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In Juli the DeltaSync-team of the TU Delft, together with the municipality of Rotterdam, presented the concept of a Floating Pavilion to the World Expo Committee in Shanghai. The presentation was attended by around 50 officials, several news channels such as Shanghai Television (SMG), CCTV and Dragon TV and a handful of papers (including the Oriental Morning Post and the Shanghai Daily). The design has been received as an inspiring concept that well suits the World Expo’s theme: “Better City Better Life”. Shanghai’s Urban Planning Bureau is currently investigating the possibility of having the Floating Pavilion function as one of the five main entrances to the Shanghai World Expo area. (more…)

David Cavillo, Hao Jun, Ken Luting, Sima, Tuyukan and Bart (Tutor) worked out their infrastructure ideas for floating cities in a well designed poster. The poster was one of the results of an introductory summerschool at Delft University of Technology, where those five students will pursue their master’s studies. The poster (which can be downloaded) addresses aspects of energy, water and food production, as well as the planning of a floating city including garbage treatment.

The Deltasync team of TU Delft students has designed a floating pavilion that suits well in the “Better City, Better Live” theme of the World Expo 2010. Great interest from the Expo organization and support from Shanghai’s sister city Rotterdam will promote the idea of a floating city, starting with this pavilion in 2010. The innovative design and the beauty of this multi dome shaped building shall attract visitors to experience the many (environmental) advantages of floating buildings. (more…)

Alix Kroeger of BBC News went to Maasbommel in The Netherlands to check out new ways of dealing with climate change. Floating houses are a perfect solution when water threatens a densely populated country from all sides: more rain, more water carried by the rivers in certain periods, and rising sea levels. Read here our transcript of the interview with experts and residents of floating homes including snapshots of the TV broadcast.

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A consortium of groups of TU Delft students won the first, second and fourth prize with their innovative solutions for crowded deltas. The design of a floating city between Amsterdam and Almere won the first prize. With large thermodomes -as already envisaged by Buckminster Fuller- the city is largely self-sufficient. Nevertheless the design gives inhabitants ample room to park their car in front of their house. Click here to download a 6.7 MB PDF file with nice pictures and a full description of this winning design.

The second prize was won by the group (more…)

Two groups of Asian MSc students considered the threat of rising sea levels and the solution of floating cities. This way they acquainted themselves very good for their next two years of study at the TU Delft. Download the poster of group one by (right) clicking the underlined link. The poster is a pretty result of a few introductory summerschool weeks.

Rising sea levels are a threat to London, but also chance for young architects. Architecture student Anthony Lau won the student prize for sustainable design with a facinating poster. The prize was awarded by the Royal Institute of Architects. You can download his facinating poster here.

Arie Taal helped Poppa Neutrino to build a new raft. This time (he did already the Atlantic Ocean) Poppa wants to cross the Pacific Ocean, floating towards China. Arie Taal, being a member of the Frisian Secret Service since the sixties, has a deep and first hand insight in anything related to floating islands and rafts. We are glad to present the weblog of Arie Taal on this Ecoboot site. We hope to add pictures and more text soon, but don’t wait reading the stories that are already there, by clicking the title above.

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After hurricane Katrina, Susan Taylor Martin, senior correspondent of the Saint Petersburg Times, traveled to the Netherlands. Approximately half of this country is below sea level and parts have been struck by floods. Maybe the Dutch have something interesting to tell… So Susan spoke with several Dutchmen…

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Industrial Designer Ties Rijcken is researching floating forms of housing in Asia, North America and Europe. You can read his weblog on the Ecoboat site. His weblog is a growing collection of smart, informative, short stories about living afloat in different parts of the world. The most recent contribution is about Holland & Co. in London.

Click this link for the full weblog of Ties Rijcken.