Considering that 90% of the world’s largest cities are located in coastal areas, the construction sector must consider how we live in relation to water. And green is good, but blue is better. This is the motto of Waterstudio, a Dutch firm led since 2003 by Koen Olthuis, which explores floating buildings to solve a double problem: climate change, with the consequent rise in sea level, and the high pressure of housing in cities.
Waterstudio believes that large-scale works in urban areas provide a solution to these problems, both in a flexible and sustainable way. They have developed everything from floating single-family homes around the world to complete urban projects in the Schoonship district of Amsterdam. We CONNECT WITH… Koen Olthuis to navigate these seas of uncertainty and opportunity and reach a safe harbor.
You started making floating architecture more than twenty years ago, when nobody was working on it yet. What were those first years like?
The Netherlands has an advantage in that, we have experienced floods, and that has made us understand that we must live with water instead of fighting it. We have been working on achieving standardization of the technology. Now it is easy to get piles, and we have to continue working on understanding the relationship with marine life and making it an easy and accessible tool for cities. After all, let’s remember that in places like Bangkok, everyone was already living on boats in 1850.
What are the main challenges that floating architecture must address today?
Firstly, to disseminate this reality and provide information to people and institutions that want to opt for this alternative, which is no longer a utopian and futuristic idea.
Production in relation to a land-based structure is usually different: it is first manufactured and then moved to the site. This logistics must be explained to developers, authorities… We must pay attention to densities and offer habitability solutions adapted to each need.
At a time when everything is changing so quickly –the climate, technology…– how can we design a neighbourhood that will be operational in ten years if we don’t know what society will be like in ten years? The only way to respond is through communities that are flexible enough to deal with the unknown, and floating architecture is key to providing this indispensable characteristic.
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In some media there is a great emphasis on this type of solutions and they have even widely disseminated examples such as Oceanix Busan, focusing on how this model can be the way to develop the cities of the future. What is your opinion on this type of large-scale structures in the water?
The business model is good, because there are savings and improvements, and its durability is greater than that of a city on land. Let’s think that houses built in the 1950s were demolished because people’s demands have changed over time. In floating cities you can move elements, flexibility is key. Technology is another relevant aspect, you can start with small houseboats, make them larger, connect them and create neighborhoods.
What role do materials play in your projects?
We don’t just look at one typology. We want them to be able to be modeled and become modular elements. For example, the theatre we built in Lyon was made of CLT, but we also used steel and concrete. The important thing is that they allow modularity and ease of transport.
How does sustainability work in floating architecture?
It is something inherent: if you build in the water you start a special relationship with it, and with the effect it has on the temperature, the ecosystem… It is not enough to not have a negative impact, now we have to analyze how to coexist with the area where we implement structures and even improve the environment, using nature as a source of energy or to heat or cool homes, promoting a symbiotic and balanced relationship.
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Technology (artificial intelligence, big data, etc.) is a tool in your work?
We use it to program cities so that they are exactly what is needed in a place, developing scenarios and testing solutions, such as optimizing the city’s resources at different times of the year, taking into account different variables (temperature, demographic pressure, etc.). These programmable, data-driven cities will consume less energy and adapt better to changes.
How do you find inspiration to develop your projects?
In my case, thanks to my family experiences. My father was an architect and my mother worked in shipbuilding, it was easy to unite the two worlds and draw inspiration from both.
