Floating Homes by Waterstudio
Sure, global warming is going to melt all the glaciers and raise the ocean levels, flooding large areas of land, but the good news is that it will give all of us more of a reason to live in floating homes like these awesome water villas by the Netherlands based Waterstudio.
Photo: Pieter Kers – Via: WIRED
International Architect on 23 Jun 2008 at 7:42 am #
I’ve looked at this studio’s work before and their concept impresses me, although I do find it a little pessimistic, almost admitting we’re doomed before we’ve even started tackling the climate crises.
That said, their homes are beautiful and simple, and in countries with flooding issues such as the Netherlands and perhaps the UK, these designs respond well to their environments. The sizes are impressive too, and seem perfectly liveable compared to the more traditional, and tiny, houseboats you might find on the Thames in London say. Furthermore, I’m all for freeing up much needed land. Maybe it won’t be too long before more of us are living on the water?
Dave on 23 Jun 2008 at 7:53 am #
Good point about the sizes. Traditional floating homes tend to be very small, perhaps because they were never meant to be lived on full-time? Contemporary floating homes are just as large as the average home on land. That might have something to do with their increased popularity.
International Architect on 23 Jun 2008 at 11:46 pm #
Well it’s true not all boats were designed for full-time living, mainly for shipping cargo through the canal network. But even the ones that were designed for living just aren’t practical:
[Link]
This of course was built in the 1970s. It’s good to see this avenue of human habitation being developed with functionality in mind. Personally I would certainly be tempted to live in one. I do wonder if these houses have the need to be taken into dry dock and be cleaned and repaired as older models do?