Today, as millions of people around the world gather to participate in the youth-led Global Climate Strike, architecture firms are talking about how they can help. According to the grassroots outreach initiative Architects Advocate for Action on Climate Change, more than 330 firms and individuals in architecture and design plan to participate in their local strikes.

Given that buildings account for almost 40 percent of total energy consumption in the United States, architects and designers can make a big impact in global efforts to cut carbon emissions. In fact, members of the American design and construction industry have a responsibility to contribute to the transition from fossil fuels to “a thriving zero-carbon economy,” says the group.

On Friday, millions of people around the world will walk out of workplaces & homes to join young people as they demand an end to the age of fossil fuels & climate justice for all. We proudly support our teams from around the world as they take to the streets.#ClimateStrike pic.twitter.com/ROV3TO6TCf

— Grimshaw Architects (@GrimshawArch) September 19, 2019

Our office is out! #schoolstrike4climate #ClimateStrike #GlobalClimateStrike #FridaysForFuture pic.twitter.com/bVp8Ju3Xqb

— David Morley Arch (@DavidMorleyArch) September 20, 2019

Young people from more than 150 countries are skipping school today as part of a series of protests led by Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg, with the aim of urging world leaders to take aggressive action against climate catastrophe. Among the largest of the protests is expected to take place in New York City, where strikers will be joined by members of American Institute of Architects New York Committee on the Environment.

In the UK, firms like Stanton Williams, Grimshaw and dRMM have joined the strikes, but they’re pledging to do more than just march. Some have promised to do internal reviews of their companies’ carbon footprints, while others will be taking part in industry discussions that can identify measurable changes architects and designers can make.

“At Architects Advocate, we believe the demands of the striking youth are not only reasonable, but that they resonate with our professional interests and commitments,” says Tom Jacobs, co-founder of Architects Advocate for Action on Climate Change. “That’s why we launched the #StandWithGreta campaign in support of their movement. In Chicago, we’ll be meeting at 11:30am at Federal Plaza on September 20 to participate. Other cities around the country will organize to do the same.”

“Architects please join us in standing up for the next generation by supporting the true leaders of our time. Learn more and sign a pledge to #StandWithGreta at architects-advocate.com.”

Over a period of decades, the waters of Devils Lake slowly rose higher and higher until they enveloped an entire farming town in rural North Dakota, forcing its inhabitants to leave. Changes to the climate resulted in heavier rain, which spread across thousands of flat acres “like pouring water on a tabletop,” says photographer Paul Johnson, who grew up in a similar community not so far away. Johnson went back to his home state to document the town of Devils Lake in two seasons: winter and summer.

Located in a closed glacial basin unconnected to rivers, Devils Lake has been vulnerable to both flooding and almost completely disappearing over time, but it first began breeching the towns along its borders after long rainy period starting in 1993. The lake doubled in size by 1999. Farmers described the process as “a slow death,” watching their fields and eventually their homes and outbuildings succumb.

Though many of those structures have since collapsed, some are still standing, completely surrounded by water that freezes when the temperature drops.

“Abandoned places hold a wistful appeal to me and I think to many of us,” says Johnson in an interview with Passion Passport. “They are the final chapters of unknown stories where we’re left to ponder the details. Their quiet stillness can spur thoughts about the nature of time and the processes of decay and reclamation. In the case of Devil’s Lake, there’s the added element of these places being completely out of their original context. You just don’t expect to see a house or barn sitting in the middle of an enormous shallow lake and the experience is pretty surreal. The loss of so many farms and livelihoods gives the area a melancholy feel as well.”

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If you’re a fan of eerie nature photography and epic travel shots, Johnson’s tumblr and Instagram are well worth a look, documenting trips all over the world.

Each year, eVolo Magazine solicits visionary proposals for futuristic skyscrapers from architects around the world. Focusing on sustainability, innovation and technological advancements, the annual competition produces ideas that may not be ready to build in the immediate future, but can inspire us all to think bigger when we imagine possible solutions to common problems like overpopulation, pollution and wildlife habitat loss. The 2019 eVolo Skyscraper Competition winners and honorable mentions include everything from hyperloop transit networks in the sky to urban structures that efficiently dispose of our trash.

Methanescraper (First Place)

Taking first place is Methanescraper by Serbian designer Marko Dragicevic, a skyscraper envisioned for Belgrade that responds to problems of overpopulation, mass urbanization and pollution. Noting that our current means of “disposing” of waste is untenable and that the problem will continue to compound in the future, the proposal “changes the model of a typical landfill into a raw vertical infrastructure.”

“The towers are module-based, and every tower is consisted of waste capsules that are attached to the concrete core. Firstly, city waste is being delivered to sorting facility, where it is categorized by type (glass, plastic, organic matter, paper, wood, metal), after which it is sent to temporary landfill. The recyclable waste is taken to recycling facility, and organic matter, parts of wood and paper materials are gathered and disposed into modular waste capsules. These capsules are attached to the tower core by cranes. Every capsule is equipped with inhaler and pipeline that connects to the methane tank, and when organic matter rots, methane produced by the process is drawn from each capsule and later transformed into energy. When the matter in a capsule decomposes completely, the capsule can be taken out, cleaned and refilled.”

Airscraper (Second Place)

How can we reduce deadly levels of air pollution in increasingly congested cities? “Airscraper” by Polish designers Klaudia Golaszewska and Marek Grodzicki envision a skyscraper that wraps around a chimney structure like a sleeve. The interior tube sucks polluted air from the surrounding area and sends it through a complex filtration system consisting of an air intake module, solar gain module and green garden module to move and clean the air before sending it back out to the city.

“Many megacities have emerged across China in the recent decades. Beijing’s population will increase by 30% in the next 15 years. This means that some of Beijing’s densest districts such as Chaoyang will reach a population of 2250 inhabitants per km2. In order to create compact cities, reduce car emissions and improve health conditions, Mega cities will have to build higher towers. Our idea is to facilitate this forecasted trend by introducing a new super structure that fits the needs of a megacity by providing healthy living quarters, while helping to alleviate the air pollution. The Airscraper can house 7500 people, which is equivalent to 3 km2 of residential urban Sprawl. It also includes recreational, educational, commercial, and cultural facilities. The tower stands as a healthy vertical city.”

Creature Ark: Biosphere Skyscraper (Third Place)

Decrying the current sense of apathy over the state of our planet, U.K.-based designers Zijian Wan, Xioazhi Qi and Yueya Liu say we have to reevaluate how human activity contributes to habitat degradation and do something about it. “Creature Ark: Biosphere Skyscraper” is a vertical nature reserve and research station internally divided into five levels representing climates on Earth, each populated with endangered animals.

“The proposed skyscraper is willing to recall the close relationship between human beings and their mother nature by the form of architecture. Every component in the ecosystem could hardly behave or survive as an individual literally, hence all living creature should appropriate the gifts from nature and they should be treated and valued equally. In modern society, the form of a skyscraper, carrying multiple functions, is expected to be one of the carries that making a better future.”

Vertical Sustainable City (Honorable Mention)

Urban environments present certain constraints, most crucially in terms of available space, that must be overcome by architects as cities continue to evolve. In the near future, we may no longer have a choice but to radically transform our ideas about what urban architecture should look like in the face of climate crisis. The U.S.-based BKV Group presents “Vertical Sustainable City,” a supertall tower with a small footprint, as an example of what could be to come as we prioritize limiting urban sprawl and preserving natural environments for forests and wildlife. It contains commercial areas on the ground floor “framed within a vertical mall concept,” as well as a food production area, a vertical farm and housing.

“Having access to the vertical farm are residences in the upper half of the tower that also feature access to drone landing pads. There, electric and solar-powered drones can dock at or near the elevated housing units – taking traffic off the congested street-level, and into the air. Rising to the very top of the tower is the Office Area, arranged around wind turbines generating energy, reducing the tower’s carbon footprint, and creating water collection systems for the farming, living, and working programs. En masse, the Vertical Sustainable City creates a holistic live/work/play environment for urbanites, effectively responding to the context and elements impacting modern-day cities.”

Horizontal City of No Nation (Honorable Mention)

The world is witnessing the highest level of displacement on record. As war and climate change drives millions of people from their home nations, the urgent need to house refugees in settlements that maintain normal societal functions has never been greater. Zichen Gong, Yong Chen, Tianrong Wu, Yingzhi He and Congying He of China offer “Horizontal City of No Nation” as a means of providing refugees with shelter, security and development opportunities along international borders.

“The core part of this proposal is how to conserve their original environment and provide adequate space. Based on the narrow buffer zone, the skyscraper introduced here should not be simple stack of broken layers, but a transformation from a horizontal lifestyle to a vertical one. In this skyscraper, people can follow their previous habitats in stable societies and get adequate education, training and jobs. On the other hand, neighbouring countries will not bear too much of population influx when they provide.”

“By presenting the unusual lifestyle, we try to seek a new direction in dilemmas. Living in a world where we can not choose where we are born, we would still have a place to go. We don’t have to consider which side we’re going to be on, we can have a new one, retaining rights, identities and languages. We envision that some people will choose to return to their homeland, and they will be able to use the relevant skills learned during this period to rebuild their homes. Moreover, where will this skyscraper go after the war? Because of its normal development during the war, it may become a new and complete society.”

Connection One: Skyscrapers Network (Honorable Mention)

What if we could free up an enormous amount of space on the ground by moving transportation up into the sky in a controlled way? “Connection One: Skyscrapers Network” by Thomas Gössler of Austria addresses both congestion and pollution with a reimagining of modern transportation systems using new technologies like hyperloop. Noting that transportation could take place either below or above street level, the designer proposes towers that act as central transportation hubs while also offering space for apartments, shopping centers, offices, schools and recreational facilities.

“The top floor is part of the hyperloop infrastructure. How does hyperloop work? The pods in the pipes move forwards, accelerating until they reach a speed where they lift up, and are guided by magnets. Hyperloop One says its 670mph system will be “automated by the most advanced systems in the world, allowing a safe and efficient journey that is never delayed or overbooked.” Hyperloop or conventional trains are usually bound to the ground. However, this presents big challenges, especially in mountainous countries and densely populated areas. Therefore, the network is floating in the sky by gas-filled pillows referencing an airship. This can be achieved sustainably by using the methane produced by farm cows or even pump greenhouse gases from the atmosphere into the loop. Approximately 1000m³ of gas are needed in order to lift a metric-ton, so the construction has to be very lightweight.”

The time to talk about climate change as if it’s merely a hazy possibility that won’t occur in our lifetime anyway has long passed. Multiple recent reports have made it clear that it’s already happening, and its effects will be much worse than previously expected.

In 2016, the Paris climate accords set a goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (at which it’s already failing); the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change now says two degrees is both inevitable by the year 2040 and genocidal, set to cause the death of all coral reefs, extreme wildfires, heat waves and other weather events that will subsequently threaten the world’s food supply and transform the global economy.

Clearly, addressing the problem at its source is the most crucial course of action. For the sake of the planet and virtually all life upon it, including our own species, we must rework practically every aspect of civilization, from our energy infrastructure and agricultural practices to corporate and governmental operations (because, while the efforts require widespread support and small actions are still important, the onus to lessen the impacts of inevitable climate change cannot be placed on individuals.) Technology and architecture won’t save the world alone, but it can help, and if we’re going to head off some of the most immediate climate change effects, we have to start now.

Architects, engineers and urban planners have already begun to work on approaches that range from visions of futuristic cities that would take many decades to build from the ground up to more practical and immediate solutions that adapt to the new normal. Extreme weather, rapid influxes of climate refugees and the need to continuously evolve in response to the changing world are among the top issues to address.

Managing Fires and Floods

Flooding is inevitable. Stronger, more frequent storms are already wreaking havoc on the United States and throughout the world, leaving catastrophic flooding in their wake that can extend much farther inland than anticipated, particularly along rivers. The pace of ice melting in Greenland and Antarctica is on track to raise sea levels 26 inches by the year 2100, and many scientists consider that to be a conservative estimate. Cities like Miami, Houston, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, Lagos, London and Shanghai are at immediate risk due to groundwater extraction, soft sediments and, in Miami’s case, permeable limestone that will allow water to rise from underground.

Sea levels are rising faster on the east coast of the United States than anywhere else, and locales from North Carolina to Florida already lost 5 inches of coastline between 2011 and 2015. Researchers believe it has something to do with the slowing Gulf Stream, the effects of El Niño cycles and shifts in major Atlantic Ocean weather patterns. Experts predict that many cities could be swallowed altogether within the lifetime of children born in the current decade. 3D animated Google Earth gifs by Climate Central based on an extreme sea level rise scenario from the NOAA show us what this could look like in a few major cities, and it’s not good.

So what are cities doing to plan for this? Not much, in most cases, but that could change soon. Many of the most vulnerable cities are consulting with experts on plans of attack that involve building in safer areas, transforming the most flood-prone zones into buffer areas, integrating green spaces capable of absorbing large quantities of stormwater, elevating new structures, improving the climate resiliency of low-income housing and creating systems that work with, rather than against, a changed waterfront.

For a recent competition called Resilient by Design, which challenged design teams to reimagine the Bay Area in the face of potentially devastating climate change, global design firm HASSELL envisions a new network of green spaces and “water-loving places” connected by canals and creeks. Forging these wide, green waterways creates controlled paths for flooding and plans to use them for transport and recreation. Native plants treat runoff, a “living levee” forms a wetland for restoring habitat and holding stormwater and schools built on higher ground become hubs for water treatment and community activities.

In Boston, SCAPE Landscape Architecture collaborated with the Mayor on a vision to protect the city’s 47 miles of shoreline as part of the Imagine Boston 2030 initiative. Using the city’s Climate Ready Boston 2070 flood maps, the team demonstrates how flood-resilient buildings, elevated landscapes, waterfront parks, connections to the waterfront and a deployable flood wall system could address rising water and enhance community access to the waterfront at the same time. Key transport corridors like Main Street and Bennington Street will have to be elevated.

“We’re not just planning for the next storm we’ll face, we’re planning for the storms the next generation will face. A resilient, climate-ready Boston harbor presents an opportunity to protect Boston, connect Boston, and enhance Boston, now and for the future,” says Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “As we enter a new era in our Harbor’s history, Boston can show the world that resilience is not only the ability to survive adversity but to emerge even stronger than before. That’s the promise of a Resilient Boston.”

In fact, reintroducing natural systems could be key, all over the world. For Seoul, architect Chris Reed of ASLA proposes giving water more space in the city with the knowledge that we can’t hold it back and might as well do what we can to enjoy it. We could “bring new life and richness into the public realm” with fish parks, canal streets, water plazas and other spaces, and transform vacant land into new wetlands that bring value into adjacent neighborhoods. The city’s Cheonggyecheon River is already a great example of this approach, uncovered from beneath roadways and highways and renovated into a central riverfront offering both floodwater containment and recreational space in the heart of downtown.

Water, of course, isn’t the only force of nature we have to protect ourselves from. With wildfires raging across much of the West, many people are wondering what they can do to make their homes more fire-resistant. While land management practices will have to change in many parts of the country to anticipate and mitigate wildfires to the greatest extent possible, fireproofing could at least help salvage some structures when they can’t be stopped. The good news is, a few small changes can make a huge difference, and they can be surprisingly affordable, too.

Las Vegas-based GigaCrete makes prefab houses with recyclable, non-flammable materials including steel frames, interlocking wall panels and special wall coatings that make them hurricane resistant, bulletproof and waterproof to boot. A 576-square-foot, one-bedroom model costs just $24,000, and they can be scaled up and customized. Other approaches involve the use of tempered glass, minimizing exposed wood, non-flammable decks, rooftop sprinkler systems, mesh screens that prevent smoldering materials from getting into vents and strategies to clear brush. It’s likely that features like these will increasingly be built into new construction in fire-prone areas.

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Come Hell Or High Water Cities Must Evolve In The Face Of Climate Change

Sleep sixteen feet below the surface of the ocean at the new Conrad Muraka villa in the Maldives, nestled into bed with panoramic views of marine creatures to color your dreams. Officially the world’s first underwater hotel residence, the two-story Muraka villa is now open for booking at the same Rangali Island resort hosting the world’s first underwater restaurant, the five-star Ithaa. Of course, there is a catch, and it’s not the hyper-fresh seafood brought in each day for guests to enjoy. The suite is only accessible via a four-night $200,000 package.

Connected to the rest of the resort by jetty, the Muraka features not only an underwater bedroom and bathroom but also a private gym, bar, infinity pool, an ocean-facing bathtub, a relaxation deck, additional above-water bedrooms and butler’s quarters. The price tag includes three meals a day prepared by a personal chef on the premises, and use of a private boat. It takes its name from the word “coral” in the local Dhivehi language, and cost a reported $15 million to build.

All of its components, including the 600-ton ultra-fortified lower level, were built in Singapore and transported to the site to avoid damaging the delicate ecosystem (which is, by the way, severely threatened by the effects of climate change, to say the least.) A Conrad Resorts video gives us a peek into the process of building and assembling the villa, which sleeps nine guests in total.

With four different itineraries tailored to traveler’s preferences, including “The Wanderers” for those seeking local culture, “The Flavors” for culinary delights, “The Soul” for wellness and “The Thrill” for adventure, the Muraka is a fantasy getaway for billionaires and celebrities, as visually dazzling as it is bittersweet, especially since the Maldives’ famous coral reefs are steadily degrading.