Cempaka Belanda: The city of tomorrow may be built on water

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.
They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The city of tomorrow may be built on water

NRC Handelsblad, by Tracy Metz, 22 December 2009 15:27

A computer rendering of the 'Citadel' building which will soon arise in The Hague's hinterland/ Photo: Waterstudio.nl

A Dutch architect imagines entire cities being built in water. In The Hague’s hinterland, this vision will soon become reality.

Save the world, build on water, that is Koen Olthuis’ core business in a nutshell. His architectural studio Waterstudio.nl designs waterborne schools, parks, roads and houses, pretty much anything actually.

Waterborne structures are easy to move. Once they are required elsewhere, a push and a tug suffice for a change of scenery.

Olthuis has even coined a term for it: ‘scarless development.’ A method of urban planning that makes for truly dynamic cities. Waterborne structures are not only useful to adapt to the fickle demands of citizens, they are also flexible enough to deal with the changing climate.

Time Magazine named Olthuis as one of the most influential people in the world in 2007. But he has been greeted with "typically Dutch" scepticism at home. His vision of the future is by no means utopian, the architect said sitting in his office in Rijswijk, a suburb of The Hague. Olthuis feels his designs are very realistic.

Fata morganas in Dubai

His first clients were the ambitious and - then - very rich project developers of Dubai. At their request, Olthuis designed floating islands shaped like verses of Arabic poetry, a waterborne rotating tower hotel, and villas situated on the famous Palm Islands. The sky was the limit. Was, since none of these projects have actually been realised yet. “One project that still stands a good chance of being built is a floating mosque. The building is very energy efficient as it uses seawater for cooling and translucent pillars let in natural light,” Olthuis said.

The Dubai-fantasies were mostly a way for Waterstudio.nl to establish its credentials. Today, the studio directs its efforts at tackling a fundamental issue many cities worldwide face. A problem made worse by the changing climate. “By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Since approximately 90 percent of the world’s largest cities are located on the waterfront, we need to find new ways of dealing with water in a manmade environment,” Olthuis said. “We have to plan for change.”

Olthuis believes in a future where ten percent of the planet’s urban water surface will serve as a foundation for waterborne buildings. Floating real estate will prove particularly attractive where building space is scarce. Olthuis envisions Lego-like urban architecture, with floating modules that need only be clicked onto their new moorings after being pulled to a new waterfront destination.

As a partner in the company Dutch Docklands, Olthuis has been party to the design of a new type of floating foundation: a concrete slab with a polystrene core. The material can easily be mass produced and allows for straightforward construction. This waterborne ‘carpet’ can serve as a foundation for sporting grounds, schools, or anything else required. The buildings can be removed as easily as they were built. Olthuis believes temporary structures are the way of the future. “Urban architects like to see themselves as God, building for all eternity. The reality is that buildings are being used for ever shorter time spans,” he said.

Water: pretty and practical

The architect feels water has become too much of an aesthetic consideration in urban areas. The Dutch historic canals have been reduced to an aquafied part of real estate agents’ sales pitches.“Only two generations ago water was used as a means of transportation,” Olthuis said. In many cities, most famously Amsterdam, local canal networks served as a backbone of local infrastructure. But waterborne construction should not be seen as a faddish plaything for urban planners, Olthuis warned. He cited the recent construction of a floating neighbourhood in Rotterdam’s historic port – only reachable by boat – as an example of waterborne architecture gone awry. In Rotterdam, living on water is presented as a niche market, catering only to a happy few. “Solutions need to have a permanent character. It should not be ‘special’ to build on water,” Olthuis said. “It will only become accepted as a construction method once it offers the same comfort durability as construction on land as the same price. Technically, we are already there, but the image still needs changing.”

Practical matters also need to be tended to. Waterborne construction requires clear and consistent regulations for all sorts of things, including insurance, financing, water, gas and electricity hook-ups, acceptable levels of water pollution and legal aspects.

Olthuis has built 50 floating homes since he founded Waterstudio.nl in 2003, together with business partner Rolf Peters. Their oeuvre ranges from an ‘amphibian’ villa in the country, to two houses on a newly constructed island near Amsterdam. Olthuis has only recently started working on his first large scale project in the Netherlands which he hope will prove the viability of his ideas. His studio is designing the urban layout for 80 hectares of reclaimed land in the hinterland of The Hague that will soon be re-flooded. Half of the 1,200 houses planned will be built on land, the other half on water. It is the first project of its scale and kind in the Netherlands.

“Floating is not dogma,” Olthuis said. “We only use it were it makes sense economically or practically. This project is our testing ground for a construction method well suited to the Netherlands wet, marshy landscape.”

(Photo: Koen Olthuis)

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