GulfNews: Floating Paradise
Gulf News , Sona Nambiar
Being the first human to dedicate his life to living on water and finding solutions to climate change on a large scale, it did not take long for Koen Olthuis or the ‘Floating Dutchman’ to claim global fame. In 2004, it was this very fame that drew the attention of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
“He was one of the first people in the world who saw the unlimited possibilities of floating developments. He took a giant step into the future by envisioning the Floating Proverb [project], consisting of 89 islands, [and covering] more than two million square feet around Palm Jebel Ali,” says Olthuis, who is also the founder of the Dutch architectural practice Waterstudio.
“The Floating Proverb paved the way for mega floating projects worldwide,” he adds. Residential housing, floating landscapes, floating beaches and water-cooled sustainable floating mosques were part of the projected possibilities.
Waterstudio is the architectural partner firm of Dutch Docklands, with offices in Holland, Dubai and the Maldives. Dutch Docklands operates as master planners, being among the first companies worldwide to focus on converting rising seas into prime real estate. It was founded by its CEO, Paul van de Camp, and Olthuis in 2005. Dutch Docklands is now planning floating developments in Holland, Europe, Asia and the Maldives. “Our office in Dubai is still the centre for our global expansion plans for our water-claim portfolio worldwide,” says van de Camp.
GN Focus interviewed Olthuis on how the vision of a floating city is working not just for Holland, but is translating into reality globally.
GN FOCUS: You said recently that “for the climate-change generation of architects, the key will be learning to work with water.” Can you elaborate on this statement?
Koen Olthuis: Urbanisation and climate change put enormous pressure on the world’s growing cities. To keep waterfront cities safe and protected from threats of floods caused by extreme weather, rising sea levels or even tsunamis, you can choose a traditional defensive approach or a more innovative offensive tactic. Now, it is obvious that in a defensive approach, we keep spending money on tackling the sea’s fighting nature with levees. In the offensive tactic, we work with water by designing urban components that are not affected by rising sea levels because they already float. We have to train our young architects to design and innovate dynamic flexible urban developments that see water as a friendly environment instead of fighting nature. The introduction of the elevator 100 years ago radically changed the density of cities. It made vertical expansion in our cities possible. More recently, Dubai opened the eyes of urban planners worldwide with its Palm projects. The next step, therefore, is working with water by creating safety, density and flexibility.
How do floating islands work?
Floating islands are protected against water, as they move up and down with tidal changes, and are flood and even tsunami-proof. Providing new building spaces, their configuration can be adjusted with time, as and when environmental or social issues change a city’s needs.
What percentage of Holland is under water?
Holland, geographically, is an artificial land mass. The Dutch reclaimed it from the sea by building levees around water and swamps and pumping out the water. These are processes that we have to do continuously 24/7, or else the dry land will become wet again. Retaining dry land with the help of thousands of kilometres of levees and windmills, the Dutch managed to enlarge Holland by 35 per cent. A third of Holland is, in fact, under sea level. However, the Dutch have begun to understand that this defensive strategy of making land from water has to be modernised because of the threat of rising sea levels. We now say that if your country is threatened by floods, the safest place to be is on water!
How does it affect a city’s urban planning?
In this urban development strategy, the needs of a city are constantly answered by floating urban components such as floating islands for agriculture, housing, offices, leisure and so on. Configuration, location density and function can be changed. This will lead to new economical opportunities, where governments can cost-effectively lease islands with flexible solutions, instead of investing in static developments. Even if every waterfront city were to expand by only 5 to 10 per cent over urban waters, it would still bring enormous change in the flexibility and density of these cities.
Tell us more about the Citadel project.
The Citadel is planned as the world’s first floating-apartment complex. It is located in the west of Holland and will be deliberately flooded. It can be reached by a floating road, and has a car-storage capacity of 150 cars in the floating concrete foundation underneath the building. The complete building will move up and down as water levels change, but will retain the same comfort levels, lifespan, look and feel of a conventional building. The Citadel is the highlight of a hybrid village comprising 600 floating houses and 600 houses on stilts or artificial hills, which will be protected against the water. The project is scheduled for completion in 2013.
How has this floating city model been used in other countries such as the Maldives?
The Maldives might be one of the first countries to more or less disappear when sea levels rise a metre or more in the near future. For them then, it is essential to introduce new ways of building cities on water. Apart from reinforcing tourism by developing leisure projects such as floating hotels and the world’s first floating 18-hole golf course, we are also developing a floating city in the country for the local community through affordable housing. Its president, Mohammad Nasheed, has also set a target to make the Maldives carbon neutral by 2020.
How do floating city concepts integrate with different cultures and climates in terms of building materials?
Due to globalisation, architecture and urban planning have lost out on [their] cultural heritage. Cities worldwide seem to look more alike with each passing decade. We hope to show that our urban plans and architecture would provide either a totally new appearance related to water, or will emphasise the original existing architectural cultural heritage with a floating foundation underneath it. In terms of materials, we can use exactly the same materials for the superstructures on top of the floating islands as those used for developments on the waterfront. So, what are the current technological advances and what is the lifespan of such structures?
Our developments are based on proven floating technology, reinforced by centuries of Dutch know-how on floating structures in Holland that retain the same lifespan as normal land-based developments. We changed the scale of the floating foundations and the quality of the superstructures.
What about infrastructure issues concerning such projects? And waste management?
Our floating islands can be plugged into the existing grid or be self-supporting. “Sustain-aqua-lity” provides us with new possibilities to make more effective sustainable developments. For instance, temperatures on the water in hot countries is always better than on land. Water-cooling and wind-cooling technologies will also open roads for water developments with far less environmental impact. Efficient waste management asks for a multilevel approach and interaction with the waste management on land because of scale purposes. The ultimate goal is to change all forms of waste into an energy resource.
So, how did you get the nickname “Floating Dutchman”?
The Flying Dutchman is a Dutch legend attributed to a ghost ship that can never make it to port and is doomed to sail the seas till eternity. A BBC reporter gave me this name, changing it to the ‘Floating Dutchman,’ while writing an article about our projects. He thought our vision for a floating city would eventually change the way humans perceive the seas.
POLDER POWER
Sited on a vulnerable low-lying river delta, the Netherlands has been prone to floods for thousands of years. Yet, the Dutch have wrested out entire new provinces from its grasp, such as Flevoland, creating a new province in 1986. The story goes back 2,000 years, when the Frisians, early settlers of the area, put in place a series of dikes to hold the water back. A dike failure in 1287 led to floods and the formation of a new bay called the Zuiderzee (South Sea). Since then the Dutch have worked tirelessly to build dikes and polders (reclaimed land) using windmills, canals and pumps to keep the land dry. By the 20th century they had finally beaten back the sea, creating Flevoland. It is this technology that the country’s civil engineers have exported everywhere, including to Dubai’s Palm Islands.
Drijvend golfterrein voor Malediven
architectenweb.nl, 26 september 2011
In de Malediven verrijst eind 2013 een drijvend golfterrein. Het achttien holes tellende parcours met villa’s en onderwatervoorzieningen dient als aanjager voor het toerisme en drijvend bouwen in de eilandenrepubliek. De Nederlandse bureaus Waterstudio.NL en KuiperCompagnons zijn als architecten aan het project verbonden.
De energieneutrale Royal Indian Golf Club bestaat uit drie eilanden, die drijven op platforms. De drijfelementen zijn uitgerust met technieken om water te koelen en ontzilten. Daarnaast beschikken ze over zonnepanelen voor het leveren van energie.
De eilanden zijn met elkaar verbonden via tunnels onder water, zodat de golfers de wereld onder de zeespiegel kunnen ervaren. Ook het clubhuis bevindt zich onder water.
Behalve een golfbaan bestaat het ‘bovengrondse’ deel uit villa’s en twee hotels. Het terrein op vijf minuten van de nationale luchthaven moet het toerisme in het land bevorderen. Daarnaast willen de initiatiefnemers een voorbeeld stellen voor drijvend bouwen in het eilandenrijk, dat in zijn voortbestaan wordt bedreigd door de stijgende zeespiegel.
Ontwikkelaar van het minimaal 370 miljoen euro kostende project is Dutch Docklands. Het parcours is mede ontworpen door baanontwikkelaar Troon Golf.
Nederlanders maken drijvend golfterrein op Malediven
De Standaard
Op de Malediven moet binnen enkele jaren een uniek golfterrein verrijzen. Op drie drijvende eilanden zullen golfliefhebbers bij elke hole kunnen genieten van een prachtig zeezicht.
Eerste drijvende golfterrein ter wereld Nederlands ontwerp
AD.nl
Af en toe een balletje in het water meppen zal onvermijdelijk zijn als je gaat golfen op deze course in de Malediven. De 27 holes liggen namelijk verspreid over drie eilanden, die onderling worden verbonden door onderwatertunnels.
Het uitzonderlijke project, dat van de tekentafel van het Nederlandse architectenbureau Waterstudio rolde, zal volgens schattingen zo’n 360 miljoen euro kosten. Het wordt de eerste drijvende golfcourse ter wereld, op speciaal daarvoor aangelegde eilanden. Naast een golfterrein, wordt er ruimte gemaakt voor 200 villa’s, een centrum voor natuurbehoud en 45 kleinere privé-eilandjes.
Opmerkelijk is dat golfers via onderwatertunnels van het ene eiland naar het andere kunnen om de 18 of 27 holes vol te maken. Ook het clubhuis bevindt zich onder zeeniveau. De eilanden worden van stroom voorzien door middel van zonne-energie, waardoor het te boek staat als een groen project. Het golfterrein moet eind 2013 speelklaar zijn, zo beloven de architecten.
Islands made of old bottles and floating mosques
Stylepark, Brita Kohler, Sep 2011
They call him the “The Floating Dutchman”. Koen Olthuis is known for his floating buildings and in 2002 teamed up with Rolf Peters to found the architectural company of “Waterstudio”, which focuses exclusively on this area. Their work is pioneering, for public perception must first change, and our eyes must first open to the possibility that a home on the water is equal to one on dry land and furthermore that such structures create open new doors in terms of urban planning.
The book “Float!” by Koen Olthuis and architectural journalist David Keuning provides a comprehensive insight into the concept of building on the water; “Float” being an abbreviation of “Flexible Land On Aquatic Territory”. Depending on the project and the user, a floatable structure can be easily moved to a new location, leaving behind no traces of its being there. Thus a development doesn’t necessarily have to be demolished, but actually has the opportunity to live its full service life. These floating structures avoid the risk of flooding, by naturally rising and falling with the tides. A prerequisite for this is however responsible water management.
Opening the front cover of “Float!” you expect to encounter a colorful world of images with numerous project examples – both completed and in planning. And there are such examples included, but in addition over the nine chapters the authors also delve into analysis of international metropolises, outline their own visions for an extension of the city out onto the water as well as those for large-scale structures on the open sea. The considerations range from de-polderization to combat rising sea-levels in the Netherlands, to solutions for expanding metropolises onto the water, to artificial islands to aid the flood-threatened Maldives.
The presentation of the social, political, technological and economic factors that influence urban planning in one way or another here is impressive. As new, flexible urban building blocks, the floating structures provide answers to many of the resultant problems. In the face of climate change and a shortage of resources, the floating buildings offer sustainable solutions which enable the continuous expansion of cities and simultaneously provide their dwellers with green spaces, fresh water, food and energy.
The different projects are documented like anecdotes, such as “Spiral Island”, an island floating on recycled plastic bottles created by an eco-pioneer from Britain who migrated to South America. Or a floating mosque in Dubai, which according to plans by Waterstudio.NL is to be operated using just solar panels and water cooling systems, with no connection to the mainland at all.
“Float!” is visually appealing and clearly arranged. Now and again, the sketches are not as legible as they might be as the print colors fail to do them justice. It would have been nice if many of the pictograms or plans had been reproduced on a larger scale, and the passages of text a little more condensed. Even though the book in question cannot be interpreted as a detailed planning atlas and is instead definitely full of inspiration and motivation for architects of the “Climate-Change Generation”, using sophisticated and sustainable concepts to counter the ever-growing space requirements. But it must be said, the construction prices for building on water are high, while acceptance within society is low; however, the possibilities and new freedoms afforded by floating constructions are immense and the technological requirements are within our reach. There is no question, it is time to head back to the Netherlands, to discover innovative forms of living and be inspired.
Float!
By Koen Olthuis and David Keuning
Hardcover, 304 pages, English
Frame Publishers, Amsterdam, 2010
49.90 euros
Liquid Assets, TIME
TIME, Carla Power, Sept 2011
The Amsterdam street that Monique Spierenburg lives on is a portrait of 21st century prosperity. Potted olive trees line balconies, and windows afford glimpses of minimalist kitchens and airy rooms decked with art. Spierenburg shows a visitor around her three-story house, pausing to point out her husband’s woodworking shop and their sauna. Recently she had the painters in, but midjob they downed tools and ran out in fright. “The house was moving,” she shrugs.
Or rather, bobbing. Like neighboring dwellings, Spierenburg’s house floats. Amsterdam has a history of watery habitations, of course, its houseboats having long attracted free-spirited types. But the floating houses in the neighborhood of IJburg are aquatic life 2.0: they’re not boats, but buildings with plots of water instead of earth. Kids wear life vests when they play on the jetties that serve as streets. Gardens grow on pontoons moored next to the houses, which rise and fall with water levels but are anchored to piles so that they don’t float away — unless the owners want to, in which case tugboats can move them elsewhere. “Normally you think of a house being stable,” Spierenburg laughs. “It changed our vision of what a house is.”
Altering preconceptions on a broader scale is now the aim of a whole cadre of Dutch water architects and engineers. Floating buildings, they argue, could help tackle three of the gravest problems facing the planet: rising seas, growing urbanization and ever greater numbers of people. With the planet’s population set to hit 9 billion by 2050, the world is going to need more housing, mostly in urban areas. Cities have always been built near water: about 90 of the world’s 100 biggest cities are built on coasts or rivers. But they’re going to have to learn to live with lots more water in the coming century, when seas are forecast to rise up to 60 cm. With 200,000 people moving from rural to urban spaces every day, they will also be more crowded, which means flooding will wreak even more havoc than it does now. According to Koen Olthuis, one of the architects involved in IJburg and founder of architecture firm Waterstudio: “For the climate-change generation of architects, the key task will be learning to work with water, rather than against it.”
Over the centuries, the Dutch have mastered doing both. Nearly half of the country is below sea level, so it survives thanks to elaborate improvisations, from a system of dikes to building on man-made forests of wooden underwater piles. The past decade has brought a new approach: building floating structures on platforms of polystyrene and concrete. The country now has hundreds of floating structures, ranging from four-bedroom houses to small-scale office buildings to a floating prison, currently docked near Amsterdam. The projects are getting bigger: next year, Waterstudio begins work on a floating apartment complex called the Citadel — complete with underwater parking — as part of a waterscape development in South Holland. “Floating structures are already part of our urban planning,” says Hans Ovink, director of national spatial planning at the Netherlands’ Ministry for Infrastructure and the Environment.
The Dutch aren’t the only people building on water — Dubai has famously fashioned islands shaped like a palm tree and a map of the world from sand dredged out of the Persian Gulf — but nobody is doing it quite as extravagantly as the Dutch. Dutch Docklands, a water-development company founded by Olthuis and hotel developer Paul van de Camp, has partnered with the Maldives, a country of 1,190-odd islets, to build a floating golf course, a convention center and 43 private islands in the Indian Ocean. When van de Camp proposed the developments to the Maldives President, “it was like in the ’60s, when you said, ‘We’ll go to the moon.’ ” Work on the $500 million golf course begins in January 2012, with the entire project due for completion in 2015. After that, there are plans for an even more ambitious phase of island development: a floating city, with 20,000 affordable homes for Maldivians.
How green are these visions? Very, insist their champions. The port of Rotterdam boasts a floating exhibition center designed by the Delft-based water-management firm DeltaSync. Made of three geodesic domes, it uses solar power and local water and energy sources, thus using 60% less energy than comparable structures. The mobility of floating structures is another green benefit, argues Olthuis. On land, unwanted buildings are left derelict or torn down. Floating ones can be recycled by being towed to new locations for a fresh purpose. The ocean’s breezes and water can also be harnessed for heating and cooling. Docked near a building yard outside the Dutch town of Hoorn is a three-story model home built by the De Peyler construction company, which has sold about 20 of them at around $470,000 each. The water the house sits on helps cool and heat it. Flexible pipes anchored to the land provide drinking water and electricity; another pipe removes waste. “The technology is here,” insists De Peyler’s Nick Capel, striding around the third floor’s master bedroom. “You are standing on it.”
Skeptics see the floating projects as novelties rather than serious solutions to urban congestion. The Maldives development is “an interesting experiment,” says Erik Swyngedouw, professor of geography at Manchester University. “But it’s one thing to build floating houses. It’s another thing to do it on a large scale, to get energy and food in, and to get all the garbage out.” And while building floating structures in sheltered inlets or at former ports is accepted practice, building further out to sea remains another issue altogether. “At the moment, it’s not possible to make very large or very high structures without taking into account the effect of the waves,” says Han Meyer, chairman of urban design at Delft University of Technology’s Faculty of Architecture. “When the weather is calm, it’s nice to live in a floating home, but you really have to think about what happens when there are extreme weather events.”
Olthuis’ solution is to think big. “A large structure reacts less to normal waves than a small one,” he says. Although it will be partly protected because it’s in a lagoon, the Maldives golf course he has designed will be supported on rigid floating structures surrounded by semirigid ones to absorb any energy from the waves. “The golfers will not feel the difference from a land-based course,” Olthuis claims. So confident are he and van de Camp of the success of their Maldives project, they have begun scouting water rights in cities around the world, from New York City and London to Rio de Janeiro and Hong Kong, purchasing tracts of water near developed areas (nondisclosure agreements prevent them from saying more). “He who controls the water, controls the development on it,” says van de Camp. His bet: that floating technology will turn rising seas into prime real estate.
Floating green
Holland Herald, Nov 2011
Golf – Tropical Handicap
The Maldives may soon boast a few fairways as well as fair weather. Plans to built a $500 million sustainable floating golf course have been unveiled by Troon Golf, Waterstudio.NL and Dutch Docklands. The green are designed to be eco-friendly, comprising a set of solar-powered floating platform with interconnected underwater tunnels, plus golf’s, biggest water hazard – the Indian Ocean! Due to finish in 2015.