Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Wire: “we’re advocating other UK architects to design on water,” architect Alex de Rijke told Dezeen at the Venice Architecture Biennale this week, where his firm dRMM are exhibiting proposals for floating housing at the British Pavilion.

Above: photograph is by Cristiano Corte

“Our idea was to learn from the Netherlands and show how their ideas might be applicable to UK waterways,” he said. “There is no shortage of water in the UK and no shortage of rain, but there is a shortage of housing and a shortage of development sites.”

Above: Water-houses in IJburg, Waterbuurt West, Amsterdam

The studio’s proposals are for an infrastructure of houseboats at London’s Royal Docks, and for the exhibition they present a floating terrace with an outboard engine and plastic floats.

Above, left to right: Alex de Rijke, Merlin Eayrs and Isabel Pietri of dRMM, photographed by Valerie Bennett

Named The Dutch Way, the project is one of ten on show for the British Pavilion’s Venice Takeaway exhibition, which showcases ideas for British architecture brought back from other countries around the world by teams of ‘explorers’. Read the brief in our earlier story.

Alex de Rijke is also now dean of architecture at London’s Royal College of Art and gave us a tour of the end of year show plus outlined his new direction for the course earlier this summer.

See all our stories about the biennale here, including an interview with director David Chipperfield and our pick of the five best pavilions.

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