Architecture for me extends beyond the built form by also acting as the interface for complex scientific, environmental, non-human and human entanglements to take place. In my thesis I delved into the disastrous scenario that is our flooded future, aiming to challenge the pessimistic submission towards climate change instead as a site of opportunity. As an alternative to adopting unsustainable strategies involving migration away from inevitable flooding, a water-based living mode that has the ability to reconcile community life has been devised through the use of various recreational and functional floating module typologies. By promoting a partnership with microbes, algae and architecture, both human and non-human life (e.g. biodiversity, atmospheric conditions etc.) would have the capacity to improve without further comprising our planet. I am interested in extrapolating the potentials of non-human systems within architecture in a manner that respects the hierarchy of our biosphere above human need, be this through biomimicry, integrated systems, or by passive means. In such a sense, nature, on both a macro and micro scale, are undervalued facilitators of human existence.
Yet another climate change avenue that I as a future architect am interested in pursuing, is more related to ethnography that explores the extents (or lack) of climate change literacy, and how such complex themes and information can be willingly acknowledged and understood by all ages, cultures and contexts. Through the use of anticipatory media, such as a children’s poetry book and editorial cartoons, the latter part of my thesis project (see the selected images below) aims to educate a variety of audiences about our future flooded scenario. The intention is to demystify the microbial entanglements and complex climatic terminology, encouraging more conscious individual and collective decisions.
