floating city

17
SUSTAINAQUALITY Floating city Valer Daniel Rudics

Upload: daniel-rudics

Post on 14-Jun-2015

983 views

Category:

Education


1 download

DESCRIPTION

Engineering the future means tackling the problems today… This report is part of the 4th semester Architectural Technology and Construction Management education. The summer of 2011 was the starting point for my interest regarding floating constructions. It started with a book, named FLOAT (by Koen Olthuis and David Keuning). I was very interested about this technology, and the book proved to be a good starting point to find out more about it. During 3rd semester I had the opportunity to make a report about this theme and so I combined my learning goals with personal interests and decided to find out more. Now, studying in the 4th semester I have decided to continue writing about floating constructions, and the main subject for this report is a floating city. Many say it is impossible, or even pointless. Advances in material science, nautical design and maritime constructions could not only make the floating city possible but it may also be an essential asset in the near future. Can we build it? YES, WE CAN! It is not a question of whether we can do it…but how we do it. I would like to thank the people who supported me in doing this report. Many thanks to my guiding teacher Mihoko Goto Brethvad who accepted the problem statement of a floating city and many thanks as well to architect journalist David Keuning for the interview, and last but not least, many thanks to Koen Olthuis for sharing his ideas regarding building on water worldwide.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Floating city

SUSTAINAQUALITY

Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics

Page 2: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 1

TITLE SHEET

TITLE OF THE REPORT: SUSTAINAQUALITY-Floating city

SUPERVISOR: Mihoko Goto Brethvad

AUTHOR: ___Valer Daniel Rudics___

DATE/SIGNATURE: ___13th

of April 2012___

STUDENT IDENTITY NUMBER: 178744

NUMBER OF COPIES: 1

NUMBER OF PAGES (2400 characters per page): 10

GENERAL INFORMATION:

All rights reserved – no part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of the author.

NOTE: This report was compiled as part of the Constructing Architect education – every responsibility

concerning guidance, Instructions or conclusions are hereby renounced.

Page 3: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 2

PREFACE

Engineering the future means tackling the problems today…

This report is part of the 4th

semester Architectural Techonoly and Conctruction Management education. The

summer of 2011 was the starting point for my interest regarding floating constructions. It started with a book, named

FLOAT (by Koen Olthuis and David Keuning). I was very interested about this technology, and the book proved to be a

good starting point to find out more about it. During 3rd

semester I had the opportunity to make a report about this theme

and so I combined my learning goals with personal interests and decided to find out more.

Now, studying in the 4th

semester I have decided to continue writing about floating constructions, and the main

subject for this report is a floating city. Many say it is impossible, or even pointless. Advances in material science, nautical

design and maritime constructions could not only make the floating city possible but it may also be an essential asset in the

near future. Can we build it? YES, WE CAN! It is not a question of whether we can do it…but how we do it.

I would like to thank the people who supported me in doing this report. Many thanks to my guiding teacher

Mihoko Goto Brethvad who accepted the problem statement of a floating city and many thanks as well to architect

journalist David Keuning for the interview, and last but not least, many thanks to Koen Olthuis for sharing his ideas

regarding building on water worldwide.

Page 4: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 3

ABSTRACT

As recent history has reminded us, our natural weather systems make clear the dramatic reality of living with

water, whether there is too much or too little of that precious resource. The threat of rapidly melting glaciers and the

extreme droughts in many parts of the world emphasize the intrinsic relationship between water and the built environment,

as do natural disasters as diverse as the flooding in Mozambique due to heavy rainfalls in January 2008; the series of

tsunamis triggered in 2004 by an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia that killed more 225,000 people in eleven

countries; and the severe destruction and human tragedy that was the result of Hurricane Katrina when the levees burst in

Louisiana causing extensive flooding along the Gulf Coast of the Unites States in August 2005. Near 80 per cent of the city

of New Orleans was flooded by the storm surge. The price tag for the total damage was over 80 billion$ and even after 4

years they were still picking up the pieces…

Page 5: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 4

Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Current day technology .............................................................................................................................................................. 8

Scenario for the next 100 years .................................................................................................................................................. 8

Conditions for a city at sea ...................................................................................................................................................... 11

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................... 14

List of sources: ......................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Page 6: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 5

Introduction Sustainaquality is the combination word of sustainability-aqua (water) – quality. In order to understand this word,

we must first be sure that we understand what the derived words mean.

Water or aqua (Latin word) is essential to life in every form. One of the world`s most valuable resources, it has

been referred to as ‘blue oil. A material that we are forever trying to preserve, conserve, clean and re-use, water is also an

element we continue to fight against, barricading ourselves, for example, against rising sea levels and the threat of flood.

Quality, in business, engineering and manufacturing has a pragmatic interpretation as the non-

inferiority or superiority of something; it is also defined as fitness for purpose. Quality is a perceptual, conditional and

somewhat subjective attribute and may be understood differently by different people.

Architects like to talk about sustainability. After several publications in the recent years, an important one ‘An

inconvenient truth’ – 2006 by Al Gore, it has been brought up that you are not worth your salt as an architect (or builder,

developer or producer of building materials) if you are not involved in sustainable activities. We are certainly living on the

edge, not only a physical brink of the built and natural environment near water, but also on the edge of times when our way

of life will destroy the balance of the planet. Staring now, we have to concentrate our global efforts on sustainable

waterfront planning and ongoing management and maintenance for safe, active and clean public, open space near the water`

s edge. Public officials and architects also have to play a significant role in the reinvigorating urban design beyond

the recent trend of architectural waterfront icons.

What is sustainability, you may ask yourself? Well, not many can provide a good explanation of what

sustainability actually means, because it is a complicated subject. But there are several questions that can get to a close

answer. Is a building sustainable if it uses little energy? If it has been built using locally materials? If it has been built using

materials that are as recyclable as possible? In spite of all the attempts the answer is still confusion, but we do know that the

pursuit of sustainability usually focuses on recycling building materials, improving the return on heating and cooling

systems and the use of alternative, green sources of energy. All of these are important and worthwhile aims but one major

way of achieving sustainability is often overlooked: buildings that do not have to be demolished before the end of their life,

technically speaking, yield the most obvious environmental savings, which additionally make many other sorts of

economies pale into insignificance. The pursuit of sustainability should therefore be focused primarily on extending the

useful life of the building. A longer period of usage means less new building production. Water can also play an important

role in the debate about sustainability.

Sustainaquality is the search for new and effective ways to increase the sustainability of buildings and other urban

components by using water. Water can play a role in 5 different ways, You can make buildings flexible by making them

buoyant and extending their economic span as a result; You can improve the quality of water with floating elements; You

can use the wind power speed over water for ventilation; You can use the thermal capacity of water to cool and heat

buildings; You can generate energy with water; (wind energy and solar energy on water, wave power, etc.)

Page 7: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 6

What are the reasons that made building on water an important factor to think about nowadays?

As recent history has reminded us, our natural weather systems make clear the dramatic reality of living with water, whether

there is too much or too little of that precious resource. The threat of rapidly melting glaciers and the extreme droughts in

many parts of the world emphasize the intrinsic relationship between water and the built environment, as do natural

disasters as diverse as the flooding in Mozambique due to heavy rainfalls in January 2008; the series of tsunamis triggered

in 2004 by an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia that killed more 225,000 people in eleven countries; and the

severe destruction and human tragedy that was the result of Hurricane Katrina when the levees burst in Louisiana causing

extensive flooding along the Gulf Coast of the Unites States in August 2005. Near 80 per cent of the city of New Orleans

was flooded by the storm surge. The price tag for the total damage was over 80 billion$ and even after 4 years they were

still picking up the pieces.

‘In one of the greatest human migrations of modern times, people are rediscovering coastline around the world,

particularly those in Asia and Africa. In the 1950`s New York City was the planet’s only megacity. Today, there are 14

coastline megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants, while two-fifths of the world`s major cities are located near

water’ (John Tibbetts, “Coastal Cities: Kiving on the Edge”). Significantly, future population growth patterns are intensely

focused on urban waterfronts of less economically countries.

Furthermore, these cities have a substantial amount of water in the city itself, in the form of lakes, rivers, canals, harbours,

bays or the open sea. This means that if the water level will rise exponentially, most of the cities would be affected by this

cause. Few of the already affected cities affected by water are the Netherlands (with a long history regarding building on

water), the Maldives in Australia, few more already mentioned in the paragraph above.

Cities are fighting against water to avoid flooding, and most of them have come out with different ways of creating barriers.

Unfortunately this solution cannot continue for much longer because the threat for flooding is increasing more and more.

Recent studies show that the ultimate form of flexibility is floating buildings; they are easy to move if they are no

longer required and they can begin a new life at a different location, in this way having a much longer life. In most countries

buildings are regularly demolished long before the end of their technically achievable lifespan. But this does not arise with

floating buildings. If a building is no longer required at particular location, you sell it and the new owner can moor it

somewhere else, just like a houseboat. There is no waste, no squandering of materials and energy. That makes urban design

not just more environmentally friendly, but also more flexible.

The innovations that lie at the basis of buoyant foundations are quite old.

An inspiration to this technology comes from Peru, on Lake Titicaca, where

people live on floating reed islands, capable of supporting villages of 2000

people. The basis of the islands is formed by blocks of compact reed roots,

taken from the lake. These blocks are connected and anchored to the bottom

Lake Titicaca, Peru

Page 8: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 7

with ropes and poles, so that the island floats up and down according to the water level. If these people, with their limited

resources, can build a floating island with very light materials on top, then others must also be capable of achieving that

with their technological know-how. The first forms of living on water were rafts with huts on them, followed by wooden

houseboats and barges.

Later versions had a steel understructure but retained the disadvantage of maintenance. Wooden and steel houseboats and

barges have to pay regular visits to the boatyard for maintenance, usually every five years. But the most important

innovation in the field of floating foundations is the invention of reinforced concrete. Using reinforced concrete, caissons

could be made that were placed under the houseboats as floating foundations. These concrete foundations require far less

maintenance, provided the covering of concrete on the steel reinforcement is sufficient. The quality of these foundations is

so high that most houseboats are equipped with them these days. The new vision on floating urban developments has led to

the requirement for larger buoyant foundations.

Naturally critics complain that floating buildings generally do not have foundations made from green materials. However

floating buildings make sustainability possible without having to utilize materials seen as environmentally friendly in

everyday terms. As long as the materials have a long life, that is what matters.

Is building on water a good approach for the climate change?

“Yes, I do think building on water is good approach for the climate change. Many city areas need room for water storage,

to allow for overflow in times of excess water supply. This can be the case during heavy rain fall, high tide in rivers or other

water-related problems. Many cities don’t have room for large-scale water storage, because it requires a lot of space,

unless they use the available land double: both as water basin and as building lot. That’s where building on water comes

into the picture. – says architect journalist David Keuning

What is the difference between houses on water and houses on land?

The only essential difference between a house on water and a house on land is related to the FOUNDATIONS, not the

structure.

If you have something that is 10m long and 10m wide and 0.1m deep, then the buoyancy is arranged over a huge area so

you can have all kinds of people moving around on the top of it and it`s still not going to make a much difference. That`s

how it works in the case of floating foundations. On a long, wide structure, you can move your center of gravity a lot

without compromising the stability of the structure.

Most house boats have a shallow hull with a high centre of gravity, but the architecture company Waterstudio utilizes

houses with deep hulls that dramatically lowers the centre of gravity. Additionally a ring of dense concrete is casted on the

edge of the hull help distribute the load across the entire floating house.

Page 9: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 8

This means that the structure is much less sensible to waves than a traditional house boat would be, yet still moving up and

down with minor fluctuations in water levels.

Current day technology Floating houses are often met in the Netherlands, and this is because they are cheaper to build than land-based

houses.

For one thing, building on water is much easier than building on land. Most of the cities waterfronts have soft soil and

building takes a lot of effort, by making all the piles into the ground, and even after a decade the building starts to go a little

bit out of balance.

On water you only have to build a floating foundation, and if your build it a bit larger than a house boat, then you have a

stable platform on which you can build just about any house. They can be built quickly indoors, and then floated into place.

At the moment the development of floating foundations is in full swing. The current generation of buoyant foundations is

actually rather primitive. Concrete, steel and polystyrene regard to buoyancy and maintenance, but they are far from ideal.

Costs, processing, appearance, weight and strength can all be improved further. The present technology allows a water

house to be completed in 4 months.

Scenario for the next 100 years A hundred years in a long time. Try to imagine what the city life looked like a century ago, for example. There

were no cars, no aviation, no e-mail and no massive suburbs. European cities consisted of an old centre, often dating largely

from the Middle Ages, with a few extremely modest expansions outside the former city walls. The people who could afford

it moved around by carriage. The post was also sent in the same way, so it took days or weeks to reach its destination. In

between the cities, there was a virgin countryside, with an almost exclusive agricultural function. Anyone who could have

predicted what the cities would look like in 100 years time would have been considered crazy. And yet, everything that is

now reality was unimaginable a century ago.

Page 10: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 9

Today it is just as impossible to imagine what urban life will look like 100 years from now, particularly because

developments in society are taking place faster and faster. In the year 2000, for example, there were hardly any examples of

floating projects bigger than a house. These days, large buoyant complexes and floating high-rise building can be found

around in the renderings of many architectural companies.

Amongst these, the first water complex built in the Netherlands, ‘The Citadel’ started in 2010. The project will be built on a

polder, a recessed area below sea level where flood waters settle from heavy rains. Built on top of a floating foundation of

heavy concrete caisson, the Citadel will house 60 luxury apartments, a car park, a floating road to access the complex as

well as boat docks. With so many units built into such a small area, the housing complex will achieve a density of 30 units

per acre of water, leaving more open water surrounding the structure. Each unit will have its own garden terrace as well as a

view of the lake.

A high focus will be placed on energy efficiency inside the

Citadel. Greenhouses are placed around the complex, and the water will

act as a cooling source as it is pumped through submerged pipes. As the

unit is surrounded by water, corrosion and maintenance are important

issues to consider. As a result, aluminum will be used for the building

facade, due to its long lifespan and ease of maintenance. The individual

apartments are built from prefabricated modules.1

Another example of a floating complex is the ‘Floating city’ next to Male, the capital of the Maldives. A 20.000 houses

project, may be the answer for the tiny nation`s agony of finding a new homeland for its population as some of its coral reef

islands face an imminent threat from the rising sea level. Over 80 per cent of their 1,190 islands are no more than a meter

above sea level, with Male being one of the most densely populated islands in the world. The government had previously

thought of buying land from other countries and moving its people there. Maldives is also in need over 20,000 houses

between now and 2022 and they have no more land to build those.

Although Dutch Docklands, the Netherland-based sustainable floating

specialists, has already signed up with the government of Maldives to

build a “commercial” floating development, comprising a golf course,

convention centre, private islands, valued at $1 billion, it has proposed to

build “affordable” housing for the locals. The company has will soon

unveil the first floating island with six to eight affordable houses that

people can see, feel and walk.

1 The Citadel: Europe’s First Floating Apartment Complex - http://inhabitat.com/the-citadel-europes-first-floating-

apartment-complex/

The Citadel, Netherlands

Water villas, Maldives

The Citadel, Netherlands

Page 11: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 10

“It is not only about reinforcement of tourism, but also reinforcement of society. It is about giving and taking. We want to

share our know-how, gained from commercial projects, with the less fortunate and provide them with affordable floating

housing” – Paul van de Camp, Chief Executive officer, Dutch Docklands, told EMIRATES 24/7.2

It is not at crazy at it sounds, technology has recently caught up to the idea. Advances in material science, nautical design

and maritime constructions make a floating city possible. The starting point for such a city would be cargo ships. They are

the biggest vessels that row around the world. These ships are capable of shouldering more weight than any other water

vessel, having almost 400m in length and carrying up to 156,000 mt.

A revolutionary new construction process makes it faster than ever to build these massive ships. Instead of being built by

piece, they are built of huge modules (grand blocks) and then fitted together. The advantage is that multiple teams can work

independently on a module, each. It is the fastest way.

Building a ship large enough to support and entire city would

require too much steel, having a hull of 100m under water and

if would be bigger than the 3 largest shipyards in the

world…combined.

But the biggest problem facing the massive the city ship is that violent ocean turbulence will attack it from all sides, putting

unsurvivable stress on the structure. Wave action in the ocean is not a simple matter of water coming up and down, it`s

actually rotating, coming often from different directions from the same time.

Worst case is that if the vessel is supported on its extreme ends

it`s one thing, but if it`s being supported on extreme ends and

twisted at the same time could cause a total structural failure for a

city built like a cargo ship. So a massive city ship is out of

discussion.

The answer to this problem is floating foundations. Hundreds of small interlocking platforms joined to form a super-

structure; big enough to stay stable but flexible enough to roll with the

water. Instead of being rigid like a giant floating platform it is more like a

flexible membrane. So as the oceans waves pull and twist and push, the

structural system is giving away to that, flexes with it, like a living

organism. It is not considered anymore a monumental platform that has to

deal with whatever the nature and the sea is throwing at it, but now it is

about many smaller things that can be connected flexibly. So they can

move up and down relative to each other, and if a big wave comes through

it allows the whole structure to move up and over the wave.

2 Emirates 24/7 news - http://waterstudio.nl/archive/648

Page 12: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 11

Conditions for a city at sea For the city to succeed it must break-up from the land and be able to produce power, food, water and robust

defenses to protect its people. The seed of a self-sufficient city exists today on cruise ships. They have the job of keeping

the passengers cool, fed and hydrated 24h/day in the middle of the ocean for a week at a time.

The key to surviving comfortably in the middle of the ocean is power. It controls every system on a cruise ship, from water

supply to waste disposal. 2/3 of power goes to the propulsion system and the rest is used to power all the other systems on

the ship.

Cruise ships usually produce power from diesel engines. But such a system for a floating city would need to be 100 times

larger, and burning so much fuel would lead to an environmental disaster. Of course alternative fuels such as wind turbines

and photovoltaic panels are encouraged, but these as well would take a lot of them in order to satisfy the city needs.

The answer comes from the ocean itself, being a great source of power. A method of generating power called ‘Ocean

Thermal Energy Conversion’ (OTEC). The basic idea is that the water temperature in the ocean varies quite a bit from the

warm surface to the very cold depths. And that temperature differential could be translated into electrical energy. OTEC

uses the difference between cooler deep and warmer shallow or surface ocean waters to run a heat engine and produce

useful work, usually in the form of electricity. A heat engine gives greater efficiency and power when run with a

large temperature difference. In the oceans the temperature difference between

surface and deep water is greatest in the tropics, although still a modest 20 to 25 °C.

It is therefore in the tropics that OTEC offers the greatest possibilities. OTEC has the

potential to offer global amounts of energy that are 10 to 100 times greater than

other ocean energy options such as wave power OTEC plants can operate

continuously providing a base load supply for an electrical power generation

system. The first operational system was built in Cuba in 1930 and generated

22 kW. Modern designs allow performance approaching the theoretical

maximum Carnot efficiency and the largest built in 1999 by the USA generated

250 kW.

The principle is the same as that in heat pumps found in refrigerators and air conditioners. A thermodynamic engine is

placed between high and low temperature reservoirs; heat generates steam that flows from one reservoir to another, turning

a low pressure turbine and generating power. By drawing the energy from the ocean the city would have infinite fuel

supply, and this is critical for another constant need…WATER

Humans need 2-3L/day of water. But the water in the ocean is undrinkable, and consuming it would flood the body with

salt, causing human cells to dehydrate. Cruise ships use desalinization tanks to filter the salt water, but this process also

takes out essential minerals that the body needs; so a mineralizing machine puts them back in, then the water is sterilized

and stored into the tanks.

A floating city could produce its water the same way, but the infrastructure should be scaled up compared to the cruise ship.

Meanwhile the cruise ship can turn salt water into drinking water; the salt water is useless for agriculture, which is another

essential need for the city to prosper.

OTEC principle

Page 13: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 12

Cruise ships are completely dependent on land for food, hundreds of tons for just one week, but a floating city would need

to be self-sufficient for much longer periods of time.

Situated out in the ocean, the city could use other types of resources. Fruits and vegetables genetically altered to thrive in

salt water could be grown on roof top gardens and fishing and shrimping community could flourish in the open water. As an

example: tomatoes grown in salt water (about 10% salt sea water, 90% fresh water) produced more antioxidants than

tomatoes grown in fresh water. If we start farming in saltwater areas we can increase the world’s farming areas by as much

as 50%. 3 Green roofs have sustainable advantages, not only that they are able to retain up to 70% of the rain water but they

also reduce the urban heat island effect (The main cause of the urban heat island is modification of the land surface by urban

development which uses materials which effectively retain heat. Waste heat generated by energy usage is a secondary

contributor. As population centers grow they tend to modify a greater and greater area of land and have a corresponding

increase in average temperature). Runoff from rainfall can lead to heating via conduction from the surface which the water

is flowing over. In August 2001, rains over Cedar Rapids, Iowa led to a 10.5C (18.9F) rise in the nearby stream within one

hour, which led to a fish kill. Since the temperature of the rain was comparatively cool, it could be attributed to the hot

pavement of the city. Similar events have been documented across the American Midwest, as well as Oregon and

California.4

Another possible essential matter for the city would be security. Such a structure would be very vulnerable against the

greatest man made threat on the ocean now-a-days, pirates. The floating city would be a way too attractive target for the

pirates and in this case serious measures should be taken.

The Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV), could be the engineering answer the city

is looking for. These could be the floating city`s guard offering the ability to put

humans out of harm’s way and know where the threat is and then eliminate it.

Everything can be controlled by humans, form a security office situated on the

floating structure. The principle of the USV`s is that they use sonars that are able

to track every vessel in their vicinity and share the information to patrol the water

around the ships. They could repulse threats safely, miles away from the floating

city in the same way.

Developed by Israel’s Rafael Armament Development Authority in response to

emerging terrorist threats against maritime assets, the Protector is stealthy, highly

autonomous and can operate with general guidance from a commander in port,

riverine, harbour and coastal waterways in a variety of roles, thanks to the plug-

and-play design of its various mission modules, such as force protection, anti-terror, surveillance and reconnaissance, mine

3 Salt water vegetable gardens - http://herselfshoustongarden.com/2009/01/salt-water-vegetable-gardens.html

4 Urban Heat Island Effect - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_heat_island

Page 14: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 13

warfare and electronic warfare. The options include a highly accurate, stabilized mini-Typhoon weapon system with an

excellent hit-and-kill probability, plus cameras, search radar and a Toplite electro-optical (EO) pod for detection,

identification and targeting operations.5

Having all these needs covered, the floating city should nevertheless be able to fulfill one more.

Storms these days are getting worse and worse because global warming raises water temperatures in the Atlantic, and warm

water is fuel for hurricanes. Although the floating city is able to rise with the water and roll with the waves, and even having

a low profile skyline that avoids wind damage, the conditions of a hurricane such as Katrina(2005) would create, the

floating structure would be totally devastated. Even though people can prepare for the arrival for such disasters, they cannot

prepare for their fury; and on the ocean storms can change gears without warning in a matter of hours.

Floating city planners aren`t willing to take their chances with a hurricane. There is no reason to meet one of these natural

systems head on, because you will always lose no matter how well designed or how strong is the structure. Evacuating a

floating city via rescue ships would be unrealistic in the middle of stormy seas and even if it could be done, there might be

no land close enough to evacuate to.

The solution for this major problem could be instead of evacuating people, the entire city could be design to get out of

harm’s way. And this could be done with the help of the ‘Azipod’ state of the art technology. Is the combination of

propeller and rotor.

Azipod is the registered brand name of the ABB Group for their azimuth thruster. Originally developed in Finland jointly

by Kvaerner Masa-Yards dockyards and ABB, these are marine propulsion units consisting of electrically driven propellers

mounted on a steerable pod. The pod's propeller usually faces forward because in this puller (or tractor) configuration the

propeller is more efficient due to operation in undisturbed flow. Because it can rotate around its mount axis, the pod can

apply its thrust in any direction. Azimuth thrusters allow ships to be more maneuverable and enable them to travel backward

nearly as efficiently as they can travel forward.6

An array on Azipods could be installed underneath the floating city,

giving it maximum propulsion power and total freedom in any

direction. In that way in case of dangerous storms or any potential

threats, the structure could be evacuated into residential modules that

scatter before the storm…and could regroup miles away in calm waters.

5 USV - http://www.gizmag.com/go/6023/

6 Azipod - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azipod

Page 15: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 14

Conclusion

It has been proved that in the battle between nature and humanity, nature always wins. But what we do not see is

that nature is actually defending itself and we do more and more harm. Recently there have been noticed rapid weather

changes, increasing population, less fresh air and more pollution, and most of all, rising water levels. If people don`t start to

take serious actions the world as we know it, our home, might turn into our worst enemy .

As mentioned before, floating constructions have a long history in the human kind and even though the open water is a

dangerous environment, we do not have to be afraid of living on it. After all, about 60% of the human body7 is water and

people have always had an attraction towards this element.

The floating city is a project that many say is impossible, or even pointless. Advances in material science, nautical design

and maritime constructions could not only make the floating city possible but it may also be an essential asset in the near

future.

It is hard to say if building on water will become a significant trend, but it has been proven that it is possible and it is

starting to become popular.

It`s going to be a long and complex process to go from what is on the ocean right now, boats and ships to a whole

civilization…a city. Will this dream come true? It is up to the climate change generation…

7 water content of the human body - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_water

Page 16: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 15

List of sources:

BOOKS:

FLOAT! Author(s): Koen Olthuis and David Keuning

Published by: Frame Publishers

Release date: October 2010

Place of publishing: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Building with Water!

Author: Zoe Ryan

Published by: Birkhauser BmbH

Release date: 2010

Place of publishing: Berlin, Germany

INTERVIEWS:

Via email: Architect journalist David Keuning - [email protected]

INTERNET LINKS:

mega engineering: floating city - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKWZBqSMU8U

page visited during 2011-2012

The Citadel: Europe’s First Floating Apartment Complex - http://inhabitat.com/the-citadel-europes-first-floating-

apartment-complex/

page visited on the 16th

of March 2012.

Emirates 24/7 news - http://waterstudio.nl/archive/648 , Paul van de Camp, Chief Executive officer, Dutch

Ducklands

page visited on the 16th

of March 2012

OTEC - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Otec_produkty-2_%28English%29.png

page visited on the 19th

of March 2012

Salt water vegetable gardens - http://herselfshoustongarden.com/2009/01/salt-water-vegetable-gardens.html

page visited on the 19th

of March 2012

Page 17: Floating city

Valer Daniel Rudics VIA University College

ESS - 4th

semester Halmstadgade 2, Aarhus Nord, 8210

Constructing architect education School email: [email protected]

March 2012 16

USV - http://www.gizmag.com/go/6023/

page visited on the 19th

of March 2012

Urban Heat Island Effect - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_heat_island

page visited on the 19th

of March 2012

Azipod - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azipod

page visited on the 19th

of March 2012

water content of the human body - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_water

page visited on the 19th

of March 2012