If things go according to plan Nigerian born Architect Kunle Adeyemi plans to turn the slum neighbourhood of Makoko into a floating a-frame family units with a a floating community. The design is part of a Lagos Water Community Project called Nle’ with a housing community that is supposed to be Earth Quake proof with a 10 year guarantee. This story was reported by Business Insider and is amazing that it is being handled by a Nigerian. Here are excerpts of the article;
For Nigerians living in the Lagos slum of Makoko, the port city’s Portuguese name “Lagos” (“Lakes” in English) pretty much sums up the foundation of their neighborhood, economy, and day-to-day lives. If its 200,000+ inhabitants aren’t navigating the avenues in canoes, they’re tossing buckets of water accumulated from the near-monsoon level rainfall deposits from their houses during spring time.
But while Makoko is primarily known as a densely populated and impoverished district, much of Lagos’ economy, which is growing at such a rate it has surpassed the entire national economy of Kenya, is rooted in the fishing and trading markets historically conducted in its waters.
Even more interesting is that Makoko has been somewhat of an autonomous community over the past 120 years. Government presence has been nearly non-existent in the region, and certain aspects of its economy are relatively independent from on-land activity. Reason enough, then, for Nigerian-born architect Kunlé Adeyemi and his architecture, urban design and planning firm NLÉ to begin working towards solutions for the neighborhood’s survival, especially as rising sea levels and Lagos’ desire to eradicate slum housing threaten its existence.
Futuristic Design – Floating Community
As a part of NLÉ´s Lagos Water Communities Project, Adeyemi and company are in the design phase of transitioning Makoko’s common quarters from dilapidated houses on stilts to floating a-frame family units, with a “floating community” being the end goal of the initiative. Prototype images of Adeyemi’s vision depict a surreal, near-fantasy-fiction setting.
Floating Apartments
Present day Makoko
Website of the company handling the project
Architects Want To Turn A Nigerian Slum Into A City That Floats On Water
