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 Is Jason Pomeroy all at sea?

When you achieve something as rare as getting Jason Pomeroy to sit down in one place at one time to talk about his work, you cannot help but wonder if this man has his feet firmly on the ground or is he all at sea?

Ken Hickson recently met with the well-travelled architect to discuss his projects past, present and future, encountering his insistence that for many of us our future will not be on land but on water, in waterborne communities.

Climate change, with associated temperature and sea level rise, means we must move into more marine environments, in harmony with nature, of course.

Sustainability and green buildings have always been a major pre-occupation for him – and he’s completed a number international award winning projects on terra firma – but now he openly talks about “the blues”.

No, this is not an architect going through a depression experience, but “blue” as in ocean and skies. Blue, as in going beyond green buildings on land to maximising the marine environment for living, trade and tourism, without sacrificing natural habitats.

And taking into account that temperatures and sea levels are rising, it makes sense to design “safe houses” and marine cities that “ride the waves”.

Already Jason has done a lot of visionary work on these blue concepts – in the last year or so working with the Finnish marine company Warstila on SEA02 “An Oceanic Awakening” – and he’s devoted a lot of attention to many other parts of the world to maximise the coastline and ocean.

Besides his work in Saudi Arabia and Singapore – with the James Cook University – and his recent talk at an Asian Development Bank forum on “Digital Solutions for a More Liveable Future” , it’s not easy to keep up with Jason, with his Pomeroy Studio, he Pomeroy Academy, not forgetting his award winning television series, City Redesign (Singapore), City Time Traveller and Smart Cities 2.0.

Back in 2016,  when Jason was interviewed by CNN, he talked about rising sea levels and that humans will be forced to build on water.

“Water accounts for two thirds of the Earth’s surface,” he tells CNN. “We need to think about new methods of urbanising to accommodate population growth.”

Not only will waterborne communities solve problems of inner-city densification and be energy efficient, Pomeroy believes they could be flood, earthquake and weather proof.

He seriously believes that waterborne communities, made possible by a combination of floating or pier architecture may present an answer to future urban growth that will alleviate urbanisation pressures in over-populated inner city centres, which, by 2050, will house 70% of the global population.

Of course, perceptions have to change, but it is a fundamental step to take in creating more sustainable urban developments that can accommodate water level rise, rather than ‘conflict’ with it.

One city that is water challenged more than anywhere else on earth – and extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts – is Venice. And that’s where Jason has spent a lot of time working on concepts and teaching.

He’ll be there next month to run a course on Cultural Sustainability and Conservation.  The setting of Venice is important for more than one reason.

Students will attend core sustainable and conservation lectures in the morning, enjoy walking tours in the afternoon, plus lateral lectures in the evening.

Experiencing the city first hand –  its challenges and its dependence on water – should give the students a taste of this architect’s “blue vision” for future liveability in accord with the natural world and a changing climate.

About Jason Pomeroy:

Professor Jason Pomeroy is an award-winning architect, academic, author and TV personality at the forefront of the sustainable built environment agenda. He graduated with Bachelor and Postgraduate degrees with distinction from the Canterbury School of Architecture; received his Master’s degree from Cambridge University, and his PhD from the University of Westminster.

Jason is the Founding Principal of evidence-based interdisciplinary sustainable design firm Pomeroy Studio, and sustainable education provider, Pomeroy Academy.

He has also authored Pod Off-Grid: Explorations in Low Energy Waterborne Communities (2016), The Skycourt and Skygarden: Greening the Urban Habitat (2014) and Idea House: Future Tropical Living Today (2011).

Jason is a special professor at the University of Nottingham, James Cook University, and the Universita IUAV di Venezia.

More on Jason on the  Pomeroy Studio website.