Students help create floating house for New Orleans residents

The first floating house has been permitted in the United States. The house was created by a UCLA professor, seven graduate students and architects from Mayne's Morphosis firm.

The project was lead by UCLA distinguished professor Thom Mayne who worked with seven graduate students from the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, and architects from Mayne's Morphosis. The FLOAT House is designed to float as water levels rise. The Make it Right Foundation is assisting with the rebuilding of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward and the house is part of that work. UCLA Campus News reports the house will act as a raft, and while inhabitants are not meant to remain inside during a flood, the house will float as water levels rise. Property values are maintained and lives saved. Occupants will be able to return to their homes when the water levels fall. "The immense possibilities of the Make It Right initiative became immediately apparent to us: How to reoccupy the Lower Ninth Ward, given its precarious ecological condition," Mayne, the winner the 2005 Pritzker Prize winner, said in a press release (opens in PDF). "The reality of rising water levels presents a serious threat for coastal cities around the world. These environmental implications require radical solutions. In response, we developed a highly performative, 1,000-square-foot house that is technically innovative in terms of its safety factor — its ability to float — as well as its sustainability, mass production and method of assembly." UCLA students took part in the project and were involved throughout the process. "Our students were thrilled to have the opportunity that this unique project afforded to apply their research and design to a real-world problem — building affordable, sustainable housing for communities afflicted with flooding problems," UCLA Architecture and Urban Design chair Hitoshi Abe told Campus News. "Our success demonstrates that the value of applied research can change the working methodologies of students and faculty who strive to develop and evaluate solutions that will have a positive impact. The close collaboration between students, faculty and outside experts generates a unique studio environment characterized by outstanding creativity and energy." The UCLA students involved in the project were Linda Fu, Saji Matuk, Ian Ream, Monica Ream, Erin Smith, Jeanne Stahl, who is from New Orleans, and Ryan Whitacre.