NLÉ was thrilled to be part of the First UN-Habitat Assembly, addressing the crucial theme of “Innovation for better quality of life in cities and communities”, and to showcase a model of the Makoko Floating System (MFS™), African Water Cities project – displayed in the United Nations Office pond in Nairobi, Kenya.

MFS by NLÉ is a simple way for people to build on water by hand. It is a prefabricated, modular, floating A-frame, timber structure that can be assembled manually for developments on water in different regions.

The project was developed with a vision for locally adaptive and scalable building system, designed to transform how we urbanize areas around water. Particularly with the fact that over 80% of the world’s major cities are situated by water – many of which are prone to flooding and growing rapidly – particularly on the Asian and African continents.

True to the core of NLÉ’s practice we created a system that utilizes simple means for people to improve coexistence with their environments, using locally abundant resources. The outcome is striking in its specific triangular form, yet able to become a generic part of its local habitat, through adaptation.

We believe MFS is the future of radically improved urban environments, which provide a rounded approach to climate action while addressing development needs in our growing cities.