Welcome,

When rain falls in most of our concrete-lined cities, it often leaves us with a soggy urban landscape and the risk of flooding. But what if we could design rainfall into our public spaces (Perry 2016)? Our architecture project proposes to do just that, transforming sport pitches, public areas, and even study spaces into picturesque water ponds when it rains.

As rain intensities are expected to increase between two and four times by 2040, our design proposal predicts the future scenario in which the combination of urban flooding and digital infrastructure will become an alternative source of heating for the citiy of Amsterdam. The proposed hybrid includes activities such as: education and research, public spaces, catering, offices, leisure and sports, while creating a new cultural hub of the city. At the same time, all the spaces mentioned above include floodable basins which accumulate rainwater and combine it with the heat received from the adjacent datacentre, becoming a sponge habitat which accumulates rainwater, mitigates urban flooding and creates a link between infrastructure and community.

The proposal creates a vibrant collaborative working environment while being dedicated to increasing the 'sponge effect' of the area, as a part of the city-wide plan to create 'climate-resilient neighbourhoods' in anticipation of more rainfall.

Our architecture project is not just about creating functional spaces, but about envisioning a future where urban design and technology can work together to mitigate the effects of climate change and create a more livable and sustainable city for all.

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