text:
Finding Others (Crust List)
Untrustworthy and Shady People
Marc Chavez, "Chavo" thief, liar, junkie, general asshole (1 Viewer)
Thread starter Matt Derrick
chavo junkie thief
Semi-retired traveler
Marc Chavez, aka "Chavo"
38 years old, born September 9th.
Drives a silver Honda CRV with no license plates, insurance, and a suspended license.
Missing top row of teeth, wears dentures to hide it
http://facebook.com/shutupandread
I recently had to kick this person out of my house. why i am posting this here is because we met through StP and while he's not a traveler he migrates around the anarchist punk scene so it's likely folks will run into him, especially in Austin, Texas. Additionally, this vindictive asshole is going around contacting my friends telling them as many lies as possible in a petty and pathetic attempt at vengence, so I feel the need to lay out the truth here so I can easily point to it when people want to know what happened.
chavo and is partner, who i am excluding from this story as they had nothing to do with the situation for reasons you'll see below, messaged me on facebook saying they were coming back to austin after spending several months in kansas because of covid. the timing seemed perfect since i had just had a bedroom open up in the apartment i was living in and it was extremely cheap, so i told them they should put in an application and sign the lease so we could get them in asap.
As I stated before, I knew these people through StP, and we'd hung out a few times, both at the bar, my house, their squat, and had a good time, no red flags so far by that point (this was pre-covid). Seemed like a normal punk/anarcho couple, so they seemed good candidates for roommates when this situation arose.
The problems started almost immediately after Chavo arrived. His partner couldn't come with him back to Austin do to some family issues back in West Virginia, so the rest of the roommates couldn't meet her before he moved in. We were willing to roll with that, but it also quickly became apparent that Chavo wouldn't be able to sign a lease, since he has a felony record and no identification. He kept pushing his desire to not sign the lease at all and pay us directly. We asked him to please put in the application anyways since there was a decent chance he would still be accepted. Throughout the five days he 'lived' with us, he made no attempt to put in that application, but he did pay us $240 for the room which covered rent for the room until the end of November.
Things got uncomfortable pretty quickly. Chavo's attitude was constantly combative. We'd get in arguments constantly, mostly over little petty things that were mostly situations of him forgetting he said something and then getting mad when he couldn't remember doing/saying that thing to us later. He forgot he put his tool bag in my room and then got extremely angry with me and accused me of purposefully hiding them from him, to the point he started screaming at me and telling me to fuck off and stomping out of the house. In another incident, he nearly started a fight with a cop at a junkyard I took him too, for no other reason than he was there and nearly got us kicked out. He would constantly be aggro and passive aggressive, agreeing to one thing claiming it was fine, only to come back a few minutes later to tell me what an asshole i was for saying a one thing or the other. In another incident, he got extremely pissy with me because I told him there was no more room for his stuff in my car when we were grabbing a few of his things from the storage unit; before we'd even left the house i'd already explained (twice) that a prius doesn't have much room and if that was okay, to which he said, 'sure that's fine', so I was a bit irritated and baffled as to why he was getting angry with me.
These are just the instances that happened with myself. He also managed to piss off the other roommates, and some of their friends. He came out of his room slurring his words heavily and couldn't master how to put back together a french press and actually got in an argument with one of the roommates when he tried to show him how the pieces went together. All these things happened in the first four days he was living with us. I personally have never encountered this many red flags in such a short period of time living with someone, so I was reasonably worried by this point that I'd made a huge mistake in letting this person live with us.
During this time I also went extremely out of my way to help Chavo in just about any way I could. Rides for errands, helping him move his furniture and things into the apartment, etc, buying him beer, hanging out, etc, just generally trying to be a good friend and give him the benefit of the doubt while all the above was happening.
On the fifth day though, the roommates approached me and said this situation was clearly not working out with him. I agreed and as a collective decision of all the roommates (4 other people beside myself) we approached Chavo and as gently as possible told him this situation wasn't going to work. We explained that we couldn't live with his constantly combative nature, and that he was seriously disturbing the peace here. despite all that, we made it clear it wasn't personal, and we were giving him two weeks to find a new place and that if there was anything we could do to help him (including helping him moving his things) we'd be happy to do that.
He took it well, but we could tell he was pretty mad and went into his bedroom for about an hour. While I was doing dishes in the kitchen, he came stomping out of his room straight at me and started yelling at me about how this was all my fault and I was a real shitty friend, etc. I pretty much stopped him right there and said, "Dude, I didn't do shit to you. You did this to yourself." at which point he exploded and started screaming at me that he was going to 'fuck me up' and going through the usual list of name calling. Chavo isn't a big guy so I flat out told him very calmly, "That isn't going to go the way you think it is." to which he just continued calling me a bitch and a string of other expletives on his way back into his room.
About 15 minutes later I noticed the whole apartment smelled of cigarette smoke. None of the roommates smoked and anyone who did did so outside. I knocked on Chavo's door and told him to stop smoking in his room and that he knew we didn't allow that here. He opened the door and said, "I'm not smoking in here," to which I replied, "Bull. Fucking. Shit. I'm not stupid." so he slammed the door in my face and started screaming "FUCK YOU BITCH ILL DO WHATEVER I FUCKING WANT ILL FUCKING SMOKE IN HERE IF I WANT FUCK YOU ILL FUCK YOU UP BITCH" etc, etc.
Honestly I was worried at how violent he was getting to the point where I went and dug up a can of bear spray out of my closet, just in case it came to a full on assault. At this point Chavo had threatened physical violence upon myself and was being completely unreasonable, so I gathered the other roommates, let them know what was going on, and we all agreed we weren't going to spend another night with this person. We stood outside his door and let him know he had to go, now. We didn't want to call the cops, and told him so, and asked him if he would leave on his own. We promised he could pick up his things tomorrow and that we wouldn't mess with any of it.
He responded to our pleas with top of his lungs screaming every curse word in the book mixed with threats of bodily harm against me, my roommates, the house, etc at one point saying, "I'm going to get crazy on this place" (implying retaliation in the form of physical damage to the room/house). I finally called his partner in West Virginia, asking her to please call him and try to calm him down (see screen shots). He had locked himself inside his room and spent the next several hours screaming obscenities, threats, etc and promising that he'd never leave and we'd have to physically remove him.
This went on off and on for about seven hours. During this time we continued to negotiate with him, even offering him his rent money back. I paid the money out of my own pocket (instead of collectively from the other roommates) because I felt responsible for bringing this crazy person into the house.
Chavo continued screaming things like "THIS IS ILLEGAL" and "YOU'RE NEVER GETTING RID OF ME" and how two weeks wasn't nearly enough time to move out, he needed a month (keep in mind he moved into the house in less than 48 hours) and we kept explaining that we couldn't have someone that was threatening violence on everyone in our house for even one night, so our previous offer of two weeks to move out was now null and void, he had to go tonight.
Pathetically, after all the violence and screaming, he did at one point break down and start bawling like a child saying things like "why are you doing this to me?" and "i didn't do anything to any of you" between sobs. It was just fucking sad. It genuinely seemed at this point that he could not recall why he'd gotten into this situation.
After seven hours had passed we decided we had exhausted all our options, including physical removal, so I called 311, but due to the threats of physical violence coming from Chavo, they elevated it to a 911 situation.
I let his partner know what was going on (she was surprisingly understanding of the situation) and she let him know (via phone) that we'd finally called the police. At that point he packed a bag, took the rent money we were returning to him, and proceeded to walk out the door, but not before threatening me again with a 'fake-out' punch, at which point we came very close to exchanging blows until he backed down and left. The police showed up about five minutes later, explained what our rights were in the situation and left.
We immediately moved all his belongings out of the room to the front door of the apartment, and in doing so found a heroin spoon, two needles, and two meth/crack pipes (photos attached), so it's extremely likely hard drugs were a factor in this whole situation.
Chavo has been communicating with one of our roommates as to when he would be coming by to pick up his things. As im writing this he is picking up his stuff from the living room, saying how he is going to tell everyone at 'his work' (implying Monkey Wrench Books) what happened here and that 'Matt won't be able to sell his book there anymore after they hear about this'.
Since hearing that from my room (I am purposely avoiding him while he gets his things to prevent any further physical confrontations) I figured that it would be easier to write all this out explaining my side of things since when you hear Chavo's side of this story in person, it is likely to be heavily skewed in his own favor. I've already heard versions of his story from friends that know him claiming I was being 'creepy' to his girlfriend. Keep in mind his partner wasn't even present for this entire situation, she was in West Virginia.
Additionally, this situation occurred in front of four witnesses (three roommates and a visiting friend) and we recorded a few parts of the situation (waiting on the visiting friend to send me the files) and I have screenshots of the conversation between myself and chavos gf which I am attaching to this thread.
Update: So as I was writing the last paragraph, apparently no one was watching Chavo take his things, so on his way out he leveled several more threats, dumped a few items from his fridge onto the floor, and stole our internet cable box on his way out. After looking around it seems one of our bikes is missing as well.
This puts me out almost $500 (returning rent, cost of new cable box, does not include cost of the bike) for essentially doing someone a favor and having that person be extremely disrespectful in return. He's a liar and will present himself as the victim whenever possible, refusing to accept responsibility for anything he's done. Fortunately, he's also a coward. He will try to use intimidation and threaten to fight you only to back down when it's clear you're gonna make him work for it. If you see this person, you should give them a swift kick in the nuts for me, or at least let him know he's a piece of shit and do your best to avoid him.
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Eng JR Lupo RV323
Jerk bouncer with an attitude
559, Fuckno California
I've met Chavo and been in the same room with him, his girlfriend and Matt. I didn't notice any creepiness from Matt towards Chavos GF at that time. She seemed pretty chill really. He seemed alright, but I kinda got a couple vibes from him that had me raising an eyebrow a bit.
Mostly just the very first second of meeting him/first impression he did come at us kinda sideways insinuating we were taking too long going from the car into the squat. Which just felt like a weird unnecessary flex, we were moving from car to house in a hurried manner as it was.
He then had me drive him "up the street" which was more like halfway across Austin to score some weed at a park. None of this really had me trippin on the guy but I could feel his vibes and just kinda felt like he had a lot of sucky he was keeping inside.
I was actually on the phone with Matt when he was expressing concerns about a roommate/friend he'd went to bat for having him move in. He kinda described all the agro shit and my response was "Chavo?" And Matt was kinda dumbfounded I was able to guess. He had forgotten I'd met him before and we all hung out at the beginning of the year.
Idk, you know what they say. Sucks to suck.
starfarer
Hobart TAS 7000, Australia
Whoa Matt! You had a near meth experience
iamwhatiam
Burrito fund contributor
StP Supporter
Foothills of the Cascades, western WA
damn matt...sorry that happened to you. ya try and help someone and then their true nature comes out and they try and paint you as the bad guy. people are whack.
MetalBryan
That sucks. Something similar happened to me recently and it's been hard to let go of the betrayal. I try to take comfort in the knowing that these kinds of individuals are most likely fucking miserable all the time and only deserving of pity.
that was a riveting write-up. my youngest brother behaves this way (he's currently trapped in the system for related offenses - which I wouldn't wish on anyone, but for fuck's sake) people like this royally suck, and having one in my immediate family is just unbearable. I was glad that it sounds like you have some solid people around to back you up and hold it down.
Thanks for the kind words everyone. Strangely, he sent me this text message just now.
pretty much using the fact that i've been selling copies of my book at monkey wrench books (the local anarchist bookstore here in austin) to somehow 'hurt' me. oh no. chavo, please stop. /s
James Meadowlark
Sonic Reducer
Gainesville, United States
Sucks. Had a similar situation when I was living in a group house in college. We had a roomate move out, didn't need to have anyone move in, but offered his room to a 'friend of a friend' who was in a bad situation, and seemed cool and reasonable enough when we (me and my roomies) met with him over a pitcher of beer at a local bar.
Dude turned out to be a gas huffer, like you'd literally have to check under the wheels of your car every morning to make sure he wasn't passed out underneath, gas-cap in hand. Saved him from heat-stroke a dozen times after he disappeared in the back yard for an hour and found him in the shed unconscious in our closed shed after huffing from the lawnmower and breathing paint in the middle of August in Florida. Also had homeless people over (not travelers, couch surfers, etc. but homebum crackheads) late at night to do hard drugs. There are a million stories with that guy, but I really hope he's put his life together by now, we're all almost fifty by now.
It almost came to fisticuffs on move out day when our lease ended (he never paid anyway).
If you're going to invite someone to share your home for more than a few days, you really need to be careful, and if I were someone being offered a spot, I would not be offended if the residents were especially careful with me. No good deed goes unpunished, and it works both ways.
danidatx
Berwick, Pennsylvania
The first thing I see on the internet after a two day procedure is a post that says it excludes me but still has my name and face attached to it - that's not exactly leaving me out of it and is a violation of my consent.
It meant a lot to find some secure housing during a pandemic. When I was on the phone with Chavo, after I asked you to give us some time to figure something out, people were antagonizing him and threatening to call the cops. At no point when I spoke to him was he being aggressive.. It was pretty wild.
It's not creepy that there were issues after you learned of my condition, but it is strange that things seemed fine until that point. He was such an asshole he got invited back to bike polo? I dunno man.
Using your platform to throw mud on a person who you admitted to not having issues with in the past, who you made houseless during a national health crisis while in a great deal of personal turmoil is shitty. This isn't call out" post, it's a hit piece with a lot of petty insults and also some toxic and harmful ones.
Anyone who calls the cops is definitely not a comrade. Anyone who kicks someone out after learning that he and his partner are going through a really emotionally difficult situation is not a friend.
danidatx said:
So I just made everything up. Sure. Makes sense.
He did not get invited back to bike polo. Your 'condition' played no part in our decision to remove Chavo from the house.
I understand your need to side with someone you've been in a relationship with for a long time, but this 'hit piece' is an accurate re-telling of the events so that when Chavo's lies appear, I can point to this thread instead of having to constantly defend myself against victim-blamers.
I'm strongly encouraging you to re-evaluate the version of events being told to you by Chavo and why it is so vastly different than the ones posted here and witnessed by three other individuals. Either we're all lying in a grand conspiracy against Chavo (that has no motivation, i.e. "just because"), or he simply fucked up by being a complete and utter douchebag.
The short version is that he is lying to you.
who you made houseless during a national health crisis
I also want to point out that this is another falsehood that Chavo kept screaming about during his seven-hour sit in. We (the residents of the apt) did nothing to make Chavo 'homeless' (he was already homeless, and failed to take even the simplest steps to get on the lease, despite agreeing to do so before he arrived) and using COVID as an excuse to make us look like terrible people is not only disingenuous, but is also extremely petty.
On a side note, let's not forget that Chavo had a car to sleep in, a storage unit to put his things, $2,000+ dollars in the bank (from unemployment payments) and claims to be a punk/traveler of some kind, yet incessantly complained about the idea of having to spend one night alone on the streets. Wow, that dude is sure hardcore.
Anyone that gets in multiple arguments in four days, physically threatens myself and others, leaves hard drug paraphanalia behind and steals our internet cable box on the way out is not a comrade, and there is no justifications for his actions. Especially after we went so far out of our way to welcome Chavo and help him.
We offered him two weeks to find a new place, explained why we were doing this (very rationally), I even offered to help him move his things out, and he still just exploded and started screaming about how he'd beat the fuck out of me before going to hide in his room. We literally negotiated with him for seven hours though his ranting and screaming and threats of violence before calling the police. When he did finally leave, we even gave him his rent money back.
If we were 'real punx' I guess we would have just physically removed him, which we seriously considered so the cops wouldn't get involved. But due to the psychotic manner in which he was acting at the time, he had completely broken any shred of trust there was between us and there was literally no guarantee he wouldn't either start smashing our windows once ejected, or call the cops himself.
This was further proven when he came to collect his things (which we did not disturb, out of respect, despite the immense amount of disrespect he'd shown us), again threatening one of the roommates with physical violence "I know where you live" and stealing our cable internet box in a pathetic act of petty revenge on his way out when we weren't looking.
That is the kind of individual you have chosen to associate yourself with. Your defense of him just strengthens my justification for your inclusion in the photos contained in the OP.
I'm not sure why you are claiming that Matt *made* this person homeless...it sounds very much like this person made themselves houseless via their own actions. Actions, it seems, that were dealt with much more leeway than most other people would have given.
Also not really seeing why Matt and his roommates would just randomly throw some person on the streets just for the hell of it. Especially during a pandemic. Would you be willing to agree that is a valid point?
snailormoon
udaho
I do think that Chavo's actions were very fucked up...however, I do feel that his partner's privacy should have been respected more in this instance. As a friend of the parties involved, I've tried to remove myself from the situation to be honest. I haven't been vocal about my thoughts on it thus far.
As far as the matter of how Chavo's drug use is represented in this post...while Matt and his roommates have every right to not allow the use of certain substances in their home, I do feel it was a bit overkill to take pictures of rigs and pipes for everyone to see. I understand that this may have been in an effort to better illustrate the situation, but I just feel that its harmful to use the word "junkie" and take pictures of a person's drug paraphernalia. There are so many people in this community (many that I care about) that struggle with drugs and would never act this way. I don't know, maybe this wasn't the place to mention this, but I just felt it was important to voice that.
Andrea Van Scoyoc
Sock Monkey Queen
Port Richey Florida
WHY do people have to be such P.O.S's?
Why can't people just be decent and not cause trouble?
Sounds like this guy has untreated mental illness, which could explain a LOT.
I'd love to start a "Rest Spot," for fellow misfits but it's stories like this, that stop me.
I don't expect to get many takers anyway, if I do...
I won't allow booze, drugs etc, as Father Cedar's Sisters is a Celtic religion based organization.
HAYES HAS BEEN OUTED AS AN ABUSER AND RAPIST BY TOO MANY PPL TO COUNT
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Obituaries Nov 7, 2020
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Sex & Relationships Nov 27, 2020
Potts


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Q: How to add a firewalld rich rule that will allow only 2 FTP connections per minute to the FTP server? I have used following firewalld rich rule. But it is allowing me more than two FTP connections in a minute. I expected that it could allow only two connections.

firewall-cmd --add-rich-rule='rule service name=ftp limit value=2/m
  accept'

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with above rule or do we have any other way we can do using firewalld rich rule?

A: It may be easier adding the rule in /etc/firewalld/zones/public.xml.
This should work, but I'm not sure if m (minute) is supported, h (hour) seems to be:
<rule family="ipv4">
    <service name="ftp"/>
    <log prefix="ftp fw limit 2/m " level="warning">
      <limit value="2/m"/>
    </log>
    <accept>
      <limit value="2/m"/>
    </accept>
  </rule>

Also, make sure, that there is no other accept rule for ftp!
Source

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Georgia Selected For Federal TradeRoots Program
Wednesday, May 18, 2005 Contact: Office of Communications 404-651-7774
Program Raises Awareness of International Trade on a Local Level
ATLANTA - Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that Georgia has been selected to participate in TradeRoots, the nation's leading grassroots trade education initiative dedicated to raising public and business awareness of international trade at the community level.
"As a global business center, Georgia places great importance on building strong trade ties throughout the world," said Governor Sonny Perdue. "By bringing trade education to our communities, we will increase international commerce opportunities for Georgia businesses looking to grow and create jobs."
The program, sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, includes customized workshops in seven communities – Columbus, Douglas, Gainesville, Rome, Savannah, Thomasville and Tifton – to educate companies and economic developers on the benefits of free trade agreements, the differences and similarities among these agreements and how trade serves as an economic development tool.
"Any successful business in Georgia will tell you that the marketplace is becoming increasingly global," said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Craig Lesser. "This program will give our local communities the knowledge and tools they need to be competitive at a higher level."
As part of the TradeRoots program, Georgia will also focus on strengthening its trade ties with Chile. Since Atlanta submitted its bid to serve as headquarters of the Secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the state has increased its overall trade efforts through Canada and Latin America.
The TradeRoots program is 18 months long and involves partners at the federal, state and local level. Georgia's organizing committee for the program includes the state Board of Regents, Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education, Georgia Economic Developers Association, the North Georgia District Export Council, the University of Georgia's Business Outreach Services/SBDC, U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Export Assistance Center.
georgia.gov | Agencies | Privacy/Security | Accessibility | Contact 1.800.georgia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
UK Media Newsroom
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Honda's 'Electric Vision' – two thirds of European sales to feature electrified powertrains by 2025
Honda Motor Europe announces 'Electric Vision'
Hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery electric and fuel cell cars to make up two thirds of Honda's European sales by 2025
First product featuring two-motor hybrid system to be launched in Europe in 2018
Honda Motor Europe's President and COO, Katsushi Inoue, has revealed key details of the brand's new 'Electric Vision'. Speaking at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, Inoue-san outlined Honda's commitment to an electric future in Europe, with a specific aim to have electrified powertrains in two thirds of European cars sold by 2025. The announcement confirms that Europe is at the forefront of Honda's global electric vehicle strategy.
Announcing the strategy in Geneva today, Inoue-san said: "We will leverage Honda's global R&D resources to accelerate the introduction of a full portfolio of advanced, electrified powertrains for the European customer."
Honda's focus on electrification in Europe will initially be driven by a roll-out of hybrid technology across its automobile range. The first new hybrid model, which will feature Honda's two-motor hybrid system, will go on sale in 2018.
Honda will also make plug-in hybrid, battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles commercially available to European customers.
Honda's Clarity Fuel Cell model will be showcased at Geneva, following the arrival of the first cars in Europe at the end of last year. The Clarity Fuel Cell is the world's most advanced fuel cell vehicle and delivers a class-leading maximum range of 700 km (434 miles)*
The arrival of Clarity Fuel Cell in Europe as part of the Europe-wide HyFIVE (Hydrogen For Innovative Vehicles) initiative reinforces Honda's commitment to drive the adoption of fuel cell vehicles and the creation of a viable hydrogen refuelling infrastructure across the region.
The announcement of the electric vehicle strategy for Europe comes just weeks after Honda was confirmed as the fastest growing mainstream car brand in the region in 2016. The full-year data from European industry body ACEA shows that total sales for Honda in EU and EFTA countries in 2016 were 159,126 units to the end of December, an increase of 20.8% per cent compared to same period in 2015. Honda's growth significantly outpaced the results for the EU passenger car market as a whole, which saw a year-on-year increase of 6.8% per cent.
* Honda internal measure, based on NEDC driving cycle
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Simon Branney
Section Manager, Car PR
Simon.Branney@honda-eu.com
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text:
Built on water: Floating Houses
By Ambista
Architects from New York to Shanghai are increasingly being confronted with the same problem: Too little space for too many people. The challenge of developing new habitable spaces within the city is not easy. Many architects, contractors and urban planners are tackling this situation with floating architecture.
The architects of Waterstudio.NL not only design floating houses in the luxury segment in the IJburg district of Amsterdam but also in the rest of the world. © Koen Olthuis – Waterstudio.NL
New living space on the water
Whether it's Asia, the US or Europe, living space is becoming an important resource in the major cities of the world. Most cities have little room to grow in the central urban area and increasing rents are symptomatic of this crisis. Metropolitan regions in the immediate vicinity of water are trying to develop new living spaces with floating houses in response to the housing shortage.
Floating houses take care of two problems at once: They meet the demand for living space in large cities and also serve as flood protection. Coastal cities in particular are extremely affected by climate change and the resulting rise in sea level. They are therefore looking for new strategies to cope with the water and turn the disadvantage into an advantage.
Floating houses in Amsterdam
It is no wonder that the Netherlands is considered a pioneer when it comes to floating houses. Around a quarter of the country lies below sea level. For the Dutch, water has long been an important element of urban planning. Amsterdam is a major European city known worldwide for the many houseboats that create additional living space in the canals.
However, not only do the residents of Amsterdam live on the water in the city centre but also in the eastern part of the city. The new IJburg district was created here on artificially raised sand islands. In the first construction phase, a total of 18,000 apartments with living space for 45,000 people were created. The Waterbuurt district in the western section of IJburg was also planned at the same time – the Floating Houses IJburg project by Amsterdam-based Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Lacking a firm subsoil, the neighbourhood functions primarily with bridges and jetties, which provide access to the residences. Gardens are not allowed, but living close to the water makes up for it. A lock ensures that the inland sea on which the houses float is separated from the IJMeer. This prevents the apartments from drifting out to sea. The project was completed in 2011 and included both social housing and condos.
Architecturally, however, IJburg is still a long way from being fully developed. To the east, the "Water District" continues to grow. By 2020, the Dutch architectural firm Waterstudio.NL wants to complete around 380 additional apartments, offices, floating gardens and a restaurant. Everything is possible for the architects – from a bungalow to a three-storey residential building.
Amphibious houses on the Thames
Other countries, such as Great Britain, are also discovering water as additional living space. This is how the amphibious houses near Marlow on the Thames in Buckinghamshire came to be. The homes were designed by Baca Architects in London. When the tide is low, the house rests on the ground like a conventional building and can also float in the event of flooding.
This is made possible by a kind of dry dock made of reinforced concrete, which serves as the base of the house. As the floodwaters fill the trough, the house is buoyed up to the surface of the water. An anchoring system keeps it in position and buoyancy is ensured by air chambers under the floor.
Living on the water: The future is now
In Hong Kong and Macau, people have been living on the water for a long time – in jungle settlements consisting of old sailboats that have fallen into disuse. In the US, water communities also have a long tradition. Seattle has one of the largest collections of floating houses in Portage Bay and Lake Union. And Germans are also finding life on the water more and more attractive.
In Hamburg, for example, additional moorings for houseboats and floating houses are being built. The idea of floating architecture is no longer a vision of the future, it is a reality. People learn to live with water and use it for urban development. And not only in Europe or Asia, but throughout the entire world.
Click here for the source website
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Floating Homes Architectural Solutions to Sea Level Rise
By Lukasz Stepnik
Translated by Aga Zano
2019.April.29
As we all know, when Yahweh unleashed a great flood upon humanity, he saved Noah and his family by ordering Noah to build an ark. This story was recorded not only by Jews, but also by other nations, such as the Sumerians and Mesopotamians (except their God was called Ea or Enki, and those saved from the deluge were known as Utnapishtim or Ziusudra). Clearly, they were all onto something. No wonder people of reason are preparing for another flood to come – even in Poland, too.
In the 1995 film Waterworld, Kevin Costner's character – a fish-like mutated human sailing the endless ocean – takes his beloved Helen for an underwater journey. There, he shows her the drowned ruins of New York City. Corals cover reinforced concrete structures that look like the haunted graveyard of a once-glorious civilization that brought doom upon itself. Scarce dialogues make it difficult to deduce the exact cataclysm that resulted in the world's submergence under water, but we can assume it was to do with melting ice caps and the immense amounts of carbon dioxide emissions that had been seeping into the atmosphere for decades.
Is the deluge coming for us?
Most scientific prognoses for the Earth's future look not unlike the Kevin Costner film. This makes the screenwriters for Waterworld pioneers of environmental enlightenment, who educated the masses on the dangers of global warming. Realistic calculations estimate that by the year 2100, ocean waters will rise by 1.5 metres. The Maldives and Bahamas will disappear from maps, just like many European coastal cities and towns that offer luxury seaside vacations. Such a rise in the water level will threaten the lives of over 150 million people living in flooded areas, causing mass migration, and a radical reshuffling of the global economy and politics.
Some of these changes are now beyond remediation. Therefore, the question of time is essential. How long will humans need to adapt to this new reality? Most of the infrastructure created today, such as homes and public buildings, will most likely still exist several decades from now. Thus they should be designed with contingency planning in mind for the worst climate-change scenarios. In the meantime, it appears obvious that this is the last thing politicians and developers want to consider; they are usually interested in little else than their own short-term investment return. Even one of Poland's most famous modern urban projects – the Wilanów suburb in Warsaw – was built entirely on a flood zone. One day, it might become a financially-attractive alternative to Venice.
Polders in Jakarta
The fastest-drowning city today is Jakarta, located by the Java Sea, which is part of the Pacific Ocean. The northern part of the city has to deal with an annual water level increase of 25 centimetres. This, however, isn't due solely to global warming – local laws allow all inhabitants to dig their own wells, which leads to a gradual collapse of the ground. Indonesia is trying to save its capital with the aid of Dutch engineers, who have suggested building a network of enormous polders along the coastline. Polders are low-lying areas that fall below the sea-level, but are enclosed by barriers. This solution would help to separate the northern parts of Jakarta from the sea, and double as emergency reservoirs that would contain excess water during a crisis.
The government of Jakarta backed out of its initial idea of creating a new business district on an artificial island shaped like the mystical Garuda bird (a man-eagle of sorts), which would have isolated the coast from the sea. This concept, inspired by Dubai's urban planning solutions, was eventually abandoned in favour of a less spectacular but more innovative strategy to deal with the consequences of climate change. It involves filling polders with floating homes that could remain safely on the water surface during floods. This solution will also allow commercial use of an area that is utterly useless for traditional construction techniques.
Jakarta is the fastest-drowning city today. Photo: Adobe Stock
It is no coincidence that Jakarta hired the Dutch to oversee the project of preparing the city for changes in water levels. Apart from the colonial ties linking the two nations, the Dutch have been experts in reclaiming flooded areas for new projects for centuries. They have perfected the art of building on water, too. Amsterdam invests billions of euros in preventing the city from drowning, and it promotes living in floating homes.
The sea won't see it coming
The IJburg district, located south of Amsterdam's city centre, was built on four artificial islands connected by bridges. Between the islands, dozens of floating homes are bobbing along the shores, moored to the islands and using the city's infrastructure. The continually growing community of IJburg is known for its liberal world view (even by Dutch standards), and at its core are young, well-educated, middle-class people. They consider inhabiting the sea a chance to realize their dreams of living close to nature. Life on a barge or a floating platform today is a hippie extravagance. Soon, it might become a necessity.
Villa IJburg in Amsterdam. Photo: Architect Koen Olthuis, Waterstudio.NL
"The Netherlands has long been a pioneer in reclaiming land from water, spending centuries drying out the sea to build. That may have been a mistake," says Koen Olthuis, an architect and the founder of Waterstudio (an architectural firm that designs floating buildings). When so much land is threatened by floods, perhaps it's better to invest in a house that can double as a boat, should crisis strike? This is an intriguing alternative for traditional urban planning, but it's not a new idea. For centuries, Cambodians, Indians and Nigerians have built many towns and villages on areas flooded during rainy season, or just covered in water all year long. Some have created stilt houses, while others have preferred floating platforms that allow the settlements to move during immediate dangers, but also to acclimatize to changing weather conditions.
Such dynamically changing urban development principles could have a significant impact on the ways we all use our cities. It could lead to removing the attachment to particular patches of land. In many densely-urbanized areas all over the world, the amount of dry land available for new building projects is continuously shrinking. This means that throughout the years, there will be more people willing to move their homes to water. It can already be observed in data from the Netherlands, Denmark, Britain and France, where serious consideration is given to creating whole districts made entirely of floating homes.
Koen Olthuis is convinced that this type of building is the best solution for the architecture of the future. His projects are made not only for residential housing; he also designs floating hospitals, schools and theatres. They can easily travel between cities or districts, enriching the infrastructure and reaching places where they are most needed at the moment. However, his strategy raises many questions – most people don't view living on water as a guarantee of permanence. This opinion is further cemented by news of disasters, like the recent collapse of the most famous floating construction, a school in Makoko, Lagos. The school, designed by the Dutch architectural firm NLÉ, drowned after heavy rain. Many ecologists also highlight the fact that too many floating buildings could affect riverbeds and shorelines, damaging the local fauna and flora. On the other hand, several units could have a surprisingly positive impact on the environment. Floating homes are a fantastic base for the development of underwater ecosystems, because they promote the growth of plants that significantly improve the biodiversity of the habitats of various fish and birds.
This has happened underneath several residential barges, whose impact on the environment was recently analysed by a team of London scientists. As it transpired, the barges are now home to more tenants than just the handful of humans who live inside.
Vistula tenants
Prototype water estates are also appearing in Poland. In the Czerniakowski Port in Warsaw, there are already several residential barges with permanent tenants. The only problem is the lack of space in the port, which makes it impossible to add more vessels to the neighbourhood. And the queue is long, as such floating homes are a tempting alternative to land property. Living on a barge is a bargain. The vessels are prefabricated and assembled of ready-made elements, which means a brand-new home could cost as little as 4000 PLN (around £800) per square metre. A 70–80 square-metre home could therefore cost less than a studio apartment in a big city. There are manufacturers offering steel or wooden skeletons on floats, often made of barrels, or styrofoam covered in concrete. The only trouble with such homes is ensuring an even spread of weight. If we invite 20 or 30 guests and let them all stand in one part of the room, the party would most likely end in a spectacular disaster. But a little caution and a pinch of common sense don't seem to be a high price to pay for the chance to live in such an unusual and interesting environment.
The human ability to adapt to living on the water is actually quite astonishing. In today's Indonesia, there are still tribes who spend over 60% of their daily lives on boats, diving for fish. Scientists were recently baffled by research confirming that the Bajau people have adapted to centuries-long evolutionary processes by developing spleens 50% larger than those in people who live on land. This unusual change allows the Bajau people to last up to 13 minutes underwater on just one breath. Moreover, some of them regularly experience land sickness after leaving their boats. What today seems to us curious trivia might one day become the new normal. If ocean waters continue rising at their current pace, it could be that our grand- and great-grandchildren's genes will have to start making similar changes.
These solar-powered floating homes are built to withstand floods and hurricanes
By Nicole Jewell
Inhahitat
April.1.2019
Photo Credits: ARKUP & Waterstudio
As many coastal cities struggle to come up with resiliency plans in the face of rising sea levels, Dutch architect Koen Olthuis with Waterstudio is creating sustainable, solar-powered floating residences that could offer the perfect solution. Already well-known for its high-end floating homes, Waterstudio and Miami-based Arkup are now teaming up with Artefacto, an environmentally friendly Brazilian furnishing brand, to create stylish floating houses that are not only resilient to storms and sea levels, but also represent the luxury style for which Miami is known.
Waterstudio has long been recognized for creating sustainable and attractive floating homes that can provide discerning homeowners with an "avant-garde life on water." The residences are modern, cube-like structures that are completely self-sufficient, operating 100 percent off-grid thanks to solar power generation, eco-friendly waste management features, rainwater harvesting and water purification systems. Additionally, the homes are equipped with unique self-elevating systems that help the structures withstand high winds, floods and hurricanes.
In addition to the ultra sustainable and resilient features, the two-story floating homes boast interiors with a 775-square-foot living room, bedroom, kitchen and dining space, as well as an open-air rooftop lounge. Sliding glass doors, which almost make up the entirety of the front facade, lead out to a beautiful terrace.
Although the company has been working on its floating homes for some time, it recently announced a new partnership with Artefacto, a Brazilian furnishing company with a strong commitment to sustainability that is known for combining luxurious furniture made of raw materials with cutting-edge smart automation technologies. The floating residences will now be outfitted with eco-friendly furnishings, including high-end pieces made out of timber approved for use by the Brazilian Environment Department.
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Floating homes that can withstand Category 4 hurricanes will soon become a reality
By Aria Bendix
September.20.2018
Photo Credits Waterstudio
As Hurricane Florence makes it way across the Carolinas, millions of coastal residents have reason to be concerned about the structural integrity of their homes. Already, nearly 300,000 homes and businesses have lost power, and officials are reporting damage to property in Onslow County, North Carolina.
When Hurricane Harvey swept Texas last September, it damaged more than 204,000 homes and apartment buildings. Around the same time, Hurricane Irma destroyed a quarter of the homes in the Florida Keys, according to federal officials.
While the idea of a hurricane-proof home may sound far-fetched, a housing startup called Arkup has created a residence that can withstand rising sea levels and Category 4 hurricanes. The key lies in its hydraulic while lifting it 40 feet above the ocean floor.
Arkup calls the residences "livable yachts" due to their buoyant nature, which allows them to bob with the water. After debuting the designs in 2017, the company teamed up with The Advantaged Yacht Charters & Sales, the oldest yacht charter company in Miami, to make the structures available for rent and purchase. In August, The Advantaged announced that it isaccepting charter reservations online.
The residences were designed by architect Koen Olthuis, who has pioneered the concept of the floating home.
Each 4,350-square-foot unit contains four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms.
The retail price for each home is $5 million.
The residences provide 360-degree views of the water.
They also have zero emissions and are powered by solar panels on the roof.
Guests can disconnect from sewage lines, thanks to a system that collects, stores, and purifies rainwater.
The units are just as mobile as a typical yacht.
Even as coastal residents become more fearful of rising sea levels, Olthuis wants cities to see water as an asset, not a challenge, to new construction.
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Waterstudio at BBC
Are floating homes the next frontier for urban design?
Architecture that works with water, rising with floods and sitting upon unused city space, may be the future of urban planning, say these innovative designers.
Buildings and communities that can float on water may be the next step in the evolution of cities, according to some avant-garde housing designers.
Many of the world's largest cities sit next to, or are built around, large bodies of water. In the light of unprecedented population growth, climate change, flooding and rising sea levels, are floating homes the next frontier in urban living?
Watch the video to see two leading architecture firms describe their innovative concepts for life on water.
Are These Dutch Floating Homes a Solution for Rising Seas?
By Olga Mecking
August.23.2017
Houseboats have long been a common sight near Amsterdam, but a new community may signal a premise that could work elsewhere, too.
Not far from Amsterdam's Central Station lies IJburg. Hidden in plain view, the city's newest district is somewhat of an undiscovered secret. In fact, IJburg is known better to the people outside of the country rather than the ones who actually live in the Netherlands.
Moriam Hassan Balogun, who is originally from the United Kingdom, moved there in 2009 and now considers herself an "international local." She loves IJburg's family friendly atmosphere, the space, and the many cafes and possibilities for work and leisure. It also attracts many business owners and mostly people with liberal political views.
IJburg is built on four artificial islands that are connected to each other and the rest of the city via bridges. It has around 21,000 inhabitants, the first of whom moved there in early 2002. But the district still isn't completely built. Though the goal was to finish building IJburg by 2012, that has not happened due to environmental concerns and slow uptake of houses. When finished, it will offer 18,000 homes for 45,000 people and create around 12,000 jobs.
Of late, the islands have been of particular interest to climate change researchers; in particular, the area of Waterbuurt West. There, 120 floating homesteads have been built to deal with Amsterdam's housing shortage and to prevent the citizens of Amsterdam from moving farther away, to Purmerend or Almere—a phenomenon known as urban sprawl. Living on water is not that surprising in a country that's surrounded by it. All over the Netherlands, people live on barges or houseboats. But these new houses in IJburg are different because they are very visibly not boats. They are houses.A Dutch saying goes, "God created the world but the Dutch created Holland." The Netherlands has long been a pioneer in reclaiming land from water, spending centuries drying out the sea to build. That may have been a mistake, says Koen Olthuis, the founder of the Waterstudio in Rijswijk, an architectural bureau specifically devoted to designing buildings on water.
"The Dutch are crazy, that's fun about the Dutch. We are here now in a part of Holland where we shouldn't be. It's man-made," Olthuis says. A much better solution would be to simply build floating houses, or even whole floating neighborhoods instead.The technology used to build houses on water is not really new. Whatever can be built on land can also be built on water. The only difference between a house on land and a floating house is that the houses on water have concrete "tubs" on the bottom, which are submerged by half a story and act as counter-weight. To prevent them from floating out to sea, they are anchored to the lakebed by mooring poles.
As sea levels are rising globally, many cities around the world are under threat from water. Some areas are projected to disappear completely in the next few decades. Therefore, designing houses to float may, in some instances, be safer than building on land and risking frequent floods. "In a country that's threatened by water, I'd rather be in a floating house; when the water comes, [it] moves up with the flood and floats," Olthuis says. He believes that water shouldn't be considered an obstacle, but rather a new ingredient in the recipe for the city.
Floating houses are not only safer and cheaper, but more sustainable as well. Because such a house could more readily be adapted to existing needs by changing function, or even moving to a whole new location where it can serve as something else, the durability of the building is much improved. Olthuis compares this to a second-hand car: "By having floating buildings, you're no longer fixed to one location. You can move within the city, or you can move to another city, and let them be used and used again."
Houses built on land are very static, while on water it's possible to add, take away, or easily change parts. And communities built on water can be constructed more densely, which would allow for more efficient energy use. Water allows houses (and even whole cities) more flexibility, and, for Olthuis, it's this characteristic that makes it such a fascinating element.
"In a country that's threatened by water, I'd rather be in a floating house."
He sees the use and incorporation of water as the next logical step in the evolution of cities. Cities are not unlike brands, and the ones with a lot of water would be the most flexible, and therefore the most desirable. This branding is already visible in many regions around the world: Think of Los Angeles as the city of movies, New York as the city for writers. Blue cities, or cities that can utilize the water, would also be the cities that would attract residents.
But Olthuis goes one step further. He imagines cities that can quickly change, depending, for example, on the season. In the summer, they could be open to allow the collection of sun energy, and in the winter they could huddle closer together for warmth and energy preservation. He also prefers to talk about functions, or modules, rather than actual buildings.
"In the next city, it's no longer about what you have; it's about what you can load. You're going to load functions to your neighborhood on the water, and if you need new functions, you take them out and you reload them with other profiles," he imagines. Cities of the future will share certain functions, like, for example, museums, stadiums, or other facilities. "It will be a completely new way of thinking about these [establishments]."
Incorporating water into the cities will also introduce more equality, says Olthuisk, referring to a principle known as "the democracy of water." In fact, something similar is already happening not just in IJburg but in the whole of the Netherlands, where house owners and social housing recipients share neighborhoods. In IJburg itself, around 30 percent of the houses are earmarked for this very form of government assistance. People of various nations, races, religions, and ethnicities live on the island. "There's no group that's more than the other," Hassan Balogun says. However, the people who move to IJburg tend to be politically similar. "There's quite a lot of liberal thinkers, very open-minded people here. I think that like seeks like," she says. The residents of IJburg often vote for D66 and Groenlinks parties, both known for their liberal views and a focus on sustainability.
A floating home in Ijburg. (Margriet Faber/AP)
The inhabitants of IJburg don't really have the need to leave the island unless they want to. There are plenty of options in that part of the city, including cafes, gyms, yoga studios, and parks. There are also 10 schools. The whole area has an atmosphere of newness, of opportunity.
And this opportunity—the concept of floating houses—could spread to other areas around the world. Due to very strict regulations in the Netherlands, Olthuis is often exporting his ideas abroad, including to China, the United Arab Emirates, India, and the Ukraine. He recognizes that American cities face the same threat towns in the Netherlands did: urban sprawl. "So we have to bring the cities back, make them more compact," he says. "That's what I hope that people in the States will learn."
Floating houses are an idea American cities should consider not just to combat sprawl. Many major cities—like New York, Washington, or Miami—could soon find themselves under water. Olthuis does, however, caution against a Waterworld-like future.He doesn't believe in cities existing solely on water due to high costs of maintenance and constant energy consumption. He thinks the future lies in already existing cities that use naturally existing water to expand and improve. His hope is that, one day, 10 percent of the Netherlands could become a blue city. But it doesn't have to stop there. "It's not only about architecture, it's not just about having fun in IJburg. It's about rethinking how we, as communities, want to live in cities."The city may not be fully built yet, but, given its multi-faceted approach to sustainable urban design, IJburg could be seen as a first step in that direction. At the very least, it is an already existing example for how to successfully integrate water into our cities.
This story originally appeared as "Are the Floating Houses of the Netherlands A Solution Against the Rising Seas" on Pacific Standard, an editorial partner site. Subscribe to the magazine in print and follow Pacific Standard on Twitter to support journalism in the public interest.
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'Floating Homes' technology has demonstrated usefulness
By Fane Lozman
It is an unfortunate reality that those who currently live on Eastern Shores in Maule Lake will have to abandon their homes in the next 30 years because of rising tides. The only residents around Maule Lake will be the Amirillah floating islands, and any new developments built after Miami 21-like building codes are enacted.
The current Eastern Shores residents should be making plans now for where they will be moving once North Miami Beach condemns their residences for sea water intrusion. Instead, their fears are focused on the floating islands and reflect a total lack of knowledge about floating technology that has been proven over the last century.
Just like floating oil rigs moored to the ocean floor survive Category 5 hurricanes without being torn off their moorings, floating islands use similar technology. The land-based houses around Maule Lake would be swept clean off their concrete pads as the eye wall of a hurricane similar to Andrew made a direct hit, while the Maule Lake floating islands wouldn't slide an inch off their permanent moorings.
Even more impressive is that these foam-cored, reinforced concrete islands are unsinkable, even after being pelted with 200-mph, windswept debris from the destroyed houses on shore.
The West Coast of the United States has thousands of floating homes that are a welcome addition to their communities in Washington, Oregon and California. The Maule Lake floating-island residences will introduce a new generation of floating homes to the East Coast. They will be completely self-sustaining and have the "greenest" footprint of any dwelling in South Florida.
The landlubbers whose attitude is that "I got to Maule Lake first and no one else should ever join me" forget one thing. The actual lake bottom is privately owned, and the submerged lands do not belong to those who are fortunate to live on its borders. Perhaps a 50-foot-high floating privacy screen running on the east side of Maule Lake would be soothing to these residents so they would not have to be jealous of their floating neighbors?
The floating islands will also help solve a simple reality that the political leaders of North Miami Beach can no longer ignore: New sources of tax revenue will be desperately needed to supplement the hidden pension demands of civil employees (i.e. police) over the coming years.
The 29 floating islands that will be assessed at $12.5 million each will bring in a staggering $363 million in new property assessments. This windfall for the city will be further magnified by the increased tax assessments for the Eastern Shores residents as their droopy neighborhood wakes up to become part of South Florida's most unique residential community.
Like any new technology, whether it was the Wright brothers' first airplane flight, or the $3 billon Perdido oil rig anchored in 2,438 meters of water in the Gulf of Mexico, there are "talking heads" that will refuse to accept the inevitable march of technology. It makes one wonder: How many Eastern Shores residents still have horse and buggies in their back yards?
FANE LOZMAN WON A PRECEDENT-SETTING VICTORY LAST YEAR AGAINST RIVIERA BEACH WHEN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT AGREED WITH HIM THAT HIS FLOATING HOME — WHICH THE CITY HAD SEIZED AND DESTROYED UNDER LAWS GOVERNING SHIPS AT SEA — WAS A HOUSE, NOT A VESSEL COVERED BY MARITIME LAW.
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Architects' Answer to Rising Seas: Floating Homes, abc NEWS
abc NEWS, AP Associated press, Denis D.Gray, Apr 2012
BANGKOK (AP) — A floating mosque and golf course for the submerging Maldives islands. Amphibious homes in the Netherlands lifted to safety as waters surge beneath them. A hospital perched on 400 stilts to protect patients from Thailand's devastating floods and the encroaching sea.
Around the world, architects and city planners are exploring ways mankind and water may be able to coexist as oceans rise and other phenomenon induced by climate change, including extreme, erratic floods, threaten land-rooted living.
With the Dutch at the helm, projects in the cutting-edge field of aqua-architecture are already in place, including a maritime housing estate, floating prison and greenhouses in the Netherlands. An increasing number are coming on stream, and while earlier blueprints appeared to be the stuff of science fiction, advocates say leaps of imagination are still needed given the magnitude of the danger.
"The focus on floating solutions has grown enormously. It has shifted from freak architecture to more sustainable, flexible alternatives," says Dutch architect Koen Olthuis, citing growing support by governments and interest among private investors in Asia and Russia.
"We will have to live with a more watery environment. There is no choice," says Danai Thaitakoo, a Thai landscape architect whose own Bangkok house was swamped last year as the country suffered its worst floods of modern times.
The Thai capital is also among the mega coastal cities projected by the end of this century to lie totally or partially under water as global warming boosts sea levels, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Others include Tokyo, London, Jakarta, Sydney and Shanghai — an apocalyptic prospect of mass migrations and economic crises.
While in earlier decades architects and planners, particularly Japanese and Americans, dreamed of entire marine cities housing millions, most today are proposing a mix of defending communities with barriers and building on water using floating platforms, raised or amphibious structures and solutions still being devised.
"Climate change will require a radical shift within design practice from the solid-state view of landscape urbanism to the more dynamic, liquid-state view of waterscape urbanism," says Danai, who is involved in several projects based on this principle. "Instead of embodying permanence, solidity and longevity, liquid perception will emphasize change, adaptation."
In a study for low-lying New York, Olthuis says he envisioned Manhattan ringed by a sea wall with outlying boroughs allowing water to enter and adapting. The world's Londons and Bangkoks, he says, may become "hydro-cities," their historic hearts and concentrated core development waterproofed and other areas "going with the flow."
The Netherlands, a third of which lies below sea level, has been managing water since the Middle Ages and is thus a pioneer in the field. It has exported its expertise to Indonesia, China, Thailand, Dubai and the Republic of the Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago that with a maximum elevation of about 2 meters (8 feet) is the world's lowest country. The sea-battered city of New Orleans has also sought advice from Olthuis's Waterstudio.
In the Maldives, Waterstudio has designed a network of floating islands, the first to be put in place next year, to accommodate hotels, a convention center, yacht club and villas. The "islands," secured by steel cables, are made up of pontoons with a foam core encased in concrete that can be joined together like Lego blocks. An 18-hole golf course will also be set on such platforms, each with two to three holes, connected by underwater tunnels. The $500 million project, paid for by the Maldivian government and private investors, is slated for completion in 2015.
A floating mosque, originally destined for Dubai before an economic downturn hit, is also part of the master plan, Olthuis said in an interview.
Following the principles of "water will always find its way" and "collaborating with nature," the Dutch have reversed some of their earlier strategy of tightly defending their land with dikes by allowing the sea to penetrate some areas on which housing has been constructed.
One pioneering effort was the placement of amphibious and floating homes on the River Maas in 2005. All survived major 2011 floods that forced the evacuation of villages along rain-swollen rivers.
Construction recently began on the Olthuis-designed New Water estate, 600 homes and a luxury apartment complex on land purposely inundated. Interest in water-based living and work space has accelerated over the past decade, he says, and Waterstudio's drawing boards are stacked with plans for local and international projects.
Typical amphibious houses, like the two-story ones on the Maas, consist of a structure that slides into a steel framework over a hollow foundation which, like the hull of a ship, buoys up the building when water enters.
The Maas houses sell from $310,000, about 25 percent more than equivalent homes, in part due to the cost of connecting them to utilities and drainage. But Olthuis says such linkages are simple and present no inconvenience to owners.
"Just proven technology of plug-and-play systems. All tested and used for years in Holland," he says.
"The only time you will see a difference between a floating house and the traditional one is during floods — when your house rises above the water and your neighbor's stays put," Olthuis says.
Along similar lines will be Britain's first amphibious house, recently granted planning permission along the banks of the Thames River in Buckinghamshire. The 225-square-meter (2,421-square-foot) home will be able to rise to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in the event of flooding.
Thai architect Chutayaves Sinthuphan, who will be unveiling a pilot amphibious house for the Thai government in September, says interest in such projects has grown since last year's floods, which killed more than 600 people and affected more than a fifth of the country's 64 million people.
"We have had proposals out for some time, but nobody paid much attention to them until the floods came," he says.
His Site-Specific Company has already built such houses for private clients, using modern techniques and materials but like other architects in Asia looking to a past when communities adapted well to annual monsoon season inundations.
They point to a riverside village in the southern province of Surat Thani, where everyone lived on homes atop bamboo rafts until all but three families moved on land. Those three homes were the only ones that survived last year's floods.
In the mid-19th century, almost all of Bangkok lived on houses built atop stilts or rafts. Since then, most canals have been paved over and the stilt houses replaced by a concrete urbanscape that holds back water instead of allowing it to flow through.
Architect Prisdha Jumsai has borrowed from traditional methods to design Thailand's first hospital for the aged. Work has begun on the 300-bed hospital over a permanently flooded area near Bangkok that is also subject to tides from the nearby Gulf of Thailand. Concrete stilts will raise its first floor about 4 meters (13 feet) above average water levels.
"We hope this will influence people not to just fill in land but to build on water. I think it will open up new ideas for Thais who can look to traditional architecture and make it more up-to-date in design," Prisdha says.
But this still appears to be a minority view.
"Most Thais look to Western, land-based models and most architects still don't talk about environmental concerns. They talk about how a house will look and make you feel good," says Danai. "But this will have to change. It's about survival."
Associated Press writer Mike Corder in The Hague contributed to this story.
Why the Dutch are dismantling their famous dislikes
Architectural Record, Tracy Metz
01-06-2006, Architecural Record
Complete woonwijk op het water
TED Talk of Koen in Hasselt great success
Devorar el mar
De Volkskrant about Waterstudio.NL:
Building a floating house, how does it work
Tecture Mag – Arkup


Travel Noire has always been about showcasing black travelers that inspire others to see more of the world. Brian, a travel photographer from Toronto, shares how redirected his life to make traveling a priority and a career.
Brian: Shortly after I turned 26, I began to long for so much more in life. I felt like I was only going to get that by doing something I hadn't done before; traveling to a new continent. Little did I know, I had a gift for planning & photography and an audience on Instagram that was curious to learn the ins and outs of travel. That's when I realized I should really be taking traveling a bit more seriously!
Secret #1: Flying for miles on end doesn't get you free flights. Strategically opening up credit cards do though.
Secret #2: When searching flights, be creative with your starting and ending airports to get the best deals. You could save hundreds of dollars.
Secret #3: Invest in a good travel credit card and know the insurance coverage that comes with it. I've been able to recover over $3000 for trip disturbances that were out of my control.
I experienced this moment when I encountered some local Black village women in Fiji. They recognized that they were Fijians from an African descent! They pronounced their bloodline with so much conviction! I felt overwhelmed in that moment; just knowing that they still knew their history when the rest of the world had forgotten/hidden it.
Brian: Download Google offline maps. It's a lifesaver! It will allow you to keep track of where you are at all times. You can even help direct taxi drivers from point A to B if they're struggling to find your destination.
Brian: I haven't quite figured out my 2018 plans yet. I've been to about 60 countries and I still feel like I haven't seen much. Just make sure to follow me on Instagram @whereintheworldisb to find out where I'm off to next!


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Frédérique Bredin (born 2 November 1956) is a French politician who used to serve as president of the National Center of Cinematography and the moving image (CNC). Born in Paris, Bredin graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies, as well as the École nationale d'administration, graduating in 1980 alongside fellow French Socialist Party (PS) politicians François Hollande, Michel Sapin, and Ségolène Royal.

Bredin began her political career serving under Jack Lang during his time as Culture Minister of France, then in 1986 became cultural advisor to President François Mitterrand. She ran in the 1988 legislative election out of a constituency in Seine-Maritime. She won election to the National Assembly, and at 31 years of age she was the youngest member of the Assembly at that time. In 1989, Bredin was elected mayor of Fécamp, and on 16 May 1991 she was named Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. She held that position until 29 March 1993, when the PS was removed from power.

In the 1994 European Parliament elections, the PS won 15 seats; Bredin was awarded one of them, and served until 1996. In 1995, she was named national secretary for the PS, with her role placing an emphasis on culture and communication; she served in that role until 2000. After her term ended, she retired from politics and got a job at the Lagardère Active. In 2013, Bredin was named president of the CNC, and was reappointed to the same position in 2016.

Her father, Jean-Denis Bredin, was an attorney who was the founder of the law firm Bredin Prat.

References

1956 births
Living people
Politicians from Paris
Socialist Party (France) politicians
Women government ministers of France
Women members of the National Assembly (France)
Mayors of places in Normandy
Sciences Po alumni
École nationale d'administration alumni
Inspection générale des finances (France)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This is all we could round up. But we'll be rounding down from now on.
Just wanted to note that for the 1940s, that was a pretty distinctive design.
I hope this one isnt being torn down. Nice simple lines. I think the house is a pleasure to look at.
Which is why it must go away. Braes Heights, three listing photos (all of the front), and not even a mention of the number of bedrooms or baths…and next year, this will be a gargantuan faux Tuscan villa or some such, now that giant faux Georgian piles of brick are no longer as much in favor.
the sooner this thing is WHACKED, the better.
An original 1600 sq ft house in that area is a tear down waiting to happen. It's just not economic to keep those houses, regardless of how nice they look.


Hodgson, A. (2011) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: a new technique for surveying marine mammals. In: 48th Annual Conference of the Australian Marine Science Association, 3 - 7 July, Fremantle, Western Australia.
Aerial surveys of marine mammals are routinely conducted within Australia and internationally to assess and monitor their habitat use and population status. This information is critical for conserving and managing human impacts on these species. In Australia, dugongs (dugong dugon) and humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whales are the most regularly surveyed using this method. The datasets produced from dugong aerial surveys have formed the basis of dugong density models that predict their critical habitat and allows for risk assessments. Aerial surveys have become increasingly used to provide baseline data and in monitoring to assess the impacts of new developments. However, the surveys are best suited for providing information over large spatial scales, and there are limitations in the temporal and spatial scale to which these surveys can detect changes in abundance and distribution of populations. The potential for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to improve surveys and provide an alternative technique to assessing marine mammal populations and habitat use is currently being investigated. The first Australian UAV survey trial was conducted in Shark Bay, Western Australia in September 2010. Insitu Pacific Ltd programmed a ScanEagle UAV with a digital SLR camera payload to fly a set of transects over a 1.296 km2 area known to be frequented by dugongs. Dugongs, dolphins, turtles, whales and other marine fauna were successfully identified, and detection of marine fauna under various environmental conditions and at a range of altitudes was assessed. UAVs have the potential to increase the accuracy of detection, location and identification of species by providing a permanent, high resolution, visual records of sightings and an exact GPS position of each animal within an image. This technique eliminates issues related to availability of experienced observers and fatigue during surveys. UAVs surveys can also be conducted over a smaller spatial scale than manned surveys as the aircraft can fly lower and maintain more precise flight paths. This means that an area of interest can be surveyed at high intensity to obtain detailed marine fauna use of the area. Other advantages of UAVs include eliminating human risk and potentially reducing costs of aerial surveys.


Look your best in this Shyanne Women's Plaid Button-Up Sleeveless Top. This multi-colored plaid top, features a collarless, v-neck button down placket with rounded hem. Match up with a nice pair of jeans and boots to complete your western look for Fall season.


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Book Rating (50)
Written By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
Narrated By: Fred Sanders
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and now a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS, The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane "biography" of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.
Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist's precision, a historian's perspective, and a biographer's passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years.
The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out "war against cancer." The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist.
From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave may have cut off her diseased breast, to the nineteenth-century recipients of primitive radiation and chemotherapy to Mukherjee's own leukemia patient, Carla, The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through fiercely demanding regimens in order to survive—and to increase our understanding of this iconic disease.
Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer.
Science & Technology >
J Olsen
Thorough accurate and compelling story of cancer as one of diseases of greatest impact on our personal and collective lives. A rich narrative which brings to light both the personal, institutional and global accomplishments with the victories and losses over cancer getting equal discussion. The author also honors casualties of the ongoing battle and heartbreaking tragedies and the major victory's. Optimism is overriding that progress has been made but much more progress is to come in the future. Definitely a must read for anyone in medicine, biological science, healthcare or who has been affected by cancer. It seems that cancer plays a major role in our all of our lives whether we like it or not!
Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
by Siddhartha Mukherjee
This title is due for release on December 15, 2015.
This title is due for release on December 15, 2015


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Homechevron_rightWorldchevron_rightPak again denies...
date_range 2 July 2017 9:50 PM GMT
Pak again denies consular access to Jadhav, says not civilian
Islamabad: Pakistan Sunday again rejected India's demand for consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav handed down the death penalty by a military court, saying it would be a "travesty of logic" to link his case with Indian civilian prisoners languishing in Pakistani jails.
India Saturday had sought consular access to the 46- year-old Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer sentenced to death in April by Pakistan's Field General Court Martial for "involvement in espionage and sabotage activities."
Pakistan's Foreign Office said in a statement today that "the Indian attempt to equate Commander Jadhav's case with civilian prisoners and fishermen is a travesty of logic."
It claimed Jadhav was a serving Indian Navy officer "and was sent to Pakistan by its intelligence agency RAW for espionage, terrorism and subversive activities which resulted in loss of many innocent lives and damage to property."
Pakistan has dismissed India's consular access request to Jadhav more than 15 times. And India has accused Pakistan of repeatedly violating the Vienna Convention by doing so.
India moved the International Court of Justice against Jadhav's death penalty and the ICJ on May 18 restrained Pakistan from executing the death sentence.
Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he was dealing with his business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.
The denial for consular access came a day after India and Pakistan exchanged a list of prisoners lodged in each other's jails. According to the list Pakistan shared with India, at least 546 Indian nationals are lodged in its jails.
The lists were exchanged as per the provisions of the bilateral agreement on consular access signed on May 21, 2008.
As per the pact, such lists have to be exchanged twice a year, on January 1 and July 1.
The Foreign Office also said that Pakistan is committed to implement the 2008 agreement and ensure that humanitarian cases are not held hostage to politics. "We expect India to reciprocate through action rather than rhetoric."
It said five Indian nationals, who had completed their sentences, were repatriated on June 22. "In contrast, 20 Pakistani civilian prisoners who have completed their sentence still await repatriation, while consular access to 107 Pakistani fishermen and 85 civilian Pakistani prisoners is also pending," it said.
"Indian humanitarian claims appear contrary to reality in view of the impossible conditions imposed for medical visas for Pakistani patients," it claimed.


Fort Bend County Precinct 1 Commissioner, Vincent Morales, swore in the Board of Trustees at the September Board meeting.
The Texana Board if Trustees is made up of 9 members. 5 are appointed from each of the Fort Bend County Commissioners and County Judge. Matagorda, Waller and Wharton County Commissioner's Courts each appoint one member and a member is appointed jointly from Austin and Colorado Counties.
PHOTO L to R: Commissioner Vincent Morales; John Robson; Randy Reichardt; Dr. Dennis Young; Dianne Wilson; Dr. Mary desVignes-Kendrick; Sue Fagan; Anita Christensen and Willie Greer. Not pictured Mary Rose Zdunkewicz.


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Additional Policyholder Allies Emerge in the Fight for COVID-19 Business Interruption Coverage
April 2020 Commentary
The Situation: In an ongoing effort to discourage commercial policyholders from pursuing COVID-19-related business interruption claims, the insurance industry continues to issue sweeping pronouncements of alleged "no coverage" for such losses.
The Result: As these battle lines are being drawn, the executive and legislative branches of numerous state governments have issued orders and proposed legislation which may be of assistance in holding property insurers accountable for their COVID-19 coverage obligations.
Looking Ahead: Commercial policyholders should closely monitor these developments as they prepare their COVID-19 business interruption claims and evaluate potential forums for related insurance recovery litigation.
For weeks now, the insurance industry has been hard at work seeking state and federal government assistance for the COVID-19-related business interruption claim exposures they simultaneously purport not to have.
In the meantime, the executive and legislative branches of numerous state governments have emerged as potential allies of policyholders, as illustrated by executive orders and proposed legislation designed to reinforce the obligations of property insurers for COVID-19 coverage.
Although the outcomes of these initiatives remain to be seen, the states in which they have been advanced may present potentially attractive venues for policyholders forced to litigate their COVID-19 insurance claims, and these developments should therefore be closely monitored as part of such decision-making.
Policyholders Should Carefully Review COVID-19 Executive Orders
Policyholders should continue to collect and review the COVID-19-related executive orders affecting their businesses, which may become critical to the pursuit of COVID-19-related business interruption coverage.
Notably, a number of these orders directly contradict insurers' proclamations that COVID-19 allegedly does not cause "physical loss" to property. For instance, the March 16, 2020, shelter-in-place order issued by the Office of the New York City Mayor expressly acknowledged and was predicated on, in relevant part, the fact that COVID-19 "physically is causing property loss and damage." Emergency Executive Order No. 100.
Similarly, the March 31, 2020, shelter-in-place extension order of the Sonoma County Health Officer also expressly acknowledged and was issued, in relevant part, "because the [COVID-19] virus physically is causing property loss or damage due to its proclivity to stay airborne and to attach to surfaces for prolonged periods of time." Order No. C19-05.
Such orders are beneficial to policyholders insofar as they confirm what the insurance industry has refused to admit publicly: (i) that the presence of COVID-19 constitutes physical loss or damage to property; and (ii) that COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders trigger the "civil authority" business interruption coverage contained in their policies.
Policyholders Should Also Closely Monitor Proposed COVID-19 Insurance Legislation
Over the past month, the legislators of numerous states have introduced bills that would require property insurers to indemnify COVID-19-related business interruption losses under their existing policies. In effect, this legislation codifies policyholders' reasonable expectations concerning the availability of coverage under their all risks commercial property insurance policies for COVID-19-related losses. Among other things, such legislation would expressly override insurers' attempted application to COVID-19 losses of so-called "virus" exclusions. Even absent such legislation, the validity of virus exclusions has recently been called into question, given potential insurer misrepresentations when obtaining regulatory approvals for such provisions.
For example and most recently, on April 15, 2020, a bipartisan coalition of Pennsylvania state senators introduced bill S.B. 1114 (titled the "COVID-19 Insurance Relief Act"), which would apply to all active insurance policies with effective dates prior to March 6, 2020. Under its terms, S.B. 1114 would declare that such property insurance policies "shall be construed to include among the covered perils coverage for loss or property damage due to COVID-19," as well as "coverage for loss due to a civil authority order … caused by the COVID-19 disease pandemic."
In addition, S.B. 1114 defines "property damage" in an insurance policy to include, in the context of a "commercial establishment or other area of business activity," direct physical loss to tangible property as a result of "the presence of a person positively identified as having been infected with COVID-19" within either the property or the same municipality where the property is located, or the presence of COVID-19 having otherwise been detected in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
However, Pennsylvania is not alone in this regard and the state legislatures of Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, and South Carolina have each also introduced similar bills. See New Jersey A.B. 3844 (introduced March 16, 2020); Massachusetts S.D. 2888 (introduced March 24, 2020); Ohio General Assembly H.B. 589 (introduced March 24, 2020); New York A.B. A10226 (introduced March 27, 2020); Louisiana S.B. 477 (introduced March 31, 2020); and South Carolina S. 1188 (introduced April 8, 2020). While containing some differences as compared to S.B. 1144 (e.g., most would apply only to businesses with less than 100 or 150 employees), these additional bills would also require existing property insurance policies to indemnify COVID-19-related business interruption losses.
Likewise, on April 14, 2020, United States Representative Mike Thompson (CA-05) introduced H.R. 6494 (titled the "Business Interruption Insurance Coverage Act of 2020"). If enacted, this federal legislation would similarly require commercial property insurers to indemnify COVID-19-related business interruption losses and would also nullify any exclusions for viral pandemics contained in existing property insurance policies.
Policyholders should continue to monitor the progress of these and future legislative initiatives designed to address insurers' COVID-19-related coverage obligations, which, regardless of their outcomes, may provide valuable insights in connection with forum issues for COVID-19 insurance recovery litigation. In the meantime, for more in-depth discussion of COVID-19 insurance coverage considerations, please see our related Commentaries: Time for a Policy Checkup: Maximizing Insurance Coverage for Coronavirus Losses and Policyholders Should Anticipate and Prepare to Defeat Insurer COVID-19 Coverage Denials.
Commercial policyholders should continue to treat the insurance industry's public posturing with skepticism and remain mindful that there are various potentially available avenues for the recovery of COVID-19-related business interruption losses under the terms of many commercial property insurance policies.
Commercial policyholders should carefully review the COVID-19 executive orders impacting their businesses, a number of which directly contradict insurers' proclamations that COVID-19 allegedly does not cause "physical loss" to property and may become critical to the pursuit of COVID-19-related business interruption coverage.
Commercial policyholders should closely monitor proposed COVID-19 insurance legislation, which, regardless of its outcome, may provide useful insights regarding forums for potential COVID-19 insurance recovery litigation.
Jones Day publications should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information purposes only and may not be quoted or referred to in any other publication or proceeding without the prior written consent of the Firm, to be given or withheld at our discretion. To request reprint permission for any of our publications, please use our "Contact Us" form, which can be found on our website at www.jonesday.com. The mailing of this publication is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. The views set forth herein are the personal views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Firm.
Tyrone R. Childress
Practice Leader Insurance Recovery
Los Angeles + 1.213.243.2422
tchildress@jonesday.com
Practice: Insurance Recovery
Tara C. Kowalski
tckowalski@jonesday.com
Jason B. Lissy
New York + 1.212.326.3676
jlissy@jonesday.com
January 2023 Commentary
Four Ways to Protect Your Cyber Insurance in Today's Challenging Market
October 2022 Commentary
Maximizing Insurance Recoveries for Hurricane Ian Losses and the Remainder of the 2022 Hurricane Season
August 2022 Alert
Ninth Circuit Rejects Insurer's Attempt to Apply D&O Policy's "Insured vs. Insured" Exclusion to Defeat Coverage
August 2022 Commentary
Evaluating Directors and Officers Liability Coverage for Emerging ESG-Related Risks
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Our team is composed of highly skilled and ambitious individuals, with a broad range of interests, including Machine Learning, Power Systems, and Complex Systems. From creating experiments and prototyping implementations to testing and deploying promising ideas quickly and safely, our researchers work on real-world problems with a focus on understanding and improving the efficiency of electricity grids. They are also active in the wider research community by partnering with universities, publishing research papers, and attending conferences.
Design, implement, and test models to meet research goals.
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Present research clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing, for internal and external use as appropriate.
Collaborate with and maintain relationships with external research labs, publish research papers and attend conferences.
Keep up with the literature in the academic domain.
MSc/PhD in Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Statistics, or other related disciplines.
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Experience with numerical and scientific computing concepts and methods.
Good coding skills, preferably experience with Python and/or Julia.


We were thrilled to have a chat with Hannah Rose, beauty blogger @hvrbeauty on Instagram... Check out what she had to say on our bath salts!
"Essential oils are a great addition to a lovely soak and these Relax, Naturally bath salts from Geo Mitchell smell wonderful and contain a de-stressing lavender blend."
"My skin felt beautifully soft after soaking in the salts and it was great for relieving muscular tension in my shoulders. Epsom is beneficial for inflammation, cramps and joint pain and the minerals found in dead sea salt help to detoxify the body and heal the skin. The essential oils calmed my whirring brain and I had a blissful night's sleep."
Beauty blog that you provided are really good and also useful.I like your blog take on Beauty products topic is well-written and original,it's give such a great information which is very helpful.thanks for sharing such a grate ideas.
We had a chat with Amber Dillon who runs @skinandselfcare on Instagram. Amber is a lover of clean skincare and ethical brands, which is exactly the reason why we thought we should catch up with her, hear her thoughts and her beauty tips in this hot weather!