Amphibious Housing for Flood Risk Adaptation: A Review of Technological and Design Strategies

Climate change is associated with an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, particularly floods, which represent a major threat to the population, buildings, and urban settlements. The increasing exposure of the built environment to flood risk highlights the need for adaptive strategies capable of reducing building vulnerability. In this context, amphibious dwellings offer a potential adaptation strategy to flood risk, allowing buildings to temporarily adapt to changes in water levels during flood events. However, the technological and design strategies underlying amphibious architecture, as well as their applicability and technical limitations across different flood-prone contexts, require further systematic consideration. This study aims to investigate the principles, technological and design strategies underlying amphibious architecture and to examine its potential contribution to flood-resilient building design. The methodology consists of a review of the scientific literature and an analysis of nine selected amphibious housing case studies, focusing on the technological characteristics of the system adopted. The comparison of the nine case studies highlights the role of buoyancy systems and vertical guidance mechanisms in enabling the controlled temporary elevation of buildings while maintaining stability and ground contact under normal conditions, with differences in their configuration according to building characteristics and site conditions. The analysis also identifies technical limitations related to stability, buoyancy performance, guidance systems, utility connections, maintenance, and site-specific hydrological conditions that may affect their application. The findings provide practical considerations for the integration of amphibious strategies into the design of buildings located in flood-prone areas and for the development of more resilient approaches to flood risk adaptation.