The Prototype for Flood Resistant Housing 02 was developed during the International Architecture Biennale Masterclass 2005 lead by Greg Lynn. The modulated structure invites the flood and at the same time is entered and embraced by it. It plays with the rising and falling water levels, containing the water and letting go. Drawing on the notion of the fortress, the prototype is composed of a series of a-centric rings that hover around a protected core-courtyard. Moving to the outer rings, the building is embedded in a moulded landscape. These moulds are flood-lakes. The house itself and the whole landscape are thus organized around the courtyard, at the centre of the house. The prototype is oriented both to the outside landscape and to its own inside. It looks out over the floodplain and offers its centre to the water, the flood gradually inundating and changing its appearance.

International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam Masterclass
Supervisor: Greg Lynn
Team: Karola Dierichs, Architectural Association; John Doyle, RMIT; Teresa Nai-Tsuei Yeh, Berlage Institute; Naiwen Cheng, Berlage Institute