Architectural ideas are flooding in to a new website that has been set up as a call for creativity in how Australia responds to events like the recent natural disasters.

The Flood of Ideas website allows the community to upload and comment on flood response ideas, and a public exhibition of the ideas will follow in April.

Flooding occurred in many areas of Queensland during late December 2010 and early January 2011, with three quarters of the state declared a disaster zone.

“Following the 1974 floods, as a community we learnt a lot and initiated some important changes to better prepare us for future floods” said Peter Skinner, president of the Australian Institute of Architects.

“Unfortunately, it would now appear that we also forgot a lot over the following thirty-six years and maybe we also lost a lot of the good thinking from that time. The ‘Flood of Ideas’ project aims to allow everyone to take part in a conversation that might help us be better prepared for future floods.”

The flood adaptive Queenslander by Heise Architecture answers the question: Why demolish and rebuild, when you can adapt? (Images: floodofideas.org.au)

Manager of Healthy Waterways Water by Design program, Alan Hoban, said: “The ideas will help inform and broaden the public debate about floods.This will be a fantastic resource that will help local governments and the Reconstruction Authority to access the wisdom of the community.”

“We’re calling on anyone with an idea to submit it; students, planners, engineers, urban designers, architects, scientists, artists and poets. Your idea might be grandiose or humble, at the scale of the catchment or the scale of a house. It might be an infrastructure solution, a new building design, a policy idea, or a way we can address the emotional fallout. Whatever your idea, we want to hear and see it” he said.

Over the next month, university students from University of Queensland and QUT will be contributing to the Flood of Ideas, and project partners will be hosting their own idea generating activities. There has already seen an enthusiastic response from the urban design community and these can be seen on the floodofideas.org.au website.

Liftable Buildings by PLACE Design Group proposes that new buildings located on flood-able areas are to be constructed as light weight structures and are able to be lifted to safe elevation levels as water rise beneath them.

Flood of Ideas is an initiative of Healthy Waterways and the State Library of Queensland, and supporting partners include Brisbane City Council, the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Australian Institute of Architects, Green Cross Australia and the Stormwater Industry Association.

David Wheeldon

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