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Floating City Apps – Floating Facilities for Flood Prone Areas

By Ed Hill
Floodlist
February.06.2017
Photo Credits: Waterstudio, UNESCO

 

A previous article in our series on floating architecture highlighted the work of Dutch architecture firm Architectstudio Marlies Bohmer in creating the floating community of Waterbuurt in Amsterdam. The point was made that, although it is in a developed country, it is one of the first working examples of a floating community not made up of houseboats, but actual dwellings. Another interesting Dutch architecture firm looking into floating facilities for flood­prone communities is Waterstudio.nl, which, as the name implies, specializes in ‘waterborne architecture’. Waterstudio, in fact, designed several of the private floating houses of Waterbuurt, and also has designed a number of other floating houses around the world.

Floating City Apps

With about one billion people worldwide living in shantytowns, many of which are located in areas prone to flooding, the need for innovative solutions to providing decent shelter and facilities is growing daily. Since floodprone areas are least likely to receive investment for upgrading, architect Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio.nl has put forward a proposal for small scale floating facilities as a bottom up approach to improving opportunities in what he terms ‘wet slums’ – called Floating City Apps.

 

Replicable and Multi-purpose

The Floating City App designed by Waterstudio is based on the concept of a floating shipping container fitted out for multi­purpose use. The first such unit, housing 20 tablet computer workstations and 2 teaching screens, will be utilised as a classroom during the day and an Internet café in the evening. The unit has a simple construction, the modified shipping container being fixed to a base of wooden pallets floating on a wire gabion framework containing bags filled with recycled PET bottles.

The materials for the floating base are readily obtainable in developing countries so the units are easily replicable. In addition, the idea of used PET bottles for flotation is intended to provide an avenue for recycling, in order to help keep waterways clear of plastic pollution. The interior of each City App container will be fitted in the Netherlands with built­in walls and equipment, purpose designed for the specific use it is intended for. In addition, it will have solar PV panels on the roof and solar power equipment installed behind the interior walls.

Floating City Apps have been designed for six different uses; communication & education, sanitation, community kitchen, health care, garbage collection and construction. The term City App was inspired by the concept of applications, or ‘apps’ found on mobile phones. Although several phones may look the same, each is different in terms of the apps that have been loaded onto it – hence the idea that the same floating container concept can be used for different purposes.

Floating City App Foundation

It costs about €50,000 (US$53,000) to design, build and deliver a floating City App and, in order to realize the implementation of the concept, the Floating City App Foundation was established with Dutch aid organization Cordaid in 2013. The foundation works with several partners, including the UNESCO­IHE Institute for Water Education, as well as authorities in the proposed recipient country. At a ceremony in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in June 2015, an agreement was signed between Floating City Apps, Cordaid and the Bangladeshi Computer Council of the Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and IT, in the presence of the State Minister of ICT, Mr Zunaid Ahmed Palak and the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure, Mrs Melanie Schultz, for the first Floating City App to be established in Bangladesh. Floating City App Bangladesh Netherlands Collaboration

Unesco­IHE Institute for Water Education assists Cordaid with a process of identifying and mapping sites for Floating City Apps. With the aid of local agents, a ‘wet slum’ is mapped and the needs of the community assessed in order to determine the most appropriate use or uses. Shipping containers will be fitted with the relevant Floating City App designs, and the containers shipped to the nearest destination port, from which they can be transported by road. The floating platform will be constructed on­site and the container will then be attached to the platform.

Chris Zevenbergen, Professor of Flood Resilience of Urban Systems at UNESCO­IHE Institute of Water Education notes that the Communication and Education App will be also used for early flood warning systems in these areas.

“We will provide recommendations to the World Bank to work differently with regard to slums upgrading” he says, “Not a one size fits all approach, but tailor made solutions for slums using local knowledge … investing in slums is not very attractive to donors. I hope this attitude changes, as slums are an important economy for the city. You can think of micro financing solutions for example”.

“Concrete solutions such as the City Apps developed by Koen Olthuis and partners should really help to attract financial support for further development” concludes Zevenbergen.

Business Model

Olthuis says that there is a business model for the operation of the Floating City App. It will be leased to a local entrepreneur who will be able to provide the service to community members for a small fee. The repayment period is expected to be in the order of 20 to 30­odd years. If the situation changes and the App is no longer required or viable, it can be towed to another destination, or shipped back to the Netherlands for refitting or repurposing. Olthuis explains: “So these are catalyst functions for upgrading wet slums. We have a business model. If we want to upgrade life of the poorest worldwide, one billion people, we can’t just spend money and give them money, we have to provide the tools to upgrade the lives themselves, by providing them (with) these kinds of apps.”

Since the floating City Apps are technically classed as vessels, they can qualify for insurance and private financing, which should make them attractive options for local businesses. “Cordaid’s ambition is to co­create smart and sustainable solutions with businesses and local partners for people in need. Social enterprise holds the future” says Cordaid CFO Willem Jan van Wijk, adding “That is why we cooperated in the realization of the first Floating City App for Bangladesh.”

Pilot Floating City App Passes Final Test

The first pilot Floating City App, containing the classroom, underwent its final testing for ‘sea­worthiness’ and stability in the Hofvijver in front of the Dutch Parliament Building in Den Hague, on 11 March 2016. This was accompanied by the official handing over of the App to the honorable Ambassador of Bangladesh, Mr Sheikh Mohammed Belal by the representative of The Hague Municipality, Mr Karsten Klein. The pilot communication and education Floating City App is expected to be shipped to Bangladesh early in 2017, where it will be sited on the Banani Lake adjacent to the Korail slum in the capital city, Dhaka. Korail covers 150 acres (61ha) of waterside land, mostly belonging to Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd, and is home to over 40,000 residents. Many of the homes are built on stilts over the water, so the placing of a Floating City App on the water will be easily accessible and not out of place. “If I were to build only floating islands for the wealthy, I would only make 150 people happy in the next 50 years,” said Mr Olthuis, who is the grandson of both an architect and a shipbuilder; “If we use this technology also to upgrade slums, we can change the lives of millions.”

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Koen Olthuis one of fifty innovators of the 21th century

Koen Olthuis selected as one of the Fifty Under Fifty innovators of our time. After a world-wide search of 50 top architecture and design firms by the editors, lead author Beverly Russell along with Eva Maddox and Farooq Ameen help bring together a unique body of work; all partners in these firms will be 50 years old or under at the time of publication, and represent a forward-thinking generation of creative people, aware of global issues that urgently need solutions through imaginative design.

A distinguished five-person jury presided over the final selection: Stanley Tigerman, founding partner, Tigerman McCurry, Chicago; Ralph Johnson, design principal, Perkins+Will, Chicago; Jeanne Gang, founder Gang Studio, Chicago; Marion Weiss, founding partner, WEISS/MANFREDI, New York; and Qingyun Ma, Dean of Architecture, University of Southern California, and founder MADA s.p.a.m., Shanghai and Beijing.

The innovators featured in this impressive volume share with us, and the world, their desires for exponential learning; designs are illuminated with full-color photography and detailed illustrations, helping to showcase the innovators’ individual curiosities, imaginations, and talents. This material shows how they bridge disciplines, respect cultural norms, respond to human needs regardless of costs, and how they adopt team transparency in their passion to create and solve problems with a clear mission.

This highly anticipated book showcases honorees located across many different countries, including Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States. Significantly, a quarter of these innovators are women, representing the elevated leadership of women in architecture and design.ﾠ

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1st Scientific paper on researching wetslums was published

Slum Upgrading: Assessing the Importance of Location A plea for a spatial approach as an integral component; view online (free till Nov 1st)

Abstract

The world population is growing rapidly and much of that growth is happening in urban areas. In developing countries, this process is often accompanied by the formation and expansion of slums. A variety of slum upgrading projects have been implemented to improve the living conditions of slum dwellers however a wide study to investigate the objectives of slum upgrading projects highlighted that environmental features were of low priority compared to basic services and infrastructure. The paper deduces this to be a result of the dominance of UN’s household-based definition of slums which lacks emphasis on the locational aspects. An aerial analysis of slums located near waterbodies emphasised the slums’ dynamic nature brought about by location and therefore the importance of location itself. Taking cue from this, the paper recommends upgrading projects to be more location-specific that offer flexible yet customised solutions that build upon local knowledge to account for the dynamic and diverse nature of slums. Another inference from the study was that for various reasons – one of which is hazardous location – slums are perceived to be temporary and as a result, there is low incentive to invest in slums. Such a perception prohibits slum upgrading and pushes them into a negative spiral. Concluding that slums are, however, permanent features in the urban landscape, the paper recommends a change in perception and urges practitioners to accept this permanent nature of slums. The focus and findings of this paper are relevant in context of the Habitat III Conference in 2016 which has as its focus the ‘New Urban Agenda’ that recognises the ever-changing dynamics of human civilization and aims to bring together diverse urban actors to review urban and housing policies.

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Podcast: Maldives’ Floating City?

The Seasteading Institute, Joe Quirk, Nov 2015

Interview of Joe Quirk from the Seasteading Institute with Koen Olthuis about  Maldives’ floating cities.

Podcast: Maldives’ Floating City? Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio

Podcast: Play in new window

What if a nation sinking below sea level became the innovation hub for floating cities?
What if you could float the infrastructure of Holland to the slums of Bangladesh?
What if the future of floating cities is in 3D printed technology?

Dutch architect Koen Olthuis is the co-author of Float! Building on Water to Combat Urban Congestion and Climate Change with David Keuning. Koen founded Waterstudio which designs many components of floating cities, including schools, golf courses, hotels, and even stadiums, and he co-founded Dutch Docklands which plans gorgeous projects for the Maldives.  In 2007, Koen was chosen at Time Magazine‘s “most influential people of the year,” and the French magazine Terra Eco chose Koen in 2011 as one of the 100 greenest persons who will change the the world.

Koen Olthuis initiated a project to transform shipping containers into Floating City Apps to upgrade living conditions in coastal slums by providing “plug-and-play” schools, kitchens, health centers, internet cafes, and water purification units.

Should seasteads establish political independence first, and then change the world? Or should floating cities set humanitarian examples, win hearts and minds, and then seek independence? Koen and I discuss the strategies and agree to partner on a shared goal.

I hope you enjoy this discussion as much as I did. And if you subscribe to podcasts on iTunes, you can find this podcast and all of our other podcasts on our iTunes page.

Joe Quirk

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Why Blue is Better

Annelie Rozeboom
Hi Europe
October.2015

 

Architect Koen Olthuis draws on a roll of paper while explaining why we should be building our cities on the water and how he is planning to help the poor with his ideas. “As an architect, you can design towers, but every child can do that in their Minecraft game. Plus none of the towers we build now will be there in 300 years’ time. What I want to leave behind at the end of my career are concepts and ideas, the main idea is that we need to push our cities unto the water.”
Green is good, blue is better is the motto of this Dutch architect. “Our cities don’t change fast enough. We build houses and building and expect them to be used for ever, but our society changes every ten years. If parts of our cities float, we are much more flexible. The center of Amsterdam will always be the same, but the neighborhoods around it change all the time. If buildings float, you can just pull them away and put them somewhere else,” Olthuis told Hi-Europe.


Pict: selimaksan

Working with the Water

One-half of the Netherlands is flood-prone and about one-quarter is below sea level, so it’s no wonder the Dutch spend their time developing ways to incorporate water into their style of living. The philosophy is shifting from fighting the water to living with it, or rather, on it. Instead of trying to claw back more land from the sea, developers are exploring the cost-efficiency of building homes that rise and fall with the tides. “We need to start working with the water in a more intelligent way,” Olthuis says.

This relatively new amphibious architecture is attracting interest from around the world, with floating and amphibious homes and schools now being designed for flood plains everywhere. Amphibious architecture is for both dry and wet conditions, so the houses stay dry and on the ground during normal times and then when the water arrives, they can float up.


Pict: Architect Koen Olthuis – Waterstudio.NL

Waterstudio

Olthuis wants to do much more than build a few villas. His architectural bureau Waterstudio.NL has designed complete apartment complexes, which could accommodate hundreds of people. And that is just one project. There is also a 33-meter-tall trees that can float. “Our cities have become sick environments. Green has been pushed away, but bees and other insects need quiet places. Our sea tree is like a cut-up park, which floats at a safe distance from the shore. Nature will take over on the platform and create its own ecosystem.”

Olthuis is also planning to help people in the slums of the world, which are often located on flood plains. “Worldwide you see that the most vulnerable people are being pushed into the water,” he says. This coming month he will send a floating school to Dakar – it’s a container that floats on empty plastic bottles. “The way to upgrade a slum is by installing facilities like schools and internet cafés, or easily movable small buildings that slum entrepreneurs can use. We have designed a kind of toolbox, which have 20 functions inside. This way, the entrepreneurs can choose what it is they need.”
Olthuis exports his concepts all around the globe, including to the flood zones of Hainan Island. “They have land there that they can’t use, but they will if they take our technology.” He also sells floating islands to Dubai. “Making artificial islands out of sand doesn’t work. In Dubai they built some, but they are too far away from the coast, and there is no electricity or drinking water. We are now going to put floating islands in between.”


Pict: Architect Koen Olthuis – Waterstudio.NL

Fight Against the Sea

The Dutch are famous for their age-old fight against the sea, and they have the best flood management technologies in the world. In the beginning, the people in this low country put their homes on artificial hills called terpen, but they soon started building dikes. Popular in the middle ages were wierdijken, earth dikes with a protective layer of seaweed. Later dikes had a vertical screen of timbers backed by an earth bank, but these were replaced by stones after the timber was eaten by shipworms. When the polder windmill was invented in the 15th century, it meant that land could also be drained.

The dikes around the rivers were maintained by the famers who lived next to them. Special water board directors would come to check every three years. This changed radically after a devastating North Sea flood in 1953, which resulted in 1,800 deaths. The government adopted a “never again” attitude, and built dams all around the country, guarding all main river estuaries and sea inlets. According to computer simulations, today’s defenses in the Netherlands are supposed to withstand the kind of flood so severe that it would occur only once in 10,000 years.
“We have pretty much won the fight against the sea,” architect Olthuis says. “The problem now is rainwater. Holland has 3500 low-lying polders enclosed by dykes that function as sponges – they soak up excessive rain water. However, more and more of this land is now used for housing. These are ideal places to build amphibious houses.”


Pict: Architect Koen Olthuis – Waterstudio.NL

Rising Sea Levels

Dutch scientists predict a rise in sea levels of up to 110cm by the year 2100. “We can make the dikes higher, that’s not a problem at all. Technically, all that is possible. The problem with a high dike is that when it breaks, more water will come in,” he says.

There is also growing pressure on existing land. The Dutch government estimates that 500,000 new homes will be needed in the next two decades. Most of the land suitable for conventional building has already been used up, so Dutch architects are encouraged to experiment with new solutions. “The palace in the center of Amsterdam was built on 13.654 wooden poles. It’s the densest forest in the Netherlands. There was real innovation in those times. We are built on places where there shouldn’t be land at all. It’s not about giving up, it’s about continuing to grow,” says Olthuis.

Koen Olthuis

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Floating City Apps: A Lifeline for Slums

By Carol Matlack
Bloomberg Businessweek
September.2015

 

Dutch architecture firm Waterstudio uses shipping containers to build structures that benefit people living in flood-ravaged shantytowns.

Firm: Waterstudio
Location: Rijswijk, Netherlands
Total Cost: $28,000

More than 600 million people worldwide live in shantytowns that suffer chronic flooding. Because these settlements are often illegal, entrepreneurs and community groups can’t get the building permits, insurance, and bank loans to open grocery stores, health clinics, and other essential establishments.
Dutch architect Koen Olthuis thinks he has a solution: His Floating City Apps are structures built from shipping containers that can be docked alongside waterfront slums. The first, set to be deployed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, this fall, will be outfitted with 20 computer workstations. It will be used as a classroom in the daytime and as an Internet café in the evening. Unesco and local non-profit are subsidizing construction. Because the units are vessels, they will qualify for insurance and private financing, which may also make them attractive options for local business.
Olthuis’s firm, Waterstudio, specializes in waterborne architecture and building floating resort in Maldives. He wants to put some of that know-how to work for the benefit of the poor. “The architecture is simple”, he says. “But you need to have a business model”.

This demonstration unit in the Netherlands is outfitted as an education and communications center, with 20 touchscreen workstations.

SOURCE: FLOATING CITY APPS

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Holländskt flyt mot stigande havsnivåer

By Sebastian van Baalen
Syre
August.2015

 

Sebastian van Baalen – 2 år sedan
Han kallas den flytande holländaren och har utsetts till en av världens viktigaste tänkare av the Times. Koen Olthuis är en nederländsk arkitekt som propagerar för att holländarna måste lära sig att leva med stigande havsnivåer. Men hans
idéer har implikationer långt bortom Nederländerna.

Med hjälp av cityappar vill arkitekterna på Waterstudio tillgodose grundläggande behov i världens vattennära slumområden. Foto: Sebastian van Baalen

Nederländerna är ett av världens lägst liggande länder med omkring 20 procent av landets yta under havsnivå och ytterligare 30 procent i riskzonen för omfattande översvämningar. Men trots århundraden av erfarenhet av att bygga vallar, kanaler och pumpstationer menar arkitekten Koen Olthuis att framtiden ligger på vattnet. Han har patent på flytande husgrunder och de senaste tolv åren har han ritat över 100 flytande hus i Nederländerna.

– Lösningen fanns i familjen hela tiden, förklarar han medievant. Min mammas familj jobbade inom skeppsindustrin och min pappas familj var arkitekter. Jag har helt enkelt tagit det bästa av två världar.

Enligt Koen Olthuis är flytande byggnader lösningen på flera olika problem; stigande havsnivåer, platsbrist i storstadsområden och behovet av dynamiska städer. – Städer är inte perfekta, de är korkade. Världen förändras ständigt men städerna är statiska och kan inte anpassas snabbt nog. Genom att bygga på vattnet kan man göra staden dynamisk, funktioner kan distribueras dit de behövs, när de behövs.

Lyxbostäder och konstgjorda öar signerade Koen Olthuis finns bland annat i Dubai och på Maldiverna. I Nederländerna, ett land där platsbristen är akut, har Koen Olthuis idéer resulterat i flytande bostadsområden. I sin bok Float! propagerar han för att användningen av flytande husgrunder kan möjliggöra så kallad depolderisering i Nederländerna, det vill säga att grundvattennivån tillåts stiga i torrlagda områden. Men det var när han uppmärksammade problemet med slumområden som han insåg konceptets fulla potential.

Flytande cityappar

Enligt FN förväntas omkring två miljarder människor leva i slumområden år 2030. Dessa bosättningar är ofta semitemporära då invånarna ständigt hotas med avhysning eftersom de formellt varken äger marken eller sina bostäder, något som försvårar utvecklingen av samhällsfunktioner i dessa områden. Men detta vill Koen Olthuis ändra på med hjälp av flytande cityappar.

– Många av världens slumområden ligger vid eller på vatten. Men när vi gjorde en studie i Bangladesh nämnde sluminvånarna förvånansvärt nog inte översvämningar som det främsta problemet – det var bristen på samhällsfunktioner. Och då är vattnet lösningen!

Precis som man laddar ner appar till sin smarta telefon för att ge den funktioner som saknas menar Koen Olthuis att man kan lägga till samhällsfunktioner i vattennära slumområden. Tillsammans med ett team av unga ingenjörer och arkitekter på sitt företag Waterstudio i Haag har han utvecklat flytande containers som huserar skolor, internetkaféer, sjukhus och sanitetsanläggningar, alla drivna av solpaneler. Dessa kan fraktas till slumområdena till havs. Jiya Benni jobbar med projektet.

– I de flesta slumområden saknas de juridiska förutsättningarna för att utveckla infrastrukturen. Fördelen med dynamiska cityappar är att de inte kräver bygglov. Skulle förutsättningarna förändras kan apparna helt enkelt bogseras bort.

Den första containern är nu på väg att placeras i Dhaka i Bangladesh. Men flytande cityappar ska främst ses som ett socialt företag enligt Jiya Benni.
– Varje cityapp har en affärsidé. Tanken är att lokala entreprenörer i slumstäderna kan hyra en city app på lång sikt och betala av kostnaden över tid. När appen har spelat ut sin roll i ett visst område kan den helt enkelt flyttas vidare. Lite som ett mikrolån.

Samtidigt erkänner Koen Olthuis att kostnaden för cityapparna än så länge är för hög.

– En flytande skola kostar för närvarande 45 000 dollar. Vi måste minska priset till 18 000 dollar för att det ska bli ekonomiskt hållbart.

Marinbiologer har bland annat påpekat att flytande byggnader kan störa de marina ekosystemen. Men Jiya Benni ser inte det som ett problem. – Jämfört med att torrlägga land är flytande byggnader definitivt mer miljövänliga. Visst kan konstruktionerna påverka mängden ljus som når botten, men det går att lösa med kreativ design. Vi samarbetar med oceanografen Jean-Michel Cousteau för att utveckla våra cityappar till naturliga ekosystem för fiskar.

Vatten som möjlighet Koen Olthuis framstår lika mycket som visionär som arkitekt. I hans visioner ingår flytande grönområden, flytande flygplatser och mobila och flytande flyktingläger.

Men vad är science fiction och vad är verkligen möjligt?
Faktum är att flytande städer har existerat sedan länge och stora slumområden ligger i dag på vattnet. Ett exempel är slummen Makoko i Nigera som är hem åt tiotusentals människor. Liknande samhällen återfinns i Hong Kong och Vietnam. Investeringar i sådana områden är ofta riskfyllda då infrastruktur riskerar att förstöras vid översvämningar. Även rikare länder har insett såväl nyttan som det estetiska med flytande byggnader; Seoul har en flytande ö på Hanfloden, Rotterdam ett mobilt konferens- och utställningskomplex på Nieuwe Maasfloden och Bristol en flytande plantträdgård. Men för Koen Olthuis handlar det om att förändra hur vi förstår staden.

– Mitt budskap är att vatten inte enbart är ett hot, utan också en möjlighet. Jag hoppas att det vi gör, mina idéer, kan spridas och locka människor att tro på idén. Min vision är att förbättra städer i hela världen.

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City App floats at Xpeditie Blauwestad

The Communication App functioned as internet school and café in the temporary city “Xpeditie Blauwestad” in Groningen, the Netherlands

City App on its location at Xpeditie Blauwestad

Children using the City App

Ankie Stam: Met drijvende city apps kunnen we functies aan de grote steden toevoegen

By Nicole Verstrepen
Kmo Insider
Innovatie
February.2.2015

 

 

 

In de media wordt de Nederlandse architect en industrieel ontwerper Koen Olthuis wel eens de ‘Drijvende’ in plaats van de ‘Vliegende Hollander’ genoemd. Hij specialiseerde zich in wat hij ‘City Apps’ noemt, drijvende componenten die je als het ware in en uit de stad kan pluggen al naargelang de behoefte. Olthuis gebruikt het water of de rivier in de stad als bouwgrond voor nieuwe functies. “Zo bied ik wereldwijd mogelijkheden om flexibel om te springen met klimaatveranderingen en urbanisatie”, stelt hij. Op kmo-connected diende hij zich te laten vervangen door zijn medewerkster Ankie Stam omdat hij zelf in Dubai was voor de bespreking van een nieuw project. Ja, zijn projecten zijn erg leuk voor mensen die centen hebben, maar ze bieden ook uitkomst voor ‘s werelds arme sloppenwijken.

Met de presentatie toonde Ankie Stam hoe we onze steden kunnen verbeteren.
Ankie Stam: “Woningen bouwen die vijftig tot zeventig jaar moeten meegaan is een statische gedachte. Vandaag verandert onze wereld veel sneller. Er zijn sociale veranderingen, met gezinnen die snel van samenstelling veranderen en veel eenoudergezinnen, maar ook politieke veranderingen met het vallen van de Berlijnse muur bijvoorbeeld, wat een impact heeft gehad op de stad. Maar de veranderingen die op dit moment de grootste druk leggen op onze steden zijn de klimaatveranderingen en de urbanisatie. Het is nodig dat steden zich aanpassen en flexibeler worden.”

Volgens Koen Olthuis is het fout om te denken dat de stad volgebouwd is.
Ankie Stam: “Honderd jaar geleden dachten we ook dat de stad vol was tot Otis de lift uitvond. In een keer konden we in de lucht bouwen. In de lucht kunnen wij vandaag geen ruimte meer vinden, maar wel in het water. De grote wereldsteden bestaan voor een groot gedeelte uit water. Met funderingen van piepschuim en beton kunnen we grote platformen maken, hele stadsdelen of, city apps, zoals bijvoorbeeld een drijvende parkeertoren. Deze drijvende functies kan je in en uit de stad pluggen al naargelang de behoefte.”

De deelnemers aan kmo-connected kregen vervolgens verschillende ontwerpen van Koen Olthuis en zijn architectenbedrijf waterstudio.nl te zien.

Een cruiseterminal voor Dubai
Voor Dubai heeft Koen Olthuis een cruiseterminal ontworpen.
Ankie Stam: “We hadden de cruiseterminal eerst getekend op 300x300x300 meter, maar toen we bij onze klant kwamen, stonden we na vijf minuten terug buiten. Of we hem op 700x700x700 meter konden ontwerpen. Dit vormde voor de ingenieurs geen probleem, integendeel, want hoe groter je iets maakt op water, hoe stabieler het wordt. Dubai heeft veel kust, meer geen plek waar cruiseschepen kunnen aanmeren. We hebben via de punt een binnenhaven gecreëerd, waarin kleine schepen liggen die de mensen van de cruiseschepen aan land brengen.”

Een internetschooltje voor de sloppenwijk
Koen Olthuis heeft ook city apps bedacht voor sloppenwijken.
Ankie Stam: “Deze city apps, die gebaseerd zijn op standaard zeecontainers, kunnen een belangrijke meerwaarde voor sloppenwijken betekenen als dokterspost, gemeenschapskeuken, internetschooltje,… Vaak zijn sloppenwijken zeer dicht bevolkt en is er geen ruimte over, maar wanneer een sloppenwijk langs een stroom of rivier ligt, bieden de city apps mogelijkheden. Zo hebben we een internetschooltje ontwerpen waar via tablets en schermen leerkrachten vanop afstand les kunnen geven. Deze city apps hebben een fundering bestaande uit gebruikte PET-flessen, ondersteund door een stalen framework. Ze worden in Nederland gebouwd en vervolgens naar de sloppenwijk getransporteerd.”

Drijvend hotel en conferentiecentrum Greenstar,
In januari 2014 tekende Koen Olthuis Greenstar, een drijvend hotel met 800 kamers en conferentiecentrum voor tot 2000 deelnemers op de Malediven.
Ankie Stam: “Hotels hebben over het algemeen om de vijf jaar een opknapbeurt nodig. Dit hotel bestaat uit vijf ‘benen’, maar we creëerden een zesde, zodat er steeds een reserve-exemplaar in het draaidok ligt. Wanneer een poot moet opgeknapt worden, wordt die weggehaald en naar het draaidok gebracht en kan de reservepoot ingeplugd worden zodat het hotel steeds op volle kracht kan werken. Zo één poot kan je vergelijken met een cruiseschip. Een mooi voorbeeld van plug and play.”

Het Greenstar Hotel en Conferentiecentrum ontwierp Koen Olthuis in opdracht van Dutch Docklands, wereldleider in drijvende floating concepten en infrastructuur (FLOAT = Flexible Land On Aquatic Territory). Dutch Docklands is met de regering van de Malediven een joint-venture aangegaan voor een ambitieus masterplan met meer dan 800 hectares aan drijvende projecten, waaronder het Greenstar hotel, 43 drijvende privé-eilandjes in archipelvorm, een drijvend golfterrein waarbij je in tunnels onder water van de ene hole naar de andere wandelt,…

Wat vond u van deze spreker?

Nick Veldeman, Waagnatie Expo & Events
“Ik vond het een fantastische uiteenzetting. Ik heb mij voorgenomen om Koen Olthuis te contacteren, want ik heb al heel lang een idee om iets drijvends op de Schelde te doen en Waterstudio is de firma die dat gaat kunnen realiseren.”

Virginie Frémat, CMS DeBacker
“Het was ongelooflijk om te zien wat er allemaal mogelijk is op architecturaal vlak. Ik had mij nooit kunnen inbeelden dat zulke City Apps bestonden, en blijkbaar worden ze effectief al uitgewerkt. Zeker in die sloppenwijken is dat maatschappelijk gezien schitterend.”

Andrea Sitteur, PostsNL België
“De uiteenzetting was fantastisch en heel inspirerend. Of ik zelf zou investeren in een woning op het water? Voor die sloppenwijken zou ik wel willen doneren, maar puur voor mezelf en de fun? Neen, ik ben niet zo’n fan van water.”

Toby Wauters, Ritmo Interim
“Er is in Antwerpen weinig plaats voor gezinnen. We zouden misschien op de Schelde ook zoiets kunnen doen. De luxueuze toepassingen lijken mij nice to have, maar voor de sloppenwijken, zijn het oplossingen waarbij je met relatief weinig budget veel mensen kan helpen.”

Karel Geerts, Herber Watson N.V.
“Land winnen op het water is voor een stuk de corebusiness van Nederland. De projecten in Dubai draaien om geld en prestige, maar voor de oplossingen voor de sloppenwijken moet ook geld zijn. Waar gaat dat vandaan komen? Het is in elk geval mooi.”

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