Architects' answer to rising seas: Floating homes

Published April 3, 2012 5:45AM (EDT)

BANGKOK (AP) — As seas rise and floods intensify, architects and city planners around the world are exploring ways to make humans better able to cope with a watery world.

Experts predict that by the end of the century some of the world's greatest cities — from New York to London and Bangkok — could well be partially or totally swamped.

Rather than just defending against water with dikes and walls, some architects advocate "going with the flow."

Projects completed or under way include a floating mosque and golf course for the submerging Maldives islands and amphibious homes in the Netherlands that will be lifted to safety when waters surge beneath them. Their ideas are gaining acceptance and financial support around the world.


By Salon Staff

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