The Floating Grid
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Starting Date: September 2014
Completion Date: June 2015
Team+: E.Foka, A.Tsaparoglou
Size: Small
Type: Competition, Research (Best Visualization Award)
Typology: Architecture, Urbanism
Key Words: Slums, Low-Cost Construction, Organic Development
Starting Date: September 2014
Completion Date: June 2015
Team+: E.Foka, A.Tsaparoglou
Size: Small
Type: Competition, Research (Best Visualization Award)
Typology: Architecture, Urbanism
Key Words: Slums, Low-Cost Construction, Organic Development
Slums in the Megacities of the South are particularly vulnerable areas, not only for the lack of sanitation but also for the severe effects of climate change. Most of these slums develop in low-lying coastal areas or along riverbanks. This puts them at a high flood risk due to excessive rainfall and, in the near future, a rising sea level. With persistent floods, besides the loss of property, loss of the daily-earned income is a major difficulty for the inhabitants of the slums, the so-called urban poor.
The upgrade of slum dwellings as opposed to demolition and resettlement is becoming the preferred approach. This minimizes the displacement of residents and preserves the informal character of the slums. This informal character is the “historical product of trial and error by a community of users” (Brugmann, 2010) leading to an organic growth of the slums.
Our concept for the “36 Hours Challenge” stems from this context of low economic resources, informal character and organic development. Therefore, instead of proposing a rigid solution, we propose a canvas in which each dwelling can be personalized to the particular needs of the users. This canvas is comprised of several elements and functions as depicted in the figures that follow. The elements are: (i) a moored floating platform with plastic jerry can to provide the necessary buoyancy force, (ii) a semi-private zone, (iii) the house skeleton that will be organized in decks, (iv) an inclined roof combined with a rain harvest barrel, and (v) surrounding vegetation to improve the indoor comfort of the inhabitants.
The upgrade of slum dwellings as opposed to demolition and resettlement is becoming the preferred approach. This minimizes the displacement of residents and preserves the informal character of the slums. This informal character is the “historical product of trial and error by a community of users” (Brugmann, 2010) leading to an organic growth of the slums.
Our concept for the “36 Hours Challenge” stems from this context of low economic resources, informal character and organic development. Therefore, instead of proposing a rigid solution, we propose a canvas in which each dwelling can be personalized to the particular needs of the users. This canvas is comprised of several elements and functions as depicted in the figures that follow. The elements are: (i) a moored floating platform with plastic jerry can to provide the necessary buoyancy force, (ii) a semi-private zone, (iii) the house skeleton that will be organized in decks, (iv) an inclined roof combined with a rain harvest barrel, and (v) surrounding vegetation to improve the indoor comfort of the inhabitants.
