Living Wetland Foundations: a nature-based architectural model for maintaining groundwater regimes beneath wooden pile buildings in tropical swamplands

Abstract Rapid urbanization in tropical wetland cities has increasingly disrupted natural groundwater regimes through land filling, soil sealing, and conventional drainage practices, resulting in the gradual deterioration of wooden pile foundations that depend on permanently saturated conditions for long-term durability. Existing studies have primarily examined wooden foundations from structural and geotechnical perspectives, while the ecological relationship between foundation performance and wetland hydrology remains insufficiently explored. This study develops a conceptual architectural model termed Living Wetland Foundation, a nature-based approach that integrates wooden pile foundations, ecological drainage systems, rainwater infiltration, and wetland hydrological processes into a unified design framework. Using a qualitative-conceptual methodology combining literature review, field observations in tropical swamplands, three-dimensional conceptual modeling, and environmental simulation, the study investigates how hydrological continuity beneath buildings can be maintained despite urban development pressures. The proposed model is founded on three principles: maintaining water-saturated conditions around wooden piles, directing rainwater infiltration toward foundation zones, and preserving ecological interactions between buildings and surrounding wetlands. The novelty of this research lies in redefining building foundations as active ecological infrastructures rather than passive structural elements. The Living Wetland Foundation model offers a new paradigm for sustainable wetland architecture by simultaneously enhancing foundation durability, groundwater recharge, and ecosystem resilience, providing a transferable design framework for tropical wetland cities facing rapid urban transformation.