Abstract:
The impact of rising sea levels and perennial flooding in cities and low-lying urban areas is becoming more severe with the increasing threat of global warming. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, these low-lying areas are among the poorest and most densely populated areas. They are often inhabited by the urban poor, with limited means and resources to survive devastating floods. Imagine, in the event of extreme catastrophic flooding in the future, how will these communities survive and continue to thrive?
This thesis looks at one such site, Kampong Muara Baru, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Due to its low-lying coastal location, Kampong Muara Baru is slowly losing the battle to the increasing threat posed by flooding. The aging infrastructure currently in place, such as the water gate, flood pump, and embankments, are no longer able to cope with the increasing pressure. It is predicted that Kampong Muara Baru will eventually become submerged, as sea levels continue to rise.
The design proposes a thought-provoking, autonomous Neo-Futurist intervention for a future kampong, based on the concepts of Ecotopia (Ernest Callenbach) and Micro-Utopia (John Wood). It is presented as a sci-fi graphic novel to convey the dystopian narrative of the proposal.
This thesis proposes that a kampong community under threat from catastrophic flooding can survive and thrive with an adaptable architectural intervention that can protect, shelter and support the community during and after such a disastrous event.
By exaggerating the current situation, it is envisioned – hypothetically – that after several disastrous floods, a catastrophic flooding event will eventually wipe Kampong Muara Baru off the map. The repeated floods leading up to this event have already served as a warning to the people to prepare themselves for the ultimate inundation. A blueprint design of a ‘floating house’ was devised and constructed by the community from the recycled components of urban infrastructure. The process of developing and perfecting the floating house will take several decades where each generation will add onto the design, in order to perfect it according to the blueprint. Eventually, when the final catastrophic flood hits, threatening to wipe out the Kampong forever, the community will already be well prepared to face the disaster. These floating houses will allow the community to regroup and re-create their village in the new dystopian environment.
