How Floating Homes Can Help Combat Climate Change

Rainy seasons have finally arrived here in the Philippines. A series of tropical storms and typhoons are heading here, bringing heavy rains and floods. After our country experienced the disaster of Typhoon Ondoy, I have been pondering a solution to flooding and how to prevent it from happening again.

 

Architects: Vandeventer + Carlander Architects

Location: Seattle, Washington, USA

Since environmental change has drastically affected our weather system, flooding will become familiar during rainy seasons. Asides from floods, landslides are a common scene in deforested rural areas.

These disasters have been happening worldwide, and some countries have learned to adapt to these extreme situations. I searched for a solution and found that many other countries solutions are to design their houses to float.

Although it is already a common sight in other countries, this has rarely been adopted in the Philippines due to the high cost of these structures. Most floating homes here in the Philippines are built with light materials and are located in slum areas. It would be great if I could design a cost-effective livable floating house for these. I guess this will be my next conceptual project to challenge my mind.

I have found a handful of great designs of floating houses around the world. These houses will surely solve the problem of flooding and rising sea levels. It would be excellent if these houses could also withstand a tsunami. That would be one less disaster on the list. Anyway, here are the floating home projects I found from other countries which are aesthetically pleasing and functional.

 

Architects: Martin Förster & Karsten Trabitzsch

Location: Hamburg, Germany

Architects: X-Architects

Location: Dubai