières offshore, flottante et arrimée par des câbles, cette structure entièrement végétalisée abrite aux côtés d’espaces laissés à la vie sauvage des potagers verticaux et des terrasses plantées destinées à l’alimentation des citadins. Les Sea Tree ont aussi pour rôle de capter les émissions de carbone des mégapoles. Elles seront des refuges pour les animaux utiles à la vie urbaine, comme les oiseaux, les abeilles ou les chauves-souris insectivores. Gagnées sur la mer, les Sea Tree – qui peuvent être construites en de multiples exemplaires – permettraient d’agrandir les espaces naturels et sauvages des métropoles existantes en s’affranchissant de la pression foncière.

L’ Express, 1 august 2018, Par Jean-Luc Barberi et Laurent Martinet

Click here to view the article on the source website

Click here to view the article in pdf

Are Blue Cities a future of urban life?

By Evolve Arena & Björn Audunn Blöndal
Evolve arena
May.2018

The ocean might be the prime real estate of the future cities. This is what Equinor Innovation Team is set to explore in a series of expert workshops on the topic of floating cities.

The idea to explore Floating Cities at Evolve Arena in 2018 was initially brought by Anastasia Malafey, project leader at Evolve Arena in the meeting with Margaret Mistry, Strategy & Innovation projects leader at Equinor Innovation Team. Their common understanding that this can create new business applications and solve global urban development problem made them continue the dialog and turn discussion into action.

— For Equinor, the ocean space has been a massive source of value creation and competence building. Over the past 40 years, we have become the biggest offshore operator, we know marine operations, and we are a world leader on floating wind turbine farm market. Far from shore is where we feel close to home, says Anders Hegner Hærland, vice president at Equinor Innovation Team.

Is blue cities the future of urban life? — EQUINOR KICKSTARTED A SERIES OF EIGHT EXPERT WORKSHOPS WITH THE FUTURE OF FLOATING CITIES ON THE AGENDA. (PHOTO: BJÖRN AUDUNN BLÖNDAL/PRESSWORKS)

Equinor, formerly Statoil, have established Equinor Inovation Team to look into new business opportunities for the traditional oil and gas company. Its role is to explore and mature radical ideas and business model innovation. With a legacy stretching more than four decades back, Equinor, former Statoil, have drilled, built and run project both far out and deep into the sea. With high end skill, competence and a worldwide network of suppliers, Equinor is one of the companies most suited for being a major player in the arena of building the future of floating cities.

To kickstart a phase of exploration and learning Equior have invited companies, architects, engineers, urbanists and visionaries to a series of workshops. The workshops are facilitated by Xynteo and will be held in Equinors offices on Fornebu outside Oslo and other sites. The sessions are also live broadcasted to off-site participants.

— Building on our experience of the ocean as a commercial space, it still feels like a big step to the inspiring vision of Floating Cities. To most people, it might seem like a distant idea, but today major cities are running out of space to grow. Infrastructure is overloaded and quality of life for inhabitants diminished, Anders Hegner Hærland explains.

— The phase we are embarking on now is the exploration phase, says Margaret Mistry, Strategy & Innovation Projects Leader in Equinor Innovation Team.

— Evolve Team is grateful to see the high level of engagement and interest from Equinor Innovation Team, Xynteo and all partners involved. Now it is time for Equinor to step out of its comfort zone and become a spearhead and leading force toward new alternative applications of its competence and experience in solving major global challenges. We believe this explorational sessions and event at Evolve Arena give us unique opportunity to connect innovators, creative minds and industries and build clear momentum toward sustainable society, says Anastasia Malafey, project leader Evolve Arena.

— It’s an invitation to join us in exploring these possibilities together. Our conviction is that the technology, the commercial ideas, and the other ingredients for making floating cities a reality are within our grasp. But realizing them will require more than any one company can achieve alone. So we must begin with dialogue and collaboration, Margaret Mistry explains.

Floating cities represent a huge potential for urban development, food production, energy generation and minerals extraction on and under the water nearby coastal cities.

The first keynote speaker kickstarting the sessions is Koen Olthuis, visionary architect and CEO of Waterstudio, a dutch architectural firm that is set to develop solutions to the problems posed by urbanization and climate change. Olthuis compares the future of floating cities with smartphones populated with apps.

— Why can’t we use the cities like we use the smartphone? Why can’t we have floating buildings with different functions that we can move in and out as we need them — like floating city apps.

Olthuis elaborate how we can see projects as a service. Like for instance the Olympics, why do we build large stadiums and other facilities that is only used for a few weeks during the games? Why can’t we see expensive buildings like a floating stadium as a global asset that can be moved wherever the games are arranged? Qatar has already plans for renting huge cruise ships and connect them to a floating harbour and use them as hotels during the Olympic Games.

Blue Tech for Blue Cities
Building on water, done correctly, can also have huge environmental impact
Olthuis calls it blue tech for blue cities focusing on energy reduction, energy production and energy storage. As an example he mentions a breakwater project in New York that Waterstudio contributed in where huge rotating pillars serves both as breakwater, providing shelter and safe harbourage, as well as a dynamo, generating renewable energy.

Floating solar panels is another field of focus, as the global benefit of moveable panels would have enormous impact, and be of great value where electricity is needed.

Floating structures can also be beneficial for life at sea, both above and under the water. Olthuis have designed large steel structures based on existing offshore oil platforms. Built with layered floors with threes and plants above the water and aquatic plants under sea level, this can stimulate a wildlife oasis in urban areas.

— Oil companies have used these floating storage towers for years, we only gave them a new shape and function, Olthuis explaines.

To bring floating cities at scale we must move from pioneering, innovation and experimenting to standardization and regulations. At the same time we should take advantage of this phase of experimenting, because when things are standardized, the innovation will slow down, says Olthuis.

— Lack of regulation makes it simpler to experiment.

Olthuis emphasise that floating cities is not something that is happening in a science fiction future. Its happening now. There are several projects already in progress all over the world.

— Its not like we are building huge cities in the middle of the ocean. The first floating cities will be hybrid cities where part of the city is on the mainland and new facilities and functions are added on the water like an extension of the city. This kind of tech and mindset can change the structure of a city in a real short period of time.

In Desember Oslo will be the scene for a ground breaking exhibition and conference Evolve Arena on the theme of shaping the future of our cities. Equinor and Xynteo will host one of the side events workshops at the Evolve-conference.

— We will use the Evolve platform to host another creative work session with partners where we hope to emerge with a better understanding of where we can play a role and a unifying idea about the solutions that will bring affordable and viable floating cities a step closer to realisation, says Margaret Mistry.

Article deliver in collaboration with Björn Audunn Blöndal / PRESSWORKS

Cover picture: Floating harbor with cruice ships as temporary hotels by Koen Olthuis /WATERSTUDIO

Click here to read the whole article on the website

Click here to read the whole article in pdf

These Houses Have the Ultimate Water View

By Sam Lubell
The New York Times
May.24.2018
Photo credit: Credit Miquel Gonzalez

Floating villas in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, south of Rotterdam. Designed by Waterstudio.NL, the villas use heat exchange power and have extra-large foundations to create terraces and other outdoor spaces.

Few places in the world are as married to the water as Venice. Not only has the Floating City replaced streets with canals and land with islands, but its buildings also sit on wooden piles, driven into the ground deep below the water. Like much of the sea-hugging world, the city is also facing an existential threat as the waters rise and its ground sinks.

The city’s art and architecture Biennales (the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale starts on Saturday and runs through Nov. 11) have long reflected this simultaneously magical and dire condition, with exhibit after exhibit addressing sustainable architecture, climate change and rising seas.

Many have even drifted along Venice’s canals themselves, including Mike Bouchet’s (doomed) floating house; Croatia’s floating pavilion; Kunle Adeyemi’s floating school; Joana Vasconcelos’ floating artwork, Trafaria Praia; and Aldo Rossi’s floating Theater of the World.

As is so often the case, life is imitating art, and floating architecture is emerging as one of the built world’s most promising markets — for many of the reasons pinpointed at the Biennale.

“We see architects as spanning between infrastructural ideas and society,” said Yvonne Farrell, one of the Biennale’s directors, who posits that if architects can take a leading role on vital environmental issues through emerging technologies like floating buildings, then they can also help re-establish their primacy in the construction process.

“You cannot not deal with environmental issues if you’re an architect these days. It has to be an essential part of your value system,” added Shelley McNamara, who is also one of the directors. “We’re all connected. We have to find solutions where art and culture and industry can all find a way to survive.”

Architects, boat builders, developers and city planners worldwide are seizing on the opportunity as cities run out of space to build, tides continue to rise and demand for efficient construction spikes. They’re creating inventive designer homes and floating resorts, and even floating cities that can be prefabricated off site and simply floated into place.

“For many, floating is something new and adventurous,” said Max Funk, co-editor of “Rock the Boat: Boats, Cabins and Homes on the Water” (Gestalten, 2017). The book reveals an explosion of creativity in buoyant architecture, including an egg-shaped floating cabin in England, floating spas (with working saunas) in Finland and the United States, and floating geodesic domes in Slovenia.

“Having a floating home used to be something only for vacationers or the uber-wealthy,” Mr. Funk said. “Now more people are realizing they can do it. And with downsizing becoming a trend, it goes along with the idea that quality of life is more important than size.”

Claudius Schulze, whose floating art studio graces the cover of “Rock the Boat,” built his 32-foot-by-16-foot timber-sided box, coated in fiberglass resin, for about 20,000 euros (about $24,000) with the help of friends, including a structural engineer. It has state-of-the-art amenities like Wi-Fi, onboard water filtration and solar power. It has its own motor (technically making it a houseboat), and Mr. Schulze has used it in, and en route to, Amsterdam, Paris and Hamburg, Germany, mooring it in each location for about €200 a month.

“It really is the perfect studio space,” he said. “It has all the inspiration and little of the distraction.”

On Seattle’s Lake Union — which has hosted floating homes since the 1920s and now has more than 500 of them — William Donnelly has lived in a multilevel floating home designed by Vandeventer & Carlander architects for more than seven years.

“I enjoy smelling the water, hearing the water,” he said. “I love the idea that my home isn’t fixed to the land. It’s freeing.” It’s not all perfect — the lake is popular, and sometimes his tightly surrounded home feels like a fishbowl — but he said that he would never live on land again.

Thanks to such situations, and to the rise in the price of waterfront property, the market for floating architecture is growing in North America, said Allison Bethell, a real estate investor analyst at FitSmallBusiness.com. Newer homes and their slips are not cheap, but since the market is young and houses are limited in size, they are rarely as expensive as prime waterfront real estate.

Outside of Seattle, where houseboat construction is being curtailed because of the potential impact on local salmon populations, Ms. Bethell said, the most prominent areas in North America for floating homes are the San Francisco Bay Area; Vancouver, British Columbia; Key West, Fla.; and Portland, Ore.; where the number of floating homes has doubled since 2012.

The trend is also expanding rapidly in Asia and the Middle East, but it is furthest along in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, which is mostly below sea level. Estimates report that the country now has more than 10,000 floating residents, none more densely packed than in Ijburg, a growing development of floating homes clustered off man-made islands on the eastern edge of Amsterdam.

Over 50 of these residences — featured in the 2014 U.K. Pavilion at the Venice Biennale — were designed by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists and developed by Amsterdam-based Monteflore. The simple, industrial-inspired homes, floating on concrete bases (the current norm) were fabricated in a factory and floated into place.

“Most of the world now lives in cities, and most cities are near water,” said Ton van Namen, managing director of Monteflore. He said his team was working on a floating development along the west coast of Wales, and had been approached by interested parties from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates.

Koen Olthuis, an architect from the Netherlands who founded Waterstudio.NL, one of more than a dozen European firms specializing in boutique buoyant homes, sees floating architecture as the future. He said he had built more than 150 floating residences in the last 15 years, including a group of floating villas in Dordrecht, south of Rotterdam, that use heat exchange power and have extra-large foundations to create terraces and other outdoor spaces.

Now he is increasing his repertoire as both a designer and a planning consultant for floating hotels, restaurants, stores, resorts and private islands, and even floating cities.

“Blue cities,” as he calls them, can be more flexible and eclectic, and respond faster to rapidly changing demands from society and industry.

“I’ve talked to many urban planners, and they all say the same thing — by the time a city’s plan is finished, it’s no longer in line with society.”

He has consulted with officials in Rotterdam, the Maldives, Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia, on flood-safe construction, smoother regulations for floating architecture, and how to float needed facilities, like a harbor, into place when needed. He envisions floating museums and factories shared by nearby cities.

“Once the elevator was invented, the whole recipe for a city changed,” Mr. Olthuis said. “Now a similar thing is happening on the water.”

The transformation of the typical floating building is, like most things in Dubai, going ahead full steam — thanks in large part to the Finnish company Admares, whose chief executive, Mikael Hedberg, started as a shipbuilder and now merges land and sea-based construction technologies.

Admares in 2016 completed the Burj Al Arab Terrace, a 2.3-acre island, attached to the sail-like Burj Al Arab tower, containing pools, cabanas, sun loungers, and a restaurant and bar. It was built in a factory in Rauma, Finland, floated into place in six pieces and then driven into the seabed via piles.

Besides location, what especially draws clients, Mr. Hedberg says, is the fact that since structures can be built off-site, on-site construction time is cut way down. The Burj Al Arab Terrace was set onto piles and welded together in about three months, subverting a landfill process that can take up to three years.

And unlike construction on landfill, floating buildings and islands create minimal ecological disturbance. Often floating platforms and piles, like those at the Terrace, serve as habitats and valuable cover for marine life.

The rise of floating design — and issues related to both rising tides and sinking cities — are having a clear impact on land, where designers and officials contend with water whether they like it or not. In many ways, floating buildings serve as laboratories for our new environmental reality.

Mr. Olthuis has helped create a development in Utrecht, the Netherlands, where “amphibious” homes — sitting on buoyant concrete bases and tethered to supports — can float in the event of flooding. (The Los Angeles firm Morphosis created a similar system for its modular, foam-cored Float House in flood-prone New Orleans.) He is also developing hybrid structures that can float on the water and, through a jack system, sit on land, making them even more flexible to personal and urban change.

“Land itself is no longer fixed in the way we’ve traditionally seen,” said Kristen Hall, an urban designer at Perkins & Will, which is incorporating water-reactive solutions for its new Mission Rock development at San Francisco’s Mission Bay, like pile-supported buildings, streets and sidewalks, and flexible utilities. “The question is, how much do you plan for change and roll with the change, and how much do you try to resist the change?”

Click here to read the whole article

Click here to read the whole article in pdf

Rise of the Blue City

By Gif Im Focus

As an architect, you have designed floating structures and urban plans in relation to water. The Dutch have always fought against the water, but you are saying that we should rather live with the water. Your vision is that water will play a bigger role in the future of cities. So my first question is:

What is a city for you?
There are different ways of looking at a city. A sociologist will probably say a city is characterised by the way its citizens interact, and an ecologist would probably see the city as an environment with different habitats and species. As an architect, I see cities as a mix of three elements. Firstly, the specifics of the natural location, the DNA of the city. Secondly, the built-up environment, made up of buildings and infrastructure, i. e. the city’s hardware. And thirdly, the protocols,
which are a combination of the rules, regulations, traditions and culture of the community, which determine how the hardware in a city can be used.
All cities are not equal, and these three elements create a kind of balance or structure that determines the profile of a city. I think that the role of an architect should be to analyse city profiles, see their shortcomings and come up with new solutions of how to upgrade the performance of the city. This performance should
be measured in terms of how liveable the city is.

Can we not just grow further with the same system?
Today it is hard to imagine a city without revolutionary innovations that have become part of our normal lives, such as cars, electricity and the internet, which have all changed the profile of cities and the way we live. The introduction of electricity, mobility, lifts etc. has been a game changer, altering the functionality and liveability of cities. Steve Jobs said
in 1997: “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” I think this also applies to urban innovation. We think that the concept of a city has reached its final stage, but we are just in a process of evolution. Urbanisation and climate change are having a great effect on the available space and put pressure on the capacity of urban functions in cities. Growing urban congestion, the rising cost of city housing and maintenance are only a few indicators of the difficulties static cities face in adapting to change. What I mean is that the demands of society change so fast that it is not possible for a city to respond immediately because of the nature of its static hardware. Its response time is too long.

How should we get ready for change?
Investments for the future must be made to keep cities running smoothly, but what if you do not know what tomorrow’s needs will be? Big investments in infrastructure can be useless tomorrow as technology changes the way we live or use space and facilities. The only way to resolve this dilemma is to start building for change. Charles Darwin said: “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” Cities are living organisms, so they should change and create the potential to react to change. For this, they need to find space to grow, shorten response times and make rules and regulations more flexible so that new ideas can be adopted and implemented. Once an innovation has been adopted by a city and proven successful, it will eventually spread to other cities. The flexibility of its hardware and protocols will determine how long it takes for a city to adapt. The specific profile of a certain city could make implementation of new technology difficult. For example, it took Amsterdam 12 years to build one extra metro line in the mud. Compare that to building metro lines in solid ground in London, where the metro system was invented. To keep cities financially viable and maintain or improve their liveability, we should improve adaptability or start building for change, so to speak. Building for change can only work if you have a better idea of the needs of the city. The next revolution in cities will bring real-time interaction between the city and its users. This is the essence of a smart city. The smart city will change our cities from a stupid non-communicating structure to an interactive system that reacts to needs and data communicated by its inhabitants and users. A tailor-made system that will enhance efficiency and liveability. This leap in city evolution will make us look back in twenty years’ time and smile at the static, inefficient cities we used to live in.

What more can be done to keep our cities viable?
As viability depends on flexibility, and flexibility is in turn related to the availability of space, we need to look at cities through different eyes. We see built structures, but we should look at capacity and the extent to which functions are utilised. What I mean is that, if we could use buildings and functions more intensively, we would not necessarily need more buildings to respond to growing demand. There is an awful lot of dead space in the built environment of our cities. If you only look at how we use our homes. Many people have a spare room, kitchens are used for maybe 5 % of the day, bedrooms for 30 % and bathrooms for 10 %. Cars are used for 2 – 5 % of their lifespan and occupy parking spots for the other 95 %. Roads and power systems are designed to meet peak demand. We should use space more efficiently instead of having many functions that are only used for a small proportion of their capacity. The same applies to utilities, which produce more than we actually need for most of the time. To achieve this, we need to change the way we use these functions. By sharing space, making space more dynamic and using temporary spaces and functions, we could reduce the need for additional buildings. Instead of building more structures and raise density, I think we need to raise the efficiency of density.

Who will take the initiative in changing cities and raising the efficiency of density?
Upgrades of a city system will be initiated by existing players who control and provide services in a city. Revolutions and leaps mostly come the private sector. A new invention
can change the game and companies will build new business models around this. Examples we see everywhere include companies such as Uber and Airbnb, which have shaken up the existing static system of taxis and hotels, and both have already had an effect on the efficiency of density. There are more beds and cars available without building more hotels or cars. For the smart city revolution, we have to closely follow tech companies such as IBM, Samsung, Microsoft, Panasonic, Erikson and Google, all of which are looking for testbeds of smart technologies in existing cities.

So, what new leaps can we expect?
Almost all major cities have water in some shape or form. This water has not yet been “optimised” for adaptable city development. This is not because of lack of technology, but because it is held back by protocol restrictions. Every innovation starts with a small experiment before it is implemented on a larger scale. I think that water is the secret ingredient of a next leap in the evolution of cities. You can see small initiatives in cities like Amsterdam, Miami, Dubai, where water – or what we call blue space – is used for floating housing, restaurants, resorts and offices. These initial concepts show a glimpse of how blue space could be used. Once we can break through the regulatory obstacles, we can unlock new territory, improve efficiency and create new flexible developments. With the use of blue space, the tools available to architects to adapt cities will change. Functions can easily be added or relocated, whenever necessary, within a very short response time. No city profile is perfect, and every change in demand necessitates constant adjustments to the built environment and its protocols. The city can be tuned if a certain number of functionalities are flexible in terms of location, quantity and cost. A blue city can be tuned to become
high-performing and efficient at any time. We believe that water will be the secret ingredient in meeting the challenge of balancing constantly changing needs with the static capacity of city functions. Blue cities will be less constricted by the lifespans of urban components.

What will be the effect of more development space being available on water?
Today we see that prices of real estate in Amsterdam are booming and the affordability of housing is going down. This will eventually determine who can still afford to live in the city centre. Any initiative to turn this negative trend around would be welcomed by politicians, who want to make housing more affordable. Space owned by the municipality can deliver new revenues for the community. A blue profile can loosen the grip developers have on land prices. For cities, the new credo will be “the wetter the better”. The unique opportunities and facilities, such as flexibility, space and safety, that water can add to the urban landscape will turn blue space into the new gold. Based on this assumption, we can determine which cities hold large bodies of water near the centre and predict their willingness and ability to adapt their protocols (rules and regulations) in order to make floating
developments possible and thus create opportunities for these cities to improve their performance. I think we may soon see the first signs of the rise of the blue city.

What kinds of new concepts will a blue city have in store for us in the future?
The evolution of new blue city models, in which cities take advantage of water to upgrade, will happen in small steps. With water as an additional tool in urban planning, the rules of the game will change. Projects will not necessarily remain static, as some of the products can be placed on water. They can then be relocated and reused in other locations. Functions are no longer limited to the functional lifespan of a particular place in town, but will be determined by their technical lifespan, located on water inside or outside the city. For example, a floating school or floating sports facilities can move with the neighbourhood’s needs for those functions. Buildings will interact better with the climate of a city. It is strange that many architects still build houses that are the same for severe winter conditions and for hot summers. I think we will have seasonal houses and neighbourhoods in the future, which will change their configuration and identity along with the changing seasons. Another new concept is “meantime” cities where neighbourhoods or functions can be placed in a location. They then have to make space for new uses when their economic value no longer matches the needs of the location. This means you will be able to make space for new developments in the centre of the city without having to demolish buildings that are still functional. You just replace, re-use and re-organise to suit your needs. A common feature will be city apps – small temporary floating functions that can meet a specific need or solve a specific problem in a location: temporary parking places, floating sports facilities for a big event or temporary floating affordable housing for students. As green space is under pressure in expanding cities, we will see green spaces appear in blue cities. Floating habitats, floating forests, floating parks can all have a positive effect on the environment of a city. There will also be greater interaction between cities. The rise of the blue city is not only about changing the type of hardware the city deploys but also about greater efficiency of two or more cities working together. The next step towards greater flexibility is the cooperation between cities that share protocols (rules and regulations) and mobile assets. It will be possible to build a floating museum and share it between cities. You will no longer have to go to a specific city to see a museum, but the museum will come to you. The sharing industry transcends products and services and enters the world of urban components. Blue city profiles will allow for joint ownership and an economy in which major city functions, facilities and components can be shared. Just a few decades ago, you would have been born in a specific city and worked, lived and died there. Today the young generation of millennials can choose the city that provides them with the best opportunities. As cities will be judged and compared on the basis of liveability, competition between them will increase. Cities need to upgrade their performance and branding in order to attract the best inhabitants. We could even see battles between cities in their attempts to lure potential millennials. Adaptable cities that take advantage of water will not only survive but also thrive!

Click here to view the article on the source website

Click here to view the article in pdf

Der Meeresspiegel steigt – na und?

By Roswitha Loibl
Im Manager
May.08.2018

Auf dem Wasser ist viel Platz, viel mehr als auf dem Land. Warum also nicht dort Häuser bauen, Parks, ganze Wohnviertel oder auch ein Fußballstadion? Die Projekte werden immer zahlreicher.

Die Russen haben kürzlich ein schwimmendes Atomkraftwerk auf die Reise nach Murmansk geschickt, die Chinesen arbeiten ebenfalls an solchen entwurzelten Großbauten. Da nehmen sich die Projekte, die bisher auf schwankenden Bauplätzen realisiert wurden, ziemlich zwergenhaft aus. Ihre Breitenwirkung ist dennoch größer.

Architekturbüros vor allem aus den Niederlanden haben sich darauf spezialisiert. Sie lösen nicht nur die Flächenprobleme, sondern zudem kann ihnen ein steigender Meeresspiegel nichts anhaben. Pfahlbauten über den Fluten sind, historisch und geografisch gesehen, kein neues Phänomen. Wer einmal im vietnamesischen Mekong-Delta unterwegs war, hat viele davon gesehen. Aber die heutige Wasser-Architektur bietet neue Ideen und mehr Luxus.

Etliche dieser Häuser existieren bereits. Im Amsterdamer Stadtviertel Ijburg gibt es eine ganze Siedlung mit 165 Wohnhäusern, deren Basis jeweils eine schwimmende Betonwanne bildet. Sie sind so an Stahlpfosten befestigt, dass sie mit dem Wasserpegel nach oben und unten gleiten können. 36 davon wurden vom Architekturbüro Waterstudio und seinem Chef Koen Olthuis erdacht, der sich auf Wasserbauten spezialisiert hat. Billig sind Bauplätze auf dem Wasser nicht. In den Niederlanden kann eine „Parzelle“ rund 200.000 Euro kosten – und der Preis für das Haus kommt noch obendrauf.

Auch auf den Malediven, im Libanon oder den Arabischen Emiraten lassen Architekten ihre Objekte künftig treiben. Bei diesen luxuriösen Konstruktionen kommt – anders als bei den schwimmenden Ferienhäusern, die beispielsweise an der Ostsee angeboten werden – kein Gedanke an ein Hausboot auf.

Mobiles Olympiastadion geht auf Reisen
Koen Olthuis geht aber noch weiter. Für einen Yachthafen im Hudson River (New York) hat sein Büro einen Mole ersonnen, die Energie erzeugt: Sie ruht auf drehbaren Säulen, die als Turbinen funktionieren und durch die Bewegung des Wassers Strom produzieren. In den Arabischen Emiraten könnten eines Tages kleine Inseln mit Solarmodulen ins Meer gesetzt werden, die durch das 27 Grad warme Wasser genau die richtige Umgebungstemperatur vorfinden. An Land würde es ihnen zu heiß.

Nicht nur Platz sparen, sondern auch Ressourcen schonen – dafür gibt es ebenfalls Ideen. Zum Beispiel ein schwimmendes Sportstadion, das sich für olympische Spiele anbietet. Es könnte für die Dauer des Wettbewerbs geleast werden und danach weiterschwimmen zu einem anderen Ort in der Welt. Nach demselben Prinzip funktioniert ein Projekt, das für Dubai entworfen wurde, sich aber auch für Katar eignen würde: Bei der Fußball-WM 2022 könnten die Gäste nicht in neu gebauten Hotels, sondern auf Kreuzfahrtschiffen nächtigen. Das Problem ist allerdings, dass der existierende Hafen nicht genug Liegeplätze bietet. Also könnte das schwimmende Terminal, das Waterstudio entworfen hat, eine Lösung bieten.

Schwimmende Insel muss liegen bleiben
Die größten Schwierigkeiten der schwimmenden Bauten sind nicht technischer Natur. Wie Architekt Koen Olthuis bei der Jubiläumsveranstaltung der Gesellschaft für immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung (Gif) Ende April sagte, lassen sich Versicherungs- und rechtliche Fragen viel schwerer lösen – angefangen mit der Frage, ob sie „Immobilien“ sind. Er erzählte von einem europäischen Aussteiger, der sich in Mexiko eine schwimmende Insel baute, die auf Säcken voll leerer Plastikflaschen ruht. Nach einigen Jahren hatte sich darauf eine üppige Vegetation entwickelt. Der Europäer wollte nun seinen Wohnort wechseln und die Insel per Boot in ein anderes Land schleppen. Das untersagten die Mexikaner ihm mit der Begründung, die Insel sei mittlerweile mexikanisches Staatsgebiet geworden.

Click here to view the article on the source website

Click here to view the article in pdf