The sinking future Post-apocalyptic flood survival centre
- Year2015
- LocationEast London
The project is designed to raise awareness of issues related to global warming and rising sea levels, and to contemplate how climate change may impact design and architecture in the future. Located in an ancient watermill in East London, the design of amphibious and buoyant structures would provide an experience of flood situation and training for local community in 2015, and would supply basics (food, medicine, lifeboats, etc.) to survive the “post- apocalyptic” floods in, perhaps, 2115.
The concept is on the edge of futuristic fantasy and the harsh scientifically proved facts of life-threatening flood dangers we might be facing in 100 years time. Even if never realised, the aim of the project is to encourage the observer to act upon and stop the climate change and to re-evaluate their lifestyle and its impact on the environment.
The project is talking not just about the rising sea level problems, but also about how to adapt the existing architecture heritage to survive the changing climate, and how, perhaps, nowadays unused buildings could start to have a completely new purposes, such as training local communities for flood situations, and being important centres for emergency storages when the floods occur and city cannot fight against it anymore and has to adapt to the aquatic life.
As it is an interior architecture project, an existing building - medieval tidal mills are used as a shell to have insertions of the floating structures that could be used either for training activities, as well as helping the centre to function in an emergency situation. Some parts of the centre used nowadays as flood training cellars could be adjusted to algae farms to provide healthy proteins, to explain how agriculture and or diets could be adapting if the sea level rise continues.
This is not a story just about climate change and sustainability, but also resilience and adaptability, which is something we all have to master in order to survive.