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
Jackie Hogan Headshot

Research-Based Approach to Architecture: Jackie Hogan M.Arch + MS.Arch ‘25

Jackie Hogan (’25 M.Arch + MS.Arch) is a dual-degree graduate of CAPLA whose work bridges architectural practice and research-driven design. Drawn to architectural history, theory and ethics, she pursued the M.Arch + MS.Arch dual degree to explore how research can shape meaningful design decisions. During her time at CAPLA, she engaged in community-centered design through Laura Carr’s studio working with the Tuba City community and completed a thesis examining architecture’s role in disaster relief and climate-related emergencies. Now working at Line + Space, Hogan brings an evidence-based approach to projects, applying research to create thoughtful spaces that connect people, culture and the environment.

Image
Block Up

CAPLA Lecturer and Alumni Win 2025 AIA Arizona Ideas Competition

Senior Lecturer in Architecture Oscar Lopez and three CAPLA alumni won first place in the 2025 AIA Arizona Ideas Competition for their proposal “BLOCK UP.” The project reimagines the urban tower as a vertical civic framework for Phoenix, integrating public space, housing and climate-responsive design into a shared, adaptable structure. Developed through close collaboration between Lopez and alumni Sal Arellano, Trevor Watson and Cameron Noble, the proposal explores how density can expand community and access beyond the street level, highlighting CAPLA’s impact on forward-thinking, civic-minded design in Arizona.

Image
The white facade of Mission San Xavier del Bac is seen against a clear blue sky. A paved path leading to the mission passes through an earthen wall fronted by cactus and other desert plants.

Rehabilitation of the Retablo Facade at San Xavier del Bac | Lecture by Starr Herr-Cardillo

Learn about ongoing work to preserve decorative finishes and restore missing and damaged elements of the retablo facade of Mission San Xavier del Bac. This work is supported by the Semiquincentennial Grant Program, administered by the National Park Service.