Rarely have floating communities seemed quite as achievable, affordable, and beautiful as “Land on Water,” a proposal for a modular building system by Danish architecture studio MAST. Take one look at these grassy manmade islands connecting small neighborhoods of houseboats to each other and communal green spaces, and you’ll likely be able to imagine living there. Minimalist but down to earth, the simple wooden structures rest on special foundations that are both adaptable and beneficial to the local marine life.

Responding to the threat of rising sea levels and other hazards of climate change, Land on Water envisions a flexible, sustainable solution that totally eliminates the need for environmentally harmful materials like styrofoam. Floating homes, campsites, community centers, small parks, and structures supporting all kinds of other functions rest on flat-pack mesh cages made of reinforced recycled plastic and filled with upcycled flotation materials.
“The system was inspired by gabion construction, an ancient technology which utilizes mesh cages filled with rubble to create extremely sturdy, low cost foundations,” says MAST. “In this case the concept is inverted; and the modular ‘cages’ are filled with locally sourced, upcycled flotation supporting the weight of any structure built on top. They are also much more adaptable than existing solutions since flotation can be added or adjusted at any time if weight is added ...