A climate sensitive rehousing scheme, designed to adapt to flooding in tropical regions.

This project was focused on climate adaptation, as part of the IPCC and UN goals to deal with the effects of climate change. Additionally, the project sought to deliver quality, low-cost housing for a neglected community that is most damaged by regular flooding in the city. The goal of the unit overall was to explore Liveable Urbanism: what makes a city 'liveable', and how can architects help to make it more so.

Kerala is highly prone to flooding, due to monsoon cycles becoming shorter and heavier with a changing climate. This, combined with sea level rise, means that large areas of the state are of high risk of being permanently inundated in the near future. Poor management of ecology, urban sprawl and continued emissions all contribute to this effect. It became clear that to make any kind of liveable city, flooding had to be addressed.

The proposal consists of two major elements. Firstly, an urban strategy that seeks to re-establish the canal network of Kochi in order to improve drainage. It would further be connected to a new 'urban sponge park' at Kammattipaadam junction, using natural systems such as mangroves, marshland and tidal flow to keep the system functioning. The second part of the proposal is a rehousing scheme on the sponge park site, rehousing the existing residents in flood-adaptive, carbon neutral, modular houses. It is a catalyst development, that demonstrates the necessity to develop in harmony with natural systems, to protect against flooding.

The outcome of the project is very feasible, and I would personally hope to see similar development in climate sensitive zones to tackle issues of land use and ecological protection. Architecture must understand that it exists in an environment that was formed by natural forces, and that to resist and block those forces will only lead to long term destruction.