Designs to deal with the rising tides

The terrific blog Inhabitat has an intriguing article about the winning entries in the Rising Tides competition, wherein entrants came up with ways to deal with what could be a 55″ rise in the San Francisco Bay waters in the next century.

From Inhabitat’s recap:

Another mind-boggling solution to the high-water mark is Folding Water, by Kuth Ranieri Architects. The proposal is an alternative to the traditional barrier dike: this one placed in the middle of the bay, maintaining current water levels with a series of pump walls and artificial estuaries. It looks invisible: reminiscent of what we hope our future impact to be: undetectable.

The competition ended up with 6 winners sharing a $25,000 prize, and there were a handful of Honorable Mentions highlighted as well. The whole thing — the competition, the plethora of entries, the thoughtfulness and cleverness of the entries — was a great reminder to me that makers hold the key to surviving the next 100 years and beyond.