A floating city is set to rise off the coast of the Maldives as a solution to sea-level rise

2022-06-23T17:40:00-04:00

A city is rising from the waters of the Indian Ocean. In a turquoise lagoon, just 10 minutes by boat from Male, the Maldivian capital, a floating city, big enough to house 20,000 people, is being constructed.

Called the Maldives Floating City, the first-of-its-kind development is a joint venture between property developer Dutch Docklands and the Government of the Maldives. Netherlands-based architecture firm Waterstudio, which focuses on large-scale, sustainable floating projects, is the architecture firm behind the project’s design. Taking the shape of a brain coral, the city is structured as a traditional boating community, with a network of canals that will serve as the main infrastructure for logistics and gateways. It will consist of 5,000 floating units, along with houses, restaurants, shops, and schools.

Previously on Archinect: Updated design emerges for BIG’s floating city in Busan, South Korea for OCEANIX

The city was conceived as a practical solution to sea-level rise in one of the world’s most vulnerable nations to climate change. Its modular units are constructed in a local shipyard and towed to the city when complete. They are then attached to a large underwater concrete hu...

Waterworld: Koen Olthuis' floating structures, from slums to stadiums

2013-08-29T14:17:00-04:00

[It] is the same technology as we use in Holland. It’s made up of concrete caisson, boxes, a shoebox of concrete. We fill them with styrofoam. So with [these] you get unthinkable floating foundations [...] The house itself is the same as a normal house, the same material. Then you want to figure out how to get water and electricity and remove sewage and use the same technology as cruise ships." - Koen Olthuis

Dutch architect Koen Olthuis sees the future of architecture floating out to sea -- quite literally. Responding to undeniable ecological shifts of rising sea levels and seasonal flooding, Olthuis has proposed floatable-projects all along the social spectrum, designing prefabricated multi-use units for waterfront slums in Dhaka, "amphibious" housing in Holland and Columbia, private island-villas for the "stupidly rich", and foldable Olympic stadiums.

See projects from Olthius' Waterstudio.NL, in the tradition of floating architecture inspired by Dutch history and worldwide realities.

Archinect - News

A floating city is set to rise off the coast of the Maldives as a solution to sea-level rise

Waterworld: Koen Olthuis' floating structures, from slums to stadiums