Buildings and structures that stand on water are gaining popularity as they address environmental risks. They can prevent flood damage and also offer new opportunities for urbanization.
Amsterdam-based firm NLE Architects’s Makoko Floating School in Lagos, Nigeria, is one example. It is on display in a new exhibition at Rotterdam’s Nieuwe Instituut.
1. Fiberglass
Fiberglass is a composite material that consists of woven glass fibers bound together with resin. It is a top choice in industries ranging from construction to aerospace due to its durability, corrosion resistance, and lightweight properties. It can also be molded into a wide range of shapes and is often used as an alternative to molded plywood in aircraft radomes.
Its key traits include low cost and ease of workability. It is a material that can be built in a warehouse under controlled conditions and then transported to the project site in an almost finished state. No welding or special tools are required on-site.
Many innovative designs are now relying on this versatile material to create futuristic floating architecture establishments. One such example is the Unidentified Floating Object, a stunning spaceship-like structure that can be adapted to the needs of its residents and is entirely energy autonomous. The concept is a result of a collaboration between architects and marine ecologists. The design aims to solve numerous environmental challenges such as land shortage, overpopulation, rising sea levels, and biodiversity loss.
2. Carbon Fiber
Carbon fiber is an incredibly strong and lightweight material used in sports equipment, military applications, and even cars. Over 30% of the world’s carbon fiber production goes towards aerospace projects, where it can be used to make planes lighter and stronger, which helps them save energy when flying.
This material is also used in racing sailboats, where it’s useful for making light but strong boats that can cut through thousands of miles of ocean water. It can also be found in prosthetic limbs, as it’s very lightweight and durable. The material shows up clearly on X-ray images, which makes it useful for medical applications.
A team of MSU scientists has developed a new way to make carbon fiber, making it easier for builders to shape it into complex shapes. By precisely stretching the material and breaking some of its natural weak points, this technology makes it eight times more formable than regular carbon fiber, without compromising its strength. The resulting material can be bent into shapes like wings and fuselages, allowing it to be built faster and more easily.
3. Polyethylene
Polyethylene is a commodity plastic used for a variety of products like bottles and water tanks. It is a tough, abrasion resistant plastic that is often combined with additives to change its physical and chemical properties, including colorants, malleability, anti-oxidation and fire retardant qualities.
It is created by the addition polymerization of ethylene monomers that have an open bond location on one side of the molecule. These bonds are broken using polymerization catalysts, which then add new carbon atoms to the molecules, creating longer and larger ethylene chains that can be formed into polyethylene plastic.
Unlike current market system solutions for floating construction that use polystyrene filled concrete pontoons, MAST’s Land on Water proposal uses high density polyethylene floats designed to promote biodiversity by creating niches for mollusc and seaweed growth. The floats are also easily transportable and can be added to or adjusted as the building’s weight changes. This is especially important for MAST’s project because it is designed to address concerns of rising sea levels and climate change. This solution could lead to the development of a new type of dynamic off-grid floating community.
4. Polypropylene
The use of polypropylene in constructing floating buildings is one of the most recent material innovations in this field. Polypropylene is a thermoplastic that can undergo various manufacturing processes such as injection molding, general purpose extrusion and expansion moulding. It can also be copolymerized with other plastic materials to alter resulting properties. Polypropylene’s resistance to sunlight UV radiation and its low level of electrical conductivity makes it a perfect material for Floating Architecture.
Danish maritime design studio MAST, alongside venture studio Fragile, have developed a system called Land on Water that could allow for the construction of adaptable and climate resilient living spaces on water. The system uses flat-pack modules made from recycled reinforced plastic that can be transported and assembled worldwide.
These modules are shaped to create an adequate, secure foundation for the built space above. The niches created within the floatation units are expected to encourage the growth of molluscs and seaweed, further enriching the overall water environment and promoting biodiversity. The system was developed in response to the gradual rise of sea levels and increase of urban flooding around the world, which has sparked new interest in building on water.
5. Aluminum
Aluminum is an abundant metal-like element with both metallic and nonmetallic properties. It is usually forged into specific alloys with other elements to enhance its properties, such as ductility, hardness and impact sensitivity. This process is referred to as “alloying.”
While it’s long been the main component of iconic soda cans, aluminum has also seen some architectural use. Most notably, the Empire State Building used it extensively in the 1930s as ornamental trim, elevator doors and more than 6,000 window spandrels.
One of the most recent examples of a floating structure constructed with aluminum is Grace Farm’s River project in Vermont. The design by SANAA and Zahner uses a double-curvature panel system made of standard-sized sheets of anodized aluminum.
Floating structures are growing in popularity as architects embrace the sense of freedom and independence they offer. These structures can be a viable adaptation strategy as sea levels rise and the desire to live close to water increases. But, despite their seemingly whimsical designs, these floating buildings and cities all utilize tried-and-true technology adapted from marine applications to create their unique and innovative results.