The Floating City: Kate Stuteville '18 B.Arch

July 2, 2020
Who
Kate Stuteville
What
Student Work | B Arch Capstone Project, Taught by Susannah Dickinson, Associate Professor of Architecture
Where
San Francisco, California
When
2018
Image
The Floating City, by Kate Stuteville

Narrated through speculative design, The Floating City by Kate Stuteville tells the story of a future world dealing with rapidly rising sea levels and population growth, by proposing a new type of community that can inhabit a world we have yet to build upon: the water’s surface. The project begins in the year 2100 in the San Francisco Bay, where unused industrial infrastructure on the edges of the city is sacrificed to rising water, leaving these relics of the past half-submerged in a marsh landscape. Taking full advantage of the new environment, a growing population of people begin to craft a new life there, allowing for more bottom-up development than the previous setting permitted.

At their core the communities consist of osmotic power machines and fog nets that provide energy, water and an apparatus for which to build upon, attach to and come together. What forms around them comes from the ingenuity of its inhabitants, and takes full advantage of the new building surfaces by leveraging their ability to move around fluidly as the communities need. At this stage the floating communities begin to influence areas beyond their site, and possibly beyond San Francisco itself, carrying with them new implications for technology, community, culture and politics.


Image Gallery

Click a thumbnail below to view a larger image and begin slideshow:


All images are by Kate Stuteville and may not be used or reproduced without express written permission of their creator.

Latest CAPLA News, Projects and Profiles

Image
Teresa Rosano AIAS Award

Teresa Rosano receives AIAS Faculty Advisor Honor Award

Teresa Rosano, associate professor at the School of Architecture, earned the 2025 AIAS Faculty Advisor Honor Award for her mentorship, inclusive teaching, and leadership. She inspires students through community-focused, real-world architectural education and over 25 years of professional experience.

Image
Francisco Zazueta

A Force to be Reckoned With: Francisco Zazueta ‘26 B.Arch

Francisco Zazueta, a fifth-year Bachelor of Architecture student at CAPLA, was awarded the 2025 Presidential Citation by the AIA Southern Arizona Chapter for his leadership as president of the AIA Student Chapter. Recognized for his optimism and dedication to strengthening connections between students and professionals, his work focuses on mentorship, community engagement, and expanding opportunities for architecture students. Through initiatives with NOMAS and AIAS, Zazueta uses leadership and design to support a more connected, just, and resilient architectural community.