Sack, Casey Jordan2023-08-022023-08-022023https://hdl.handle.net/10539/35782A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional) to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, 2023Buoyanc[it]y confronts the threat of sea level rise for the coastal town of Knysna, and the necessity for an adaptive, floodproof architectural response. Located within Thesen Island, on the waters of the tranquil Knysna Estuary, the project envisions a floating research centre and residences, once high tides submerge the area for 12 hours a day, which is projected to happen in the year 2100. Alongside Knysna’s dynamic quays, distinct socio-economic divide, tourist hotspots, and energetic local fishing community, the new development branches off the existing coast, accessible to the people that live, work, and play there, as an opportunity for the continuation of human activity in the area after the ill-fated landscape begins to drown. With inherent flexibility in design, the structures are open to upgrades, relocation, and expansion. As time passes and human, wildlife, and environmental needs shift, the intervention is able to transform alongside them. This flexibility questions the architectural convention of permanence. Anthropogenic behaviours have exacerbated climate change, and disrupted natural orders. The next generation of architecture should focus on environmental restoration, to assist in fixing the problems that we have caused. This intervention seeks to restore damaged ecology through biomimicry, with nature as the architect, and the building as an organism. The intervention becomes a sand farm, helping to maintain the receding shoreline, and to replace the habitats drowning in the rising waters. The intersection of technology and biology holds extreme power. Perhaps there could there be a reality where humans provide the framework, and nature fills in the gaps.enDissertation