refuge ground: french architect visualises a solution to saltwater floods in bangladesh

former architecture student david lambert specialized in fiction-making and visualizing unbuilt architecture illustrated the salvation of bangladesh flooded with saltwater in 2023. according to his graduation project, bangladeshi people would tame their key enemy responsible for the biotic transformation of the country and the disappearance of good soil — salt.

linking the ecosystem and the architecture in an endogenous evolution

‘the technique, named electrodialysis, separates salt from water thanks to a continuous electrical current,’ explains lambert. ‘at the point when the crystallogenesis limit is reached, the salt-saturated solution is transformed into a growth material.’ 

a new refuge ground takes shape above seawater, by agglomeration of crystalline salt

lambert claims that thanks to this new architectural concept,  it would be possible to build 25,000 shelters on the coast of the bay of bengal, giving shape to a network of habitable offshore salt platforms raised above sea level. the project is the third prize-winner of the 2017 jacques rougerie international architecture competition.

salt is being used in the development of an artificial soil, allowing life to emancipate in this vast saltwater ecosystem

bangladesh is facing soil and water salinization

video by foundation jaques rougerie

development of an artificial, hybrid nature of architectural elements and rocks salt

construction of the shelters

the element, present in the water depreciated: salt

re-territorialization revolves around a major axis, which is the coexistence with water

the machine, named electrodialysis, separates salt from water thanks to a continuous electrical current

when the crystallogenesis limit is reached, the salt-saturated solution is transformed into a growth material

the sodium chloride present in the water passes from a disordered liquid state to an ordered rigid material

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: maria erman | designboom