floodproofing, porous paving, composting toilets, rainwater collection, and community-based assembly and design. The goal is not to achieve some whimsical notion of “green design” but rather to establish a community of relative self-sufficiency- a community independent from the inadequate municipal services of the third world. The framework of the proposal is loose enough to allow it to be applied to a flood-prone site anywhere in the world, whether it is in the third-world (Lagos, Nigeria) or in the first world (New Orleans, USA).

In the sections below are descriptions of the proposal’s components as well as details explaining how each component would be implemented and constructed.

COMMUNITY BASED ASSEMBLY AND DESIGN
When constructing this proposal, an architect/builder/engineer would essentially design only the framework and basic assemblies of the connector node and the skeletal frame of the residential/commercial wings and stop at that. In fact, an architect is not even needed to design this building. Volunteer students from architecture/engineering schools could design the connector node and residential concrete frames and hire locals to construct them in any particular site. Once the basic concrete frames and floors would be constructed on site, the formal “construction” work would stop. Residents would then be expected to arrive on site, collect their own materials, and construct a dwelling within the framework. The expanse of a dwelling would be dictated by how much space a particular family or group desired. In Lagos, for example, a colorful patchwork of varied materials would fill in the concrete frames as residents would gradually construct their own unique dwellings within the frame.

The proposal would initially be constructed on a vacant lot within any particular flood-prone site. Over time, residents would relocate to the proposal by disassembling their nearby shanties and reusing the materials to construct a new dwelling within the bare concrete frame of the proposal. As population density and housing demand would increase, the proposal would expand in a matlike manner throughout the site, passing around, through, or over existing dwellings where necessary.

WET FLOODPROOFING
All the vertical walls and partitions on the ground floor have continuous perforations along their surfaces to allow for rising floodwaters to permeate through the first floor and pass through the building quickly while minimizing the damaging effects of hydrostatic pressure, such as shifted or buckled walls. The entire structure is elevated on minimal stilts raised high enough to keep the building above normal water level fluctuations to allow boaters to pull up alongside a structure before entering it, to elevate the structure above any pollutants in the water, and to allow any wastewater within the structure to drain back into the water below. The ground floor has drains placed into it so that receding floodwaters in the building drain completely back into the water below rather than sitting and stagnating on the floors with no place to go. Wet floodproofing allows rising floodwaters and storm waves to pass easily through the structure while allowing it to remain fully occupied. The commercial activities that take place on the ground floor during the dry seasons (markets, schooling, and/or circulation) relocate to the roof when the floodwaters arrive.

The wet floodproofing perforations along the bottom floor have been continued up into many of the materials used on the upper floors. This is a consideration specific only to the conditions within Lagos itself and does not necessarily have to be replicated in other flood sites. The continuous perforations have been introduced to allow for passive ventilation, as Lagos is very close to the Equator and is very hot all year round. In colder climates, solid materials (such as sheet metal) would be used instead.

POROUS PAVING
Floodwaters often wash away the little earth that exists on floodplains, limiting the possibilities for local gardening and agriculture. In the open courtyards of the connector nodes of this proposal are small earth-filled lots paved with cinder blocks in a running bond with their openings facing up. Porous paving can simply be a concrete, brick, or other ceramic block with large holes in it laid down like any other paving surface. Since the paving helps anchor the earth, plants gain an opportunity to seed and grow in the openings within the paving blocks. Porous paving is strong enough to support heavy vehicular travel where such demand may exist.

COMPOSTING TOILETS
Bringing plumbing into a third world floodplain is a completely impractical step in most situations. Therefore, rather than introducing complex mechanical and maintenance-demanding toilets, odorless composting toilet stacks have been introduced into the connector nodes connecting the residential and commercial wings of this proposal. Beneath the ground floor is a sealed composting chamber where compost from the adjacent courtyard garden is mixed with human waste and allowed to decompose. On each floor above the composting stack is a garderobe which deposits its waste into the compost bin. Each floor contains four composting toilets, and there is usually one toilet between a typical residential wing and its adjacent connector node, which means an individual on any particular floor has easy access to at least two toilets- one on each side of a residential wing.

RAINWATER COLLECTION
There is limited access to freshwater wells in flood-prone sites in the third world. Where drilling may be feasible, a system of public wells are included in the courtyard of every connector node throughout the proposal. Each node also has an inwardly-sloped sheet metal roof with gutters attached along its inner edge to collect rainwater and funnel it into barrels sitting under the roof. A simple pipe system carries water via gravity down to a tap embedded in the wall on each floor. A resident simply places a bucket underneath the tap on their floor and opens it, and if there is any rainwater in the barrels, gravity will allow it to rush down the pipe and into the waiting bucket.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Residential dwellings would naturally not be allowed on the ground floor of this proposal, since it is meant to allow floodwaters to pass swiftly through. However, leaving the ground floor empty year round is very wasteful. Therefore, during dry seasons, the ground floor serves as a continuous circulation corridor throughout the proposal. It would most likely be lined with small shops, markets, temporary schools, clinics, and other local services. Perforated panels made of various collected materials would serve as partitions that could be left in place during a flood. During flooding, ground floor activities would relocate to the roof, which also serves as the secondary circulation venue connecting the entire proposal.

Since the ground floor is very open, it is quite easy for foot traffic to pass transversely through any point in the proposal. Every so often, especially where the proposal crosses a heavily-trafficked waterway, the structure would dissolve to allow boats to pass through. Since there are stairs at each end of a typical residential wing, a traveler would simply go up a floor or two to walk over a boat opening before returning to the commercial ground level and continue walking to his destination.

Funding for this proposal can come from virtually any source- charities, community organizations, government grants, business partnerships, and so on. Once funds have been raised by an interested organization, an engineer would be hired to draft the plans and the affected community would be mobilized to construct the proposal on site. As suggested earlier, perhaps hiring an engineer/builder isn’t even necessary. Since designing a simple post-and-beam frame is very straightforward, student volunteers from architecture or engineering schools (like us!) could participate in the design of the proposal. If volunteers could be organized to design the framework of the proposal and concrete could be donated by interested organizations, the only costs associated with this proposal would be the hiring of locals to construct the concrete frame, as residents would construct their own housing within the frame themselves.