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Floating Architecture as a new paradigm of architecture

Preprint · December 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30993.76649

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 FLOATING ARCHITECTURE as a new paradigm of architecture

Guide: Col Virendra Malik

Coordinator: Ms. Tanaya Verma, Dr. Parul Munjal, Ms. Preetha RaviSree Sajin

DISSERTATION IN ARCHITECTURE

2020-2021

Submitted by:

KUNAL GARKHEL

170BARCHI065/SSAA/B.Arch.

SUSHANT SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I have to thank my guide, Col. Virendra Malik Sir as without his assistance and
dedicated involvement in every step throughout the process, this dissertation would have never been
accomplished. I would like to thank you very much for your support and constant guidance.

I would also like to show gratitude to my weekly faculty and coordinators Ms. Tanaya Verma, Dr. Parul
Munjal and Ms. Preetha RaviSree Sajin for their efforts and constant guidance every week amidst
these Covid times to make our dissertation process smooth and clear all our doubts.

Lastly, I believe I owe deepest thanks to all my friends and my family who have encouraged me at
every step and helped me to cope up with myself.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

LIST OF TABLES/ FIGURES/ ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 01: World Population Growth (Annual growth rate)

Figure 02: Data collection flow chart

Figure 03: Methodology followed to reach conclusion

Figure 04: Timeline of floating architecture

Figure 05: (left) Floating Boat-House in Amsterdam / (right) Floating homes in Canoe pass village in
Vancouver, Canada

Figure 06: Rising sea level

Figure 07: Translation forces on a floating object

Figure 08: Types of Mooring systems

Figure 09: Vancouver type/Sydney type/Seattle type floating house in Ijburg

Figure 10: Planning of neighbourhood ( left)/ Typical floating house section (right)

Figure 11: Rotterdam floating farm, Netherlands

Figure 12: Division of space (perspective view)

Figure 13: Kansai International Airport

Figure 14: Palm Jumeirah shoreline to individual neighbourhood

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

 ABSTRACT

The earth contains all kind of resources to sustain life and need of all human beings, plants & animals.
But it is greed of humans which is exploiting these resources to fulfil their endless desires. An estimation
states that there is going to be a major population profusion which could grow to around 8.5 billion in
2030 and up to 10.9 billion by the end of 21st century. Soon, there will be crisis of land leading to
the need of development of the infrastructure for residential, commercial, industrial & agricultural use
due to exponential growth in population, current and projected. The metropolitan cities are developing
at a very high rate and the expecting rise in population is putting pressure on these cities to grow
further by expanding their boundaries continuously. Floating Architecture is one way in which
engineers, architects, and urban planners have been engaging with the challenge of providing more
space and energy resources for people as well as tackling the harm of human civilisation on
environment and natural resources. Building these floating structures can change the way we look at
architecture and urban planning in future and create a huge environmental impact by reducing
exploitation of land as a resource. Floating buildings and cities on water is already new paradigm
comparing with the preconception of building only on the land and current conservative building
regulations.
In near future, this may be the only way human civilisation can cope with growing populations and
changing climates. What is clear to us is that hope definitely floats and the utopian visions for a
sustainable city won’t stop.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................ 2

LIST OF TABLES/ FIGURES/ ILLUSTRATIONS ......................................................................................................... 3

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................. 5

Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 7

1.1: Research Question .......................................................................................................................................... 8

1.2 Aim ...................................................................................................................................................................... 8

1.3 Objectives ......................................................................................................................................................... 8

1.4 Limitations .......................................................................................................................................................... 9

1.5 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................. 9

1.6 Methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 9

Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................................................. 11

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 11

2.1 Evolution of Floating Structures .................................................................................................................. 12

2.1.1 History of Floating Structures .................................................................................................................. 12

2.1.2 Floating Villages........................................................................................................................................ 12

2.1.3 Floating Boats ............................................................................................................................................ 12

2.1.4 Floating Houses .......................................................................................................................................... 13

2.2 Factors reinforcing need of Floating Architecture .................................................................................. 13

2.2.1 Adaptation and Migration ...................................................................................................................... 13

2.2.2 Overpopulation ......................................................................................................................................... 14

2.2.3 Land Reclamation ...................................................................................................................................... 14

2.2.4 Rising Sea Level ......................................................................................................................................... 14

2.3.5. Tourism and Leisure .................................................................................................................................. 15

2.3 Construction and Structural Analysis of Floating Architecture.............................................................. 16

2.3.1 Classification of floating structures ........................................................................................................ 16

2.3.2 Movement, Stability, and forces ............................................................................................................ 16

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

 2.3.3 Mooring systems and Breakwaters ........................................................................................................ 16

2.3.4 Materials ..................................................................................................................................................... 17

2.3.5 Analysis of Design Considerations ......................................................................................................... 18

Chapter 3: Data Collection..................................................................................................................................... 19

3.1 Primary Survey .............................................................................................................................................. 19

3.2 Inferences ....................................................................................................................................................... 19

Chapter 4: Case Studies and Prototype Proposal ............................................................................................ 20

4.1 CS01: Floating houses Ijburg, Netherlands.............................................................................................. 20

4.2 CS02: Rotterdam Floating Farms .............................................................................................................. 21

4.3 CS03: Kansai International Airport, Japan ............................................................................................. 22

4.4 CS04: Palm Jumeirah, UAE ......................................................................................................................... 23

5.5 Takeaways from the Case Studies ............................................................................................................ 23

Chapter 5: Conclusion/ Way forward ................................................................................................................. 24

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................. 25

Appendix.................................................................................................................................................................... 26

1.1 Primary Survey .............................................................................................................................................. 26

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

Chapter 1: Introduction

What is overpopulation? The combination of a continuing high birth rate and a low death rate is
creating a rapid population. Over-population is defined as the condition of having more people than
can live on the earth in comfort, happiness and health and still leave the world a fit place for future
generations. What some people now believe that the greatest threat to the future comes from
overpopulation. It took the entire history of humankind for the population to reach 1 billion around
1810. Just 120 years later, this doubled to 2 billion people (1930); then 4 billion in 1975 (45 years).

Figure 01: World Population Growth (Annual growth rate)

An estimation states that there is going to be a major population profusion which could grow to around
8.5 billion in 2030 and up to 10.9 billion by the end of 21st century.
According to US Geological survey, about 29% of total surface area of earth, half of it is unsuitable
for habitation. The remaining 71% surface area of earth is occupied by water & from this total
quantity, 96.54% founds in Oceans, Seas & Bays. (USGS 2017). The earth contains all kind of
resources to sustain life and need of all human beings, plants & animals. But it is greed of humans which
is exploiting these resources to fulfil their endless desires.

Characteristic reasons for environmental degradation - As we all know, the earth has experienced
warm and cool stages previously, well before people were near. Powers that add to environmental
degradation incorporate the sun's force, volcanic ejections, rising sea levels and changes that normally
happen because of ozone harming substance fixations. In any case, records show that the present
climatic warnings—especially the warnings since the mid-twentieth century—is happening a lot quicker
than any time in recent memory and can't be clarified by characteristic causes alone. As indicated by
NASA, "These normal causes are still in play today, however their impact is excessively little or they
happen too gradually to clarify the fast warming found in ongoing decades."

Rising oceans is one of those environmental change impacts that ramblingly effect coastline
architecture. Normal ocean levels have expanded more than 8 inches (around 23 cm) since 1880, with
around three of those inches picked up over the most recent 25 years. Consistently, the ocean rises
another 0.13 inches (3.2 mm). The three primary reasons that causes ocean level to rise are: seas grow,

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

ice sheets lose ice quicker than it structures from snowfall, and ice sheets at higher elevations likewise
soften. Ocean level ascent since the beginning of the twentieth century has been commanded by
retreat. The enormous change on earth, from disintegration of polar ice sheets to extension of warmed
seawater causes an Earth-wide temperature boost, that is resolutely rising the ocean levels. If this
change proceeds, the waterfront urban areas will in the long run lower submerged.
The relationship between population growth and environmental degradation has been a subject of
debate and controversies over several years with an upswing in the debate over the last 30 years. The
metropolitan cities are developing at a very high rate and the expecting rise in population is putting
pressure on these cities to grow further by expanding their boundaries continuously. But in the case of
cities like Mumbai, Chennai and international coastal cities, the sea behaves like a boundary for urban
settlement, resisting its further expansion.

A futuristic perspective begins with the review of need of floating structures and their scope towards
development & growth of cities. The development of off-shore aquatic structures is not a new concept
for the world. Early applications of floating structures take the form of floating boat bridges over
rivers that date back to antiquity. This development of such structures in waterbodies will definitely
reduce the load on the shoulders of our mother earth. The development of such kind of structures in
present time is very limited due to inadequate research and abundant land available to exploit, but
within a very short span of time in future this will become the necessity and trend.

1.1: Research Question

The founder of BIG architects, Bjarke (Bianca) Ingles says - “The human body is 70% water. The
surface of our plant is 70% water. These waters are rising which puts island nations in considerable risk
of sinking in the seas, unless we develop alternate forms of human habitats.” Or maybe the rising
population levels and the demand of land and its resources will lead to the point when we will not
have land to build upon or live.

This is the red weather warning to the human civilization. The excessive human carbon footprint has
caused an imbalance in nature. In this situation the questions that need to be answered are - What will
we protect? What will be abandon? What will you live on?
Hence to fill the gap in these questions, the research question inspects ‘What is the overview of floating
architecture and their development in water sources in a context. And its significance from being just
floating bridges to as big as floating cities?’
This research will also find the impact and possibility of construction of these off shore floating
architecture at an urban level and understand the structural qualities of these structures.

1.2 Aim
The aim of the research is to investigate in detail the scope of Floating Architecture in a futuristic
perspective. Also, it details out a critical analysis of structural study and requirement of these structures
and in what sectors in terms of programmatic or functional overview can it sustain in today and future.

1.3 Objectives
1) To look at these floating structures in an Indian context and compare it with international existing
examples.
2) Study and Reflect how rising sea levels can be inviting more of these floating structures in
waterfronts.
3) The advantages and environmental impacts of floating architecture.
3) Understanding the Structural Analysis of construction on water and why is it unorthodox.
4) To explore the advancements in technology that not only enable humanity to live sustainably on the
ocean but also in harmony with the marine life below
5) Solutions for population outburst, rising sea level and land reclamation.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

1.4 Limitations
1) Limited studies, examples and projects in real as it’s still considered unorthodox.
2) Countries like China, Russia etc are likely to opt out of the idea of expansion of cities on water
because of depreciated opportunities of land reclamation.
3) Construction of floating architecture would seem vague if the design and placement of these oceanic
structure is not rightly decided and is hindering the urban comfort for the people.
4) Floating architecture would always seem vague and far-fetched if the design and placement of
these oceanic cities is not rightly decided and is hindering the urban comfort for the people.

1.5 Scope
1) Floating buildings and cities on water is already new paradigm comparing with the preconception
of construction on the land and current conservative building regulations.
2) The scope of self-sustained independent ‘off land’ floating architecture can be decided on basis of
the criteria of land use systems of different categories.
3) The agriculture, industrial, commercial could be promoted to be continued to be used on ground as
being heavy land systems they need more transportation, connections and loaded areas whereas other
sectors like residential, institutional, recreational activities can be generated on these off shore
structures as these require a more of isolated, peaceful and efficient environment respectively. Also,
Emergency rescue bases, military bases etc can be designed in a floating form.

1.6 Methodology
1) A study of research papers, blogs and journals pertaining to generic theme of floating architecture
and its impact on environment and social urban context.
2) Research papers with analytical and theoretical approach on the structural aspects of these
(V.L.F.S.). Very Large Floating Structures
3) A primary research of interviews with architects and firms who have worked or conceptualised on
the theme and various case studies on offshore architecture.

Figure 02: Data collection flow chart

It’s a fact that about 90% of world’s largest cities are situated on the waterfront and are vulnerable to
rising sea levels. The three primary reasons that causes ocean level to rise are: seas grow, ice sheets
lose ice quicker than it structures from snowfall, and ice sheets at higher elevations likewise soften. At
the urban level the population outburst and increasing demand for land and space will continue to
exploit the resources.
Hence conceptualizing, bringing out and normalizing the idea of floating architecture holds an
important part right now so that we are ready to face any situation coming at us in future.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

 Figure 03: Methodology followed to reach conclusion

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction
According to the World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Risks Report, the inability to moderate and
adjust to environmental change will be "the most effective hazard" confronting networks worldwide in
the coming decade—ahead even of weapons of mass decimation and water emergencies. Accuse its
falling impacts: As environmental change changes worldwide biological systems, it influences
everything from the spots we live to the water we drink to the air we relax. For getting a better
understanding of floating architecture and every key aspect of it we need to understand the basic
terminology that it adheres to:

Extreme climate - As the world's environment warms up, it gathers, holds, and drops more water,
changing climate examples and making wet territories wetter and dry zones drier. Higher
temperatures decline and increment the recurrence of numerous sorts of catastrophes, including storms,
floods, heatwaves, and dry spells.
Rising oceans – As the ice sheets soften into the oceans, our seas are on target to rise one to four feet
higher by 2100, compromising waterfront biological systems and low-lying territories. Island countries
face specific hazard, as do a portion of the world's biggest urban communities, including New York,
Miami, Mumbai, and Sydney.

Overpopulation: The combination of a continuing high birth rate and a low death rate is creating a
rapid population. . Over-population is defined as the condition of having more people than can live on
the earth in comfort, happiness and health and still leave the world a fit place for future generations.
Land Reclamation – making new land in the sea – to expand in the direction of the sea, port cities and
coastal areas fulfil their infrastructural requirements. Land reclamation, as the name suggests, is a
process of creating new land from water bodies like oceans, seas, rivers or lakes.
Floating houses - Examples of these are – Floating neighbourhood of Ijburg, Netherlands, Ha long bay
in Vietnam, Aberdeen in Hong Kong, Oregon in Portland. These structures float on the principle of
buoyancy on wooden logs, pontoons or barges. These structures are highly vulnerable in case there are
high tides and strong waves.
Mooring Systems- Moorings are used to safeguard/anchor a structure in a particular location. An
offshore mooring system comprises basically out of three components. An anchor system, a mooring line
and a specific mooring layout. The mooring system layout hinge on the local environmental conditions
and the purpose of the offshore unit.

Very Large Floating Structures (v.l.f.s)- These are artificial islands, which are usually made as floating
airports, bridges, piers and docks, storage facilities, solar and wind power plants, or to create
industrial space and emergency bases. Sometimes these act as mobile offshore structures and even
for habitation.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

2.1 Evolution of Floating Structures

2.1.1 History of Floating Structures

The development of floating structures is not a new concept for the world, it dates back to antiquity, to
the 480BC when King Xeres of Persia led his army across the Hellespont using two rows of floating
bridges built on boats. Later many bridges were constructed like this by tying boats & ships and
wooden decks together and they started appearing in various parts of the world. Soon from these
floating decks it evolved to floating habitations. There are many countries in the world which have
floating villages with fully functional markets, and habitation. As time flew over and new techniques
and ideas came in, the idea of floating boathouses came in later forming whole neighbourhoods and
cities.

Figure 04: Timeline of floating architecture

2.1.2 Floating Villages

The floating human settlements have dated back to ancient times, and have appeared in a lot of
countries globally historically. As a matter of fact, in the early 16th century Cambodian lakes had
large communities gathering to engage in aquaculture, fishing etc. later these adopted the form of a
floating village. Beyond this various country like China, Thailand, Netherlands, Bolivia, have a history
of floating villages.

The community of Uros residing in the Titicaca lake in Peru, made dwellings from a special kind of reed
which grows in a particular lake. Few communities, lived on boats and houses built on floating wooden
decks.

2.1.3 Floating Boats

In the case of Amsterdam, one city where landscape works as a hydraulic system, the water canal was
one most important reflection in its spatial planning. Its canals hence brought the concept of house boat
that historically began during the Dutch golden age of sea trade in 17th – 19th Century. This period
did not just bring wealth to build the country but also the way of living on the water for the majority of
tradesmen that made the use of their ships and barges as a workplace and living space.

Merchants in these waterfront cities, transformed the canals and rivers flowing into pleasant residential
environments. After 19th century a lot of vessels of merchants were converted into residences that
moored in canals and waterways. This led to era of house boat living that still exists until present days.
In addition to abundant retired barges and ships, after the World War II, the housing shortage was
also the major factor that made house boats become a desirable choice to live in (Blaustein 1979).
Survey in 1972‐1975 among the houseboat dwellers in Holland Province revealed the three major
reasons living on the water were housing shortage (48%), free and easy amiable lifestyle (22%) as
well as lower living cost (8.5%). In addition to closeness to work and economic motives, housing on the
water also attracted individuals with freedom life‐style and expressionist due to the less regulations
and different experience given by living on water. (Korte 2007)

However, present house boats mostly act as a substitute dwellings and tourist attractions. In India,
Kashmir’s dal lake house boats and the backwaters of Kerala are recorded as heavy tourist
attractions.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

2.1.4 Floating Houses
De Graff adds the use of water surface for floating urbanisation. Few innovative housing experiments
ideated construction houses in the floodplain if certain building methods are applied. Although living in
boat houses dates back to thousand years, the Dutch society in Netherlands was one of the premier in
a positive attitude toward living on water. (Graaf 2009)

A new typology of floating dwellings such as floating house or neighbourhoods came into spatial
planning. These houses have been developed mostly free standing and semidetached houses with one
to three storeys.
The types of water that became possible location for these floating dwellings are categorized into sea,
lake, shallow lakes, water channels, canals, waterways and flood relief areas.
For rivers, there is a risk of frequent water fluctuation during heavy rains or droughts. Hence the river-
basins face a continuous risk of flooding if there is no measure provided. In this case, floating and
amphibious housing are considered as alternative solution for these riverbed areas.
The water-based dwellings could be further divided into 3 categories: Land base houses (built on edge
of water/land), floating houses (entirely on water, connected by decks or bridges) and amphibious
houses (afloat in water during high water and lies on land rest of the season). (Singelenberg 2011)

Figure 05: (left) Floating Boat-House in Amsterdam / (right) Floating homes in Canoe pass village in Vancouver, Canada

2.2 Factors reinforcing need of Floating Architecture

2.2.1 Adaptation and Migration

According to the statistics, today’s world is facing a major global climate change causing the average
temperature on the earth to rise and this phenomenon is referred to as global warming. Owing to this
phenomenon, both land and water temperature have risen on a global average of 0.8C since the
1970s. The climate change caused by global warming has initiated several calamities including Floods,
drafts, hurricanes, tsunamis, heat waves and freezing periods with an unusually low temperature
around the world. Although the melting polar ice sheets are considered as the main contributor to the
rise in sea levels, the thermal expansion of seawater contribute similar shares to sea-level rise.
Studies have shown that the primary cause of global climate change is human activities. It is estimated
that about 55 cities today consume about 75% of global energy and produce a similar proportion of
waste, thus contributing directly to more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint.
There are two options usually taken into consideration when architects and planners discuss the
response of the society to the climate change: adaptation and migration.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

Adaptation is the art of survival. It is about analysing, questioning and managing the risk of disastrous
events. At the same time, it is about managing the increasing problems linked to extreme events and
societal vulnerability. The motive has to be to identify priority areas, priority needs and priority
actions. The role of the development of new adaptable architecture is therefore crucial in modern
urban planning.
Migration is considered as the last chance for those threatened by the impacts of climate changes or
other threatening situations. It can also occur when adaptation fails. (Acharya 2013)

2.2.2 Overpopulation
Over-population is defined as the condition of having more people than can live on the earth in
comfort, happiness and health and still leave the world a fit place for future generations. What some
people now believe that the greatest threat to the future comes from overpopulation.
Hence, because of this, there is an ever-increasing demand of land globally for development and need
of human beings. Land as a natural resource is being exploited since forever and taking a toll on
climate. Although, in the struggle for less space, the claims on water are also gradually increasing in
conflict; from the view point of residents that live on the these waterfronts, building on water could be
regarded as obstructing view on recreational public space (water body) which is supposed to be less
urbanized, both of the groups argue on the right to use waterside as their own space. This condition
further brought a new task for spatial planning to include living on the water into land use plans.

2.2.3 Land Reclamation

Land Reclamation means creating new land in the sea or to develop in the direction of the sea, port
cities and coastal areas fulfil their infrastructural requirements. As the name suggests, it is a process of
creating new land from water bodies like oceans, seas, rivers or lakes. It generates more area for
purposes like habitation, agriculture and industries and usually benefit the countries by adding new
recreational areas to the coastline, development of residential areas and business parks etc.

Although this has contributed to rising in floating architecture, land reclamation needs earth material
like rocks, clay, sand etc. for creating land in the sea regardless of it being an economical solution.
however, sourcing these materials has been a major concern.
According to reports, sand wars have already begun for many countries across Asia, therefore banning
the export of sand and rise in organized crime syndicates by filling the voids by trafficking it like a
narcotic. The thirst for concrete, of which sand is a necessary component, and artificial land has pushed
the resource to the brink and is depleting suitable sand for development. (Bolonkin 2010)

Countries that have reclaimed faces several risks associated with it. For instance, in the event of an
earthquake, the reclaimed land might face soil liquefaction and erosion. Also since these areas lank
stable foundation there is always a risk of them sinking back in the water. Another issue faced by
reclaimed lands is subsidence as these sites are also vulnerable to sea-level rise.

2.2.4 Rising Sea Level

The natural change on earth, from disintegrating of polar ice sheets to the warming of seawater under
an Earth-wide temperature boost, is distinctly rising the sea levels. In the event that this change
continues, the waterfront metropolitan zones will over the long haul be submerged. As the ice sheets
melt into the seas, our oceans are on track to rise one to four feet higher by 2100.

Island nations face explicit peril, as do a part of the world's greatest metropolitan networks, including
New York, Miami, Mumbai, and Sydney.
There are three reactions to the ocean level ascent – retreat, convenience and security.
Retreat includes no effort to protect the land from the sea. The coastal zone is surrendered and
environments move landward. In an outrageous case, a whole territory might be deserted.
Accommodation suggests that individuals keep on utilizing the land in danger, yet don't attempt to
prevent the land from being overflowed. This choice incorporates raising crisis floor covers, hoisting

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

structures on heaps, changing over horticultural land to sea-going utilizations, for example, fish
cultivating, or developing flood or salt open minded yields.
Protection includes raising hard structures like dividers, sea walls to keep the coastline from recessing
into the ocean.

Figure 06: Rising sea level

2.3.5. Tourism and Leisure

Tourism attraction highlights three components that must be fused by a building that has to be inviting
for the tourist. These components are attraction, accessibility and amenity. Where attraction involves
the interesting and innovative component with natural and local culture and accessibility being the
hassle-free connection to the building via transport and amenity being the availability of
accommodation, restaurants and other facilities.

Floating architecture offers a unique and creative way to experience the context of building space,
whether it’s just a canal in Amsterdam or a river in South Korea or a whole neighbourhood on
reclaimed land (Palm Jumeirah) in UAE.
Besides, in certain areas, the authorities have identified the potential possibilities of using floating
architecture as a method for building up real estate value and improving amenities. The curiosity and
advancement part of expanding on water adds a visual appeal to urban areas while making the
design approach adaptive. Additionally, design communities have also start to bring upon both private
and open-air public spaces into the floating architecture idea, a good example for which is the Ijburg
housing project in the Netherlands. (Mynett 2015)

In the Indian context, floating houseboats have always been a major attraction for tourists of cities that
have lakes, streams or are on coastlines for example Kashmir, Jaipur, Kerala and its backwaters
areas. These have been adding to the tourism and leisure of the cities since years with floating
houseboats as one of the most important attractions.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

2.3 Construction and Structural Analysis of Floating Architecture

2.3.1 Classification of floating structures

Pontoon-Type Structures: These are generally found in streams, lakes, and still water sources. Pontoon
type structures have a simple box structure and have high stability, low manufacturing cost and easy
maintenance and repair. The houseboats, floating neighbourhoods and built on usually the still water
bodies come under this category.

Semi-Submersible Type: In open sea, where the wave heights are relatively large, it is necessary to
use the semisubmersible type structure to minimize the effects of waves while maintaining a constant
buoyant force. This type is often used for oil rigs in sea and very large floating systems (v.l.f.s.) They
are fixed in place by column tubes, piles, or other mooring system.

2.3.2 Movement, Stability, and forces

A floating structure works on Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy. Archimedes' principle says that the
upwards buoyant force on an object is equal to the weight of the water that it displaces. This has to
balance the downward force of weight when load is applied, as well as the weight of the body force
is being applied to.

Figure 07: Translation forces on a floating object

An object freely floating in water is susceptible to translation movements and rotations in six degrees:
• Surge: Translation in the x-direction i.e. forward and backward
• Sway: Translation in the y-direction i.e. side to side
• Heave: Translation in the z-direction i.e. up and down
• Roll: Rotation about the x-axis
• Pitch: Rotation about the y-axis
• Yaw: Rotation about vertical z-axis

To prevent these forces to turn over or sink the floating body it is often restricted to the sea bed and
anchored using appropriate mooring, by which the sway, surge and yaw can be neglected. (Wang
2015)

2.3.3 Mooring systems and Breakwaters

The mooring system must be built to confirm that the floating structure is kept in position so that the
facilities installed on the floating structure can be reliably operate and to the structure doesn’t drift
away under the environmental or conditions because of the forces acting on it.

The mooring system must be built to confirm that the floating structure is kept in position so that the
facilities installed on the floating structure can be reliably operate and to the structure doesn’t drift
away under the environmental or conditions because of the forces acting on it.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

 Figure 08: Types of Mooring systems

Based on various research analysis of very large floating structures, researchers were able to develop
few specific types of mooring systems. They are of the following type:

• The dolphin-guided frame system

• Cable and chain
• Tension leg method
• Pier/quay wall method

To select a particular mooring system, the primary step is to select the type of system we are
constructing, then the material and layout of the mooring system is analysed along with the quantity of
structures to be installed on factors of environment, durability and economy. Finally, the
devices/mooring systems are designed by applying load-based calculation and stimulating all forces.
(Maeda (2000) n.d.)
Breakwaters are required for protection of floating structures that are susceptible to wave conditions
greater than 4meters. These are of various types i.e. sloping type (mounded), vertical type, composite
type or wave energy dissipating blocks. The most basic and common is however the slopping type. The
material for the mound is usually reclaimed sand, rubble and concrete blocks. They can also be
modified as access roads to a floating structure. Vertical type breakwaters are common in sea, ocean
and water bodies that are deep. In order to reduce the wave reflection and the breaking wave force
on the vertical walls, concrete blocks could also be used and placed in front of it.
Although breakwaters are very effective, their environmental impacts are severe as they destroy the
seabed, affect marine life and interrupt ocean currents. To cope with these limitations, floating
breakwaters have been proposed that are more effective and doesn’t require the natural materials as
they are man-made. (Wang 2015).

2.3.4 Materials
Floating structures in early times were often in form of floating wooden bridges, decks on boats, or
vulcanized rubber. They were more frequent because they were light, easy to displace and had low
maintenance. For larger structures that tend to carry heavy loads woods and canvas were more
adopted. But in the present scenario these systems have become obsolete.
Materials like steel, concrete, steel-concrete composite, advance concrete and plastics are often used..
Considering the weight and mass of concrete, it would seem concrete would sink straight to the bottom;
however, concrete composite can float on water because its lighter than water and is frequently used
in this construction typology. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) is one of the high scope materials which
have emerged recently. HDPE is strong, durable, light and UV resistant, and hence very suitable for
long-term use. It is widely used in construction of docks, jetties, etc.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

Currently, the floating neighbourhoods of Ijburg, Netherlands have been built with watertight concrete
walls filled with polystyrene foam to make the structures float. They also have a floating basement that
makes the structure unsinkable. The decision of building structures is dominatingly determined by
safety, durability and economic factors, Aesthetics and innovation is an important factor just as the
utilization of alternative, exceptional materials.

2.3.5 Analysis of Design Considerations

The design consideration of floating architecture may be grouped into the structural requirements that
address durability, safety, operation conditions of the building, response to the environmental
conditions etc. and the socio-political criteria addressing the aesthetics, environmental factors,
economic and legal constraints.

The collaboration of these two factors determine the design, importance and life of the structure that is
to be built and maintained. It should also be kept in mind while designing that the serviceability
requirements must include the low frequency motion that may cause sea sickness due to heaving or
movement of these floating structures. Safety and structural risks should be considered and given to
that, the importance to preserve marine life, quality of water, evacuation, rescue etc. (Clauss 1992).

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

Chapter 3: Data Collection

3.1 Primary Survey

A pilot survey was conducted on Google forms to understand the psychology and understanding of
people on the topic of FLOATING ARCHITECTURE in the field of architecture, design and similar
expertise. The groups surveyed were students, teachers, designers, builders, architecture practitioners.
This primary survey helped to spread awareness as well as collate how people think about floating
architecture.

3.2 Inferences
Responses for the primary survey were recorded and analysed. Throughout the survey the response for
most questions came out with a positive tone towards these structures and also highlighting the curiosity
that whether floating architecture is sustainable or not. There was however also mixed response in
certain questions that gave a very generalised point of view of people on the idea of floating
architecture. However, the final conclusion and analysis of the survey proved that floating architecture
adds to the growth and development of cities and it’s a feasible option to tackle various environmental
and social economic issues.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

Chapter 4: Case Studies and Prototype Proposal

4.1 CS01: Floating houses Ijburg, Netherlands

Figure 09: Vancouver type/Sydney type/Seattle type floating house in Ijburg

Ijburg is a residential and mix-used township on the islands at IJmeer (IJ Lake), east part of
Amsterdam. A small part of this township called the Steigereiland Neighbourhood, designed by
Architect Marlies Rohmer has been developed around 55 floating houses on piles and that make use of
surface water reservoir. The east side of the site is allotted for self-built plots on water, where owners
can design their own floating house. This project is one of the firsts to be regarded as a real estate
property not as usual moveable property(boat) that is floating on water, here the regulations on a
house built on land is also complied added to the regulations associated with this project such as
safety, maintenance, utilities, public access and so forth.

The access to the house from the street is linked by the jetties, in addition another point of access is that
people can get off from a boat on water directly onto the dock at the ends. Besides used as for access
and circulation to the houses, these jetties also provide a link for utilities.

The 3-storeys floating houses are designed to resemble the land houses and its amenities such as
balcony and floating garden and terrace. However, it is found that after the house sits on site (water),
due to the size of the building, it makes unstable and in need of extra buoyancy measures. The
architect has provided 3 types of floating houses to the users with different designs ideologies, there
are a mono unit (Vancouver type), a double unit (Sydney type) and a triple unit (Seattle). The common
base point is that each type is a three-storey floating house attached to each other and is accessible
from water. For safety standard, there are railings and fire walls; a bridge at perpendicular position
to jetties functions as escape routes in case emergency.

Figure 10: Planning of neighbourhood ( left)/ Typical floating house section (right)

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

4.2 CS02: Rotterdam Floating Farms

Figure 11: Rotterdam floating farm, Netherlands

Rotterdam floating dairy farm was visioned by Peter and Minke van Wingerden of Beladon. The firm
specializes in waterborne architecture. The farm claims how food production can become less
vulnerable to spaces on land and climate change. The farm is now home to 32 cows, producing dairy
product that are being sold to Lidl stores over the city.
The project is designed to safeguard the future where rising sea levels will probably drown the
farmland and prevail the risk of getting out of action due to flooding. It aims to show a new way of
bringing farming back into the city, with minimal impact on resources and the environment. Its self-
efficient and generates all of its own electric energy from floating solar panels and provides portable
drinking water through an inbuilt rainwater harvesting and purification system.
The cows are being fed with grass from playing fields and golf courses in the city, along with
biodegradable edibles products. Their manure is used to create a natural fertilizer for farmlands. The
cows each have their own stalls, with rubber floors that are soft but supportive underfoot. They are
also free to wander back onto dry land – a neighboring field – when they want to stretch their legs.
The building is deliberately as transparent as possible so that visitors can easily observe these
processes. There are also education spaces on board, so groups can come and learn more about
sustainable farming. If the project proves a success, the team will move forward with plans to expand
the business with a floating chicken farm and a floating greenhouse, producing fresh fruit and
vegetables for the city.

•Roof sy stem with rain water harv esting

•Photov oltaic panels

Stall areas f or cows

Utitily f loor (rainwater f ilteration,

biogas f ilter, storage, etc)

Green areas f or cows to

eat and mov e around

Figure 12: Division of space (perspective view)

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

4.3 CS03: Kansai International Airport, Japan

Figure 13: Kansai International Airport

Kansai International Airport comes under one of the most progressive Very Large Floating Structures
that have been laid out to set an example in study of Offshore Floating architecture. It is Japan's
second major international airport is located 5 miles offshore on a man-made island in Osaka Bay. It is
connected to the mainland using a main road on reclaimed linear land piece.
The airport includes a 3,000-meter-long asphalt runway that has an arrival of almost 150 planes a
day. The runway is 24/7 open, something that adds as a concern if the airport is located in the
mainland urban fabric.

The island has its own incinerator plant for all the trash that comes off the planes. Steel structure has
been used on the runway to make it flexible; causing uniform stress distribution. The location of the
airport is seen as an advantage when matters regarding refilling the fuel tankers etc are concerned as
the tanker ships can pull up to 4 docks to deliver this fuel and the storage area of the airport can store
enough to fuel planes for a whole week.

It has up to 12m high sea wall that counteracts the tidal effect. The curved section spans across the
entire 1.7km receives the max. amount of stress, mostly because of the winds generated by storms and
typhoons and it has been designed to tackle this by architect Renzo Piano.

However, Since it opened in 1994, Kansai has sunk 38 feet. Kansai’s islands were predicted to evenly
settle or in simpler words subside, over a 50-year period before stabilizing at 13 feet above sea
level. That’s the minimum elevation of the land needed to prevent flooding in case a break develops in
the encircling seawall. Parts of the first of the two islands that were created had already reached that
threshold within six years. For which At least $150 million was spent to raise the seawall, however
some engineers have predict that by 2056, parts of these two artificial islands may sink another 13
feet—to sea level. And to tackle this Kanai Airports construction crew has laid out new foundations and
layers to add to the reclaimed land to make the event time slower.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

4.4 CS04: Palm Jumeirah, UAE
THE PALM JUMEIRAH

SHORELINE DEVELOPMENT OF DUBAI

Figure 14: Palm Jumeirah shoreline to individual neighbourhood

Palm Jumeirah is an artificial archipelago in the United Arab Emirates, created using land reclamation
which extends into the Persian Gulf. It is a part of a larger development of islands called the Palm
Islands including Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira which are still in construction phase and when
completed, will add to the serenity of Dubai’s shoreline by a total of 520 kilometres. It is one of the
boldest engineering projects the world has ever seen. It was designed largely to combat the problem
of limited development space, especially on the beachfront properties.

The shape of the island was conceptualized as a palm to provide significant beachfront area, while
also keeping it culturally relevant and symbolic. Throughout the reclamation process, geographical
surveys were completed to ensure that the island was being shaped correctly and built up to the
designed elevation. After reclamation, vibro-compaction was used to compact and strengthen the sand,
making it a suitable base for construction.

The Palm Jumeirah is a mixed of offshore residential, retail and resort development. The emphasis on
the creation of new beachfronts acts as a part of the strategic plan to give it a city-wide significance.
The development of these waterfront projects significantly would add new recreational waterfront
spaces to the city. The proposed new area is therefore about establishing a new spatial balance in the
city. This issue is important for the City of Dubai because it has used almost all of its coastal area.

5.5 Takeaways from the Case Studies

The various case studies on floating architecture from four different typologies of a residential floating
dwelling based neighbourhood, a commercial building, a very large mega floating structure, and the
development of whole floating island as big as another part of a city gives a clear lookout and idea
of how floating architecture could be taken as an emerging building typology and the focal point to
develop waterfronts and urban spaces near water bodies in our world.

However, its no doubt that every typology of a floating structure will have different design
considerations, different measures, and safety protocols to take into reflection.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

Chapter 5: Conclusion/ Way forward

To finally realising and addressing the concern of fate of our mother earth and how in certain years its
possible that the landscape on earth today may completely change, the human civilisation is faced with
these challenges in every aspect of daily life. However, it’s the consequences that must be dealt with in
time and it begins from the smallest to the biggest thing as development of these landscape.

After having looked at the overview of Floating Architecture in detail with the evolution of these
structures from the early century, the factors reinforcing need of these structures in present, the
construction and structural analysis of floating architecture and finally the surveys on the specific target
groups to understand in depth psychology of people and knowledge about floating architecture, the
principles and concepts to keep in mind while designing such structures are as follows:

1) Access: It should have access at appropriate level and shouldn’t be far away from other
amenities of existing context. There should also be though given for fire safety measures.
2) Floatation system: A floating structure must have a system that maintains the stability for the
use of the building and does not collapse because of impact of loads it is exposed to.
3) Mooring: The mooring system must be designed to safely resist all loads that act on floatation
system and building structure, and prevent it from sinking or floating away.
4) Material: All material used to build or support the structure should be suitable for all conditions
the building is exposed to, its also supposed to enhance life of the structure to maximum.
5) Minimum water depth: Water depth under a floating building must be sufficient to give a
foundation/mooring system of the building.
Floating Architecture is a gift for stable future for human civilisation and is the solution against the main
environmental risk arising from current process of land heating. This concept can be introduced as an
innovative solution to tackle climate changes and to connect a bridge between offshore renewable
energy and urban landscapes.

Floating Building design supports many possibilities for energy efficient designs, for instance,
harnessing wind energy, tidal energy and photovoltaic cells on the sea that can be used to generate
electricity. Moreover, creating a floating structure and providing such experience to the user can also
provide a number of benefits in lifestyle of the user.

Although, through various existing case studies and through the current knowledge obtained on these
structures, one can deliver conclusion that there are few existent issues related to floating architecture
in terms of exploitation of another resource and also that it is a new paradigm compared to the notion
of construction on land. But through sustainable solutions and by constructing and developing these
structures we might be able to slow the pace of degradation of climate, land and at the same time
give back to the environment by using the suitable technology available to make these structures
energy efficient.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

Bibliography

Acharya, Larissa. 2013. “Flexible Architecture for the dynamic societies.” University of Tromoso: Faculty
of Humanities, Soical Sciences and Education.

Blaustein, M. Gabor & J. 1979. “Houseboats: living on the water around the world.” New York
Ballantine Books.

Bolonkin, A. 2010. “Floating cities on ice platform.” The open ocean engineering Journal 3: 1-11.

Clauss, G., Lehmann, E., & Ostergaard, C. 1992. “Conceptual design and hydromechanics.” Edited by
M.J. Shields. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

Graaf, De. 2009. Innovations in urban water management to reduce the vunerability of cities. Delft:
Unpublished PhD thesis.

Korte, M. Kloos & Y. 2007. Mooring Site Amsterdam: Living on water. Amsterdam: Architecture &
Natura Press.

Maeda (2000), Shimada and Miyajima (2002), Ookubo (2002), Shiraishi (2002). n.d.

Marshall, P. J. 2001. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire. Cambridge University
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Mynett, L.S. 2015. Building technologies for climate change adaptation. Delft: Delft University of
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Singelenberg, A.L. Nillesen & J. 2011. “Amphibious Housing in the Netherlands.” In Architecture and
Urbanism on the water. Rotterdam.

USGS. 2017. USGS.gov. : https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/how-

much-water-there-earth?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects.

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Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

 Appendix

1.1 Primary Survey

1. Name?
2. Occupation?
3. Year/Experience?
4. Name of Institution/Firm/Studio
5. Has the thought of Building on water ever crossed your mind?
6. If you were to live in one house for rest of your life which one of the following will you choose?
• Mountain top
• Mansion in city
• House floating on water
7. Imagine yourself in a floating building and choose the correct option below
• Excited/Thrilled
• Scared
• Uncomfortable/Uneasy
8. Can you think of a time when you have came across a floating bridge or structure?
9. Do you feel floating architecture should be taken up more seriously as the solution for various
environmental problems we are facing globally? ( For example : Rising sea levels, Waterfront
cities with high tides, overpopulation and exploitation of land...etc)
10. Do you think Floating Architecture could be an option to tackle over-exploitation of land as a
resource and rising sea levels?
11. Do you think urban infrastructure (residential, commercial, institutions etc) can be taken up as a
"building" on water?
12. Do you feel that it is a bias that construction can happen only on land and not on water?
13. How do you feel about the idea of expanding settlement boundaries of cities with waterfront
and creating neighbourhoods offshore?
14. Do you think Floating Architecture adds to the scope of development and growth of cities?
15. Mention the typology of building / program you would design as a floating structure.

Dissertation | Floating Architecture | 2020

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