Architect Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio.nl has been fascinating the Inhabitat editors for years with his innovative floating buildings and aqua-tecture. Far from being confined by convention -- or by the
Floods often come up quickly with almost no warning, so it's imperative to have safe and secure designs, especially in places known for flooding. Even regions that aren't known for rising waters can be
Aleksandar Joksimovic and Jelena Nikolic are from Serbia and designed Noah's Ark, a sustainable floating city, for the 2012 eVolo Skyscraper Competition. Their hope was to design a safe and
The building blocks for the Liina Shelter are prefabricated, wooden sandwich panels built from plywood and LVL (laminated veneer lumber) panels with wood-fiber insulation. The panels are lightweight and
This year, a strong focus was placed on affordability and Team Illinois worked hard to minimize costs where possible through the use of materials. They estimate the final cost of the Re_home, which
The Port Authority wanted their new facility to be unique, serve as a landmark in the harbor and be easily recognizable from the water. They also expected that over the years, their needs would change and
The bed is formed from modular cardboard boxes folded together and then laid side by side. To make the box, two intersecting cardboard strips fold together to form an accordion support system. Then a
10 Design is basing their hopes on kinetic architecture and technological innovations to turn this futuristic dream into a reality. The tornado-proof house coalesces by taking inspiration from a large
Initially, Oudendijk had a plan to travel around Europe via water to look for local waste to turn into something desirable, and to have something to leave behind to amaze the locals. A boat of course
Inspired by a dream (or in this case nightmare) about a massive flood that wiped out Holland, ambitious native Dutchman Johan Huibers has constructed a full-sized, water-ready ark just like Noah’s. “I
The high-tech shelter is designed to provide a sustainable source of vital resources on-site. Four hydraulic legs quickly stabilize the structure on rugged terrain, and an outer wall rises to create a
Japan just unveiled the future of emergency housing in the form of the Emergency Disaster Vehicle, or EDV-01. The innovative design is fully-automated, capable of automatically doubling its size, and can
The 200 square meter split-level houseboat on De Omval keeps a low profile to respect local building ordinances. Part of the home is submerged underwater, but +31 Architects made sure to provide
Back in 2008, Andreas Claus Schnetzer and Gregor Pils, entered their Paletten Haus into the GAUDI competition, which was seeking designs for minimal houses of leisure for the XXI century. Their pallet
This past Saturday, the world awoke to yet another horrific natural disaster, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake right off the coast of Chile near Concepcion. It's only been 2 days since the deadly quake and the
Every once in awhile, the billions of dollars dedicated towards U.S. military spending do some actual good. Case in point: this new bacteria-based water treatment unit, developed by researchers at Sam
The humanitarian emergency in Haiti has resulted in a complete loss of the country's power infrastructure. To bring it back, a host of companies and aid agencies are using the most plentiful resource on
Red+Housing Emergency Housing by OBRA Architects Inhabitat recently wrote about Emergency Shelters and Disaster Relief For The People of Haiti and how Shipping Containers Could Provide Disaster Relief
Global warming has dramatically increased the unpredictability of weather patterns, but what if we could more accurately pinpoint the future location and intensity of floods and droughts? That might be
Today is the first day of West Coast Green, and this year's showhouse is a stunner! Designed by San Francisco-based Green Horizon, the self-sustaining prefab home is an immediately deployable emergency
The real estate bubble may have burst, but we've found a better, more sustainable bubble to get into: The buBbLe Prototype! This inventive housing alternative is the result of a design collaboration
The Wall AG recently unveiled a remarkable prefabricated house that is made from recycled paper and can be built for less than $5000. Constructed from an innovative cellulose-based material, the Universal
Ming Tang's beautiful origami-inspired Folded Bamboo Houses are intended to be used as temporary shelters in the aftermath of an earthquake. Brilliant in their simplicity, the geometric shelters are
