Floating Architecture and Conversion of Offshore Structures: A Chronicle of Knud E. Hansen Designs

Abstract

Alteration of the physical environment, and the scarcity of land for urban growth in proximity of the coast as well as rising sea levels are endangering the prosperity of entire communities around the world. These represent some of the major challenges our society will be facing in the near future. However, water can also provide alternative scenarios for human habitability. In this regard, floating structures appear as a realistic solution to adapt to the ongoing transformations. Although projects on water, ranging from a single building to entire neighborhoods, have increased significantly in the last decade, thanks to technological advancement, visions of water civilizations have been around since approximately 1950, when research in this field was undertaken for military and economic purposes. Therefore, interest in buoyant structures has appeared from time to time. It was during the 80s that the Danish ship design firm Knud E. Hansen was involved by a visionary entrepreneur in a project of conversion of an offshore platform into a luxury resort. This experience emphasized the multidisciplinary nature of floating structures in a hybrid of naval engineering and civil architecture.