TECHNOLOGY
61
MANGROVE HOUSING: HEALING THE ESTUARY Category 2 - Honorable Mention Nguyen Manh Hung, Dong Minh Anh - Hanoi, Vietnam The Saloum River estuary in Senegal is surrounded by mangrove forest. Between 1972 and 2015, a coastal mangrove barrier sank into the sea, followed by a dying process of a large area of the forest. This proposal is an attempt to establish a mangrove housing community where local people live, work with nature and regenerate the mangrove barrier. The dome structure of the mangrove house is inspired by the mangrove root system. This structural form helps the house against the strong winds and storm. Meanwhile, in the larger scale, the trunks and roots of the surrounding mangroves and the pile footings of mangrove houses protect each other from storm surge and weaken the strong water currents. The mangrove house is prefabricated and can be assembled by local inhabitants including carpenters, craftsmen, adults and even children, in order to allow the participation of the entire community in the building process, and eventually strengthen the relationship between people and their mangrove house. The materials are mainly timber from dead mangroves and from two new mangrove forests, which are well managed by the community.
October 2015
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