title: Growing Living Islands: An Architectural Design Framework for the Growth of Living Islands in Atoll Environments
Creators: name: Linaraki, Despina
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: coral islands
subject: artificial islands
subject: design framework
subject: systems thinking

description: Coral reef ecosystems are multifunctional living structures primarily composed of corals. Corals are responsible for both growing the reef and producing sediments for the coral island growth. The reef acts as a wavebreaker, protecting the coral island from erosion. However, climate change and anthropogenic impacts endanger both the corals and the low-lying coral islands. At the same time, the lives of hundreds of people inhabiting these coral islands are threatened due to minimal land, material and technological resources. The impacts of climate change, including sea-level rise, extreme and frequent flood events, erosion, temperature increase and disturbances to the freshwater lenses, further intensify the challenges they face. Individual responses from experts aim to address the coral adaptation issue by creating coral nurseries and artificial coral reefs. Similarly, engineers try to minimise the impact of climate change on low-lying islands by constructing wavebreakers or raising structures on stilts. Simultaneously, expansion in the water is inevitable, given the limited land resources and the impact of climate change on existing islands. However, land expansion in the water often overlooks the importance of coral reefs. Despite their significance, current regulations do not consider them as fundamental elements in the design of artificial islands. As a result, human constructions in the water have been accused of environmental and coral reef degradation, causing sedimentation, erosion and pollution. Anthropogenic interventions block the water and sediment flow, damage the reef, and use living corals as construction material. This PhD research aims to bridge the gap between environmental, coral and human responses towards climate change adaptation by developing an architectural design framework that serves as a guideline when expanding land in the water of atoll environments. The significance of this PhD lies in the fact that it incorporates corals as fundamental elements in the architectural design of structures in the water. Using a design and systems thinking approach, it goes through in-depth multidisciplinary research to reveal the interconnectivity of the various systems that emerge in these environments. The framework provides tools and guidelines for structures to adapt to the environment, promote coral attachment and growth and expand the habitable land for humans. The proposed Living Islands act as a system, similar to the natural coral reef ecosystem, by growing multifunctional artificial coral reefs that act as wave breakers while providing sediments for the island's growth, increasing the local biodiversity and providing the foundation for the artificial islands. This framework is fundamental for the future of islands developed in atoll environments. The PhD is divided into 7 Chapters, starting with the summary of climate change and anthropogenic impact on the environment, corals, and humans in low-lying coral islands. The second chapter analyses various examples of artificial land expansion in the water to find patterns and develop guidelines for growth processes in aquatic environments. The third focuses on the coral island ecosystem and identifies principles to be followed when designing within atoll environments. Also, it provides the base for the development of Chapter 4, which explores opportunities and challenges when integrating corals as fundamental organisms in the design. Chapter 5 integrates the outcomes of Chapters 2 and 3 to develop and evaluate concept designs for Living Islands on atoll environments. Chapter 6 combines Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 into an architectural design framework that can be used to design Living Islands on atoll environments. The forces that generate the framework comprise the environmental, coral and human variables. The framework follows a design and systems thinking approach to combine these complex systems into one integrated design proposal. Chapter 6 tests the framework in a Maldivian coral reef by developing and evaluating various concept proposals for the growth of Living Islands. Lastly, Chapter 7, the conclusion chapter, discusses the significance of this PhD and outlines the next steps to be taken.