Taking the view that rising sea levels caused by climate change could eventually result in the loss of the low-lying island country of the Maldives, architecture student Mayank Thammalla envisions moving the country's entire population onto existing oil rigs.
Designed for Thammalla's final year Masters of Architecture thesis, Swim or Sink isn't meant to be a final plan ready for implementation, and is best considered food-for-thought as to the role architects might take in mitigating the effects of climate change.
"I was interested in looking at the future of the Maldives because their situation is very unique," explains Thammalla. "They are a nation that can lose their entire identity, a 2,000 year old culture and their geographical position on the planet, due to projected sea level rise within the next 100 years. The Maldivians are talking about purchasing land in Australia, what will the costs be there?
"A loss of their rich culture, a loss of their day to day activities, and a loss of their presence in their natural surrounding oceanic environment. All that said, I am not sure about all the political and economic factors that might possibly be involved."
Thammalla imagines moving around 400,000 people onto huge semi-submersible oil rigs. Taking the place of the Maldives' beautiful natural islands, the rigs would include cinemas, mosques, markets, and retail spaces. Housing would be constructed using traditional local materials, and though the rigs have no airport as such, existing helipads could be used for "island hopping."
Thammalla also posits that the man-made islands would protect inhabitants from natural disasters like tsunamis. While no sustainable technology is mentioned, making the oil rig communities self-sufficient energy-wise and even food-wise seems a relatively small challenge compared to more pressing issues, like sourcing enough huge unused oil rigs to house such a large number of people, for example.
Source: Mayank Thammalla
I'd suggest the use of something more friendly like picking up the name of the location the people had to flee from because of the circumstances.
Just my 5 Cents though...
Other than that... I can already see a new game trend for the kids developing in such a location: "Plattforming"
Never mind that you don't have enough oil rigs, one won't work without drinking water, food, & shelter.
When it comes to Climate Change we should think outside of ourselves and think what happens to the people of island nations will come to us in the long run. In order for us to secure our own survival; we must help the people of the islands to survive. Either we rise as a species; or we fall as a species. So! What will it be? Our money, or our lives?
Unfortunately the population of the Maldives do not live on global warming threatened Islands, they live on sinking Atoll's which represent the majority of islands. Sinking beneath the waves is entirely normal and was compensated by populations moving or being wiped out by constant disasters such as tsunamis - poof of which are demonstrated by coconut trees growing over 70 feet above shorelines from a water based nut which floats.
In the period before the nation state they would have just moved on unnoticed or disappeared like most species living on a marginal habitat. But today it is trendy to throw money at any problem a camera witnesses like a BBC crew throws bottled water to stranded boats of Burmese migrants, which is good only for TV and a band aid for the conscience, when they need a whole social change - themselves included.