Morphosis Architects Floating House

It seems floating houses are getting more attention these days, moving from the whimsical and conceptual to more practical considerations. Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation, which has been working to rebuild hurricane-torn New Orleans through innovative green design, has teamed up with Morphosis Architects to unveil a home that floats when flooded.

 
Morphosis founder Thom Mayne is a winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. About this latest project, he told NPR, "We rethought the idea of a house in terms of the potential conditions of the flooding that took place in Katrina."

So if floodwaters rise, the house floats, gliding up 12-foot guideposts. It easily breaks away from electric lines and plumbing, and has batteries to power up appliances and devices inside for up to three days. It is also made with green materials.

Will this concept work on a big scale? It's too early to say, but it's certainly thinking outside of the box.

Read more