Case study: Makoko floating school

Review article, 2015

Makoko is a slum community living in wooden buildings on stilts over the water of Lagos Lagoon in Nigeria, and canoes are the residents' primary means of transportation. The challenges are significant, socially, economically and not least environmentally in view of changing climate and frequent flooding. In search of an appropriate solution, Amsterdam-based architects NLE have demonstrated a new form of floating buildings for Makoko and similar water cities in Africa and elsewhere. The first prototype is a Floating School, addressing appropriately not only building technology but also environmental issues and the everyday lives of people living in Makoko.