Design of Floating Residence: A Case Study

Abstract

Due to the meeting of four major rivers—the Meenachil, the Manimala, the Pampa, and the Achenkovil—which flow into the Arabian Sea via the Vembanad Lake, Kuttanad, also known as the rice bowl of Kerala, has a deltaic trough-like formation and is extremely vulnerable to flooding. The residents of this area, who are about 70% below the poverty line, suffer enormous losses every year. Due to the size of the fields and the fact that they are located below sea level, flooding that occurs unexpectedly does a lot of damage to everything. Even though it is challenging, when a flood occurs, the occupants can adjust to it even if the severity is low. The residents must relocate to other locations or relief camps for shelter as their homes and neighbourhood would submerge as the flood intensity increases. One approach to address issue is floating architecture. Amphibious architecture, a type of floating architecture, should be used to increase flood resistance.