Embracing Inundation

The inundation of water is one of many environmental issues facing the current urban condition. Even if emission targets are met, sea levels are expected to rise substantially in the next 100 years, with many regions around the world set to be severely impacted, and some devastated.

As the threat of water invasion looms, the urgency for a new attitude towards the built environments’ relationship to water is paramount. Architects need to find a way to mediate and benefit from the impending co-existence with flooded environments.

This project focuses on the low-lying Melbourne suburb of Elwood, as it is one that would be lost to rising sea levels if no intervention is made. The proposal explores how we could modify and adapt the current built fabric, whilst maintaining the character of this eclectic neighbourhood. It investigates the provision of additional infrastructure, to facilitate mobility, and public spaces to suit a new condition that encourages co-existence and co-habitation with water.

Embracing Inundation is based on the premise that built works are completed before the region is intentionally flooding in a controlled manner. A process enabling Elwood to be prepared for the inevitable inundation of water, instead of being reactive. Working with, rather than resisting, Elwood would become a suburb that is equipped to deal with a flooded environment.