Skip navigation
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp018g84mp990
Title: The City in the Lagoon: How Makoko Builds an Alternative Form of Flood Resilience
Authors: Di Caprio, Francesco
Advisors: Chiaramonte, Maurizio
Gandelsonas, Mario
Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Class Year: 2018
Abstract: In this thesis, I explore the issue of urban flooding for slum communities in Lagos, Nigeria. While the urban poor of Lagos are the segment of the population most endangered by the regular flood events that hit the region, the century-old slum community of Makoko-Iwaya Waterfront has developed a unique urban form that allows its residents to live harmoniously with the turbulent waters of Lagos Lagoon. When people willing to learn and support this community have come, exciting new architectural forms have emerged, as when architect Kunlé Adeyemi and his firm, NLÉ, created the Makoko Floating School in 2012. Unfortunately, the Lagos State Government has a history of violent slum clearance efforts that threaten Makoko-Iwaya Waterfront’s existence. I argue that the state government’s development process is stuck in a traditional mindset of how a city ought to be that is unsuited to the flood-prone environment it is situated in. The state also ignores the innovative urban forms developing in its own slum communities, as exemplified within the Makoko-Iwaya Waterfront. Finally, I dissect what I call the Makoko model of architectural and urban development, explain how the Makoko Floating School built upon that model, and then offer my analysis and suggestions for how this line of development can be further continued.
URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp018g84mp990
Type of Material: Princeton University Senior Theses
Language: en
Appears in Collections:Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2000-2023

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
DICAPRIO-FRANCESCO-THESIS.pdf11.31 MBAdobe PDF    Request a copy


Items in Dataspace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.