Good morning, pioneers!

I’m fresh from The Klosters Forum and feeling energized!

My key takeway?

The importance of collective action and collaboration to achieve urban ecological resilience (a perfect segue into this month’s newsletter 🌊).

Here’s what I’ve got for you this month:

• Floating cities are closer to reality than you might think

• The FLOW lab is looking for innovative minds like YOU

• A scientific theory about the scalability of everything on earth

• And more…

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Let’s get into it 🌳!

CONSTRUCTION

Building systems for a future of life on water

The face of our planet is going to change dramatically over the next century.

Sea levels are rising. 

Coastal cities across the world may be erased from the map, displacing hundreds of millions of people. 

We can’t fight it, so we need to learn how to adapt to our new environment.

Just like we’ve done for millions of years.

We need to learn how to live with water.

To live on water. 

I’m not talking about a week-long all-inclusive cruise across the Caribbean.

I mean permanent solutions that will enable resilient city development on water.

Sustainable homes and communities for families that integrate harmoniously with delicate maritime ecosystems.

The good news? 

We’ve already begun.

The future of land on water

Rhomberg Holding Ventures, together with fragile and MAST are developing a Land on Water concept.

The vision is to create a holistic approach to safe, resilient living on water and translate it into a building system.

This year, we developed the first prototype to test the flotation and connectivity of different floating structures (you can find it floating in Copenhagen’s southern harbour). 

It exceeded all of our expectations.

We’re moving forward with the project to provide modular structures that you can use to design your own unique home.

All created using recycled plastics from the ocean.

Owners can add modules like greenhouses and solar panels to further reduce their carbon footprint.

And you have the option to build singular islands or larger communities.

The goal isn’t to create floating societies isolated in the middle of the ocean. We see Land on Water as an extension of coastal urban settings that can connect to existing on-land infrastructure.

I’m proud that the Land on Water building concept is drawing from CREE’s timber-hybrid building system. 

But the building system is only one part of the puzzle.

That’s where the FLOW lab comes in…

INNOVATION

FLOW Institute & Living Lab

Sea levels are projected to rise and threaten coastal cities around the world as early as 2030. 

We need to move quickly to make sure we’re ready.

And there are plenty of challenges outside of our building system that we need to address to achieve our goals:

• Developing novel infrastructures

• Providing heat and electricity to homes on water

• Integrating floating homes with land-based ecosystems

• Creating new materials and coatings that can withstand life on water

And we can’t do it alone. 

We’re developing the FLOW Institute and Living Lab to address these challenges.

FLOW is a global floating research and design lab on a mission to enable resilient and sustainable ways of living on water in times of rising sea levels.

I strongly believe that we won’t achieve our goals by working in silos. The FLOW lab is a space designed to bring like-minded spirits together to share knowledge and innovate. 

The accumulated knowledge, experience, and know-how will be shared and owned by everyone involved, so that everyone can build on it and accelerate further innovation.

I know that we have all the ingredients.

And the FLOW institute is the perfect setting to bring them all together. 

We’re looking for individuals, businesses, investors, and foundations to join our project. 

If you’re interested, shoot me an email 👉 [email protected]

3 things that I loved this month:

• This book on the evolution of the Western mind and how its profound impact on the modern world

• A great read for a different perspective on themes of power, scale, and human settlements

•  Geoffrey West’s Ted Talk blew my mind with his scientific theory on cities and the universal laws that govern the scalability of everything on earth

That’s it for today’s edition!

Wishing you all a wonderful summer break.

Cheers from Austria!

Hubert

P.S... Reply to this email and let me know:

1. What you thought of this month’s newsletter (1 - LOVED IT!, 2 - It was ok, 3 - Boring)

2. Which topics you’d like me to get into in next month’s issue