Life at water's edge is idyllic when nature is calm. But how can shelter, a basic human need, adapt and respond in situations of natural disaster and post-disaster? The state of how we live with water---with various phases of stability, interference, and transition---repeat and intermingle and demonstrate nature's cyclical ways. By studying a third world site that seasonally floods (the Mekong River Delta region in southern Viet Nam), this thesis proposal investigates the extra small scale of alluvial semi-permanent housing. Structural lightness, material flexibility, and renewability are key, hence the choice of bamboo as a construction material. Another consideration would be assemblage and construction for rapid deployment in post-disaster/emergency/temporary situations such as refugee housing, construction worker housing, etc. Coupled with this investigation are the various implications of economic, environmental, geopolitical and cultural factors affecting those whose livelihoods are intricately tied to living at water's edge.