The Floating 'Urban Village': Makoko Futures

Our current climate condition means that we need to start developing better tactics, protocols and new building typologies that mitigate water shortages or are resilient to flood situations. Dan Nyandega is a lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. He has a PhD in architecture (water-sensitive design) from Monash University, Melbourne, and his design-led research explores the intersection of coastal cities' infrastructures, landscapes, architecture and rising water levels. He takes as small case studies Makoko on the Lagos Lagoon and Kenzo Tange's Tokyo Bay Project of 1960, but also warns of the potential loss of authenticity and genius loci with such interventions.