Today’s cities are facing huge challenges in uncontrolled urbanization, higher risks of flooding, scarcity of water for industry, households and ecosystems, rising pollution, ground subsidence, and climate change.  Recent experiences have shown that amphibious architecture, design and engineering are gaining prominence in catalyzing the transformation of our future urban landscapes to better deal with these challenges.  The 2015 Design Workshop:  Amphibious Architecture, Design and Engineering will focus on a Thai location and investigate the challenges and solutions found in order to comply with contemporary water management and design practices. It invites students to understand the theories and practices that bring together engineering, design and urban development and to apply the knowledge acquired in first, the elaboration of a vision; second, a spatial plan; and third, engineering and design ideas for the chosen site..

The main themes of ICAADE 2015 are living with water; flood resilient systems and communities; vernacular amphibious solutions; concepts, typologies and designs; technology and construction; challenges to implementation; and visions for the future.  These themes will be explored through site visits, talks with professionals and academics and a short studio-led exercise, where students and teachers will explore possibilities through the elaboration of spatial scenarios and the design of interventions on the location.  

The Student Design Workshop will be held 20-25 August 2015, in Bangkok, just prior to ICAADE 2015.  There will be an additional registration fee of €75 for participation in the Workshop, separate from the conference registration fee. See the attached information document for details). Students can register for the workshop by following the link on the registration page of this website

More information on the student workshop can be downloaded here: