Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) recently unveiled its vision for Oceanix City, a man-made ecosystem designed to grow, transform, and adapt organically over time, evolving from neighborhoods to cities with the possibility of scaling indefinitely. The idea was shown as part of the first UN high-level roundtable on Sustainable Floating Cities.
Oceanix City would be made up of modular neighborhoods of 2 hectares each that create self-sustaining communities of up to 300 residents. The neighborhoods would provide mixed-use space for living, working, and gathering. The built structures in the neighborhoods wouldn’t rise higher than seven stories to create a low center of gravity and resist wind. The buildings fan out to self-shade internal spaces and the public realm to lower cooling costs and maximize roof area for solar capture. Communal farming makes up the heart of each platform. Underneath the platforms, biorock floating reefs, seaweed, oysters, mussels, scallops, and clam farming clean the water and accelerate ecosystem regeneration.
Six neighborhoods can be clustered around a protected central harbor to create larger villages of 12 hectares that can accommodate up to 1,650 residents. A sheltered inner ring is surrounded by social, recreational, and commercial functions to encourage citizens to gather and move around the village. Residents can use electric vehicles to easily walk or boat through the city.
Six villages can then connect to reach a critical density and form a city of 10,000 residents. A large, protected harbor is formed at the center of the city and each city will include six landmark neighborhoods with a public square, market place, and centers for spirituality, learning, health, sport, and culture. These landmark neighborhoods will draw residents from across the city and anchor each neighborhood in a unique identity.
See Also: AIA awards six projects with the 2019 AIA/ALA Library Building Award
The floating cities can be prefabricated on shore and towed to their final destination, and when this is paired with the low cost of leasing space on the ocean, it creates an affordable model of living that can be rapidly deployed to coastal megacities in dire need.
In addition to BIG, Oceanix City collaborators include: MIT Center for Ocean Engineering, Mobility in Chain, Sherwood Design Engineers, Center for Zero Waste Design, Transsolar KlimaEngineering, Global Coral Reef Alliance, Studio Other Spaces (Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann), Dickson Despommier.
Related Stories
| Jan 21, 2011
Primate research facility at Duke improves life for lemurs
Dozens of lemurs have new homes in two new facilities at the Duke Lemur Center in Raleigh, N.C. The Releasable Building connects to a 69-acre fenced forest for free-ranging lemurs, while the Semi-Releasable Building is for lemurs with limited-range privileges.
| Jan 21, 2011
Sustainable history center exhibits Fort Ticonderoga’s storied past
Fort Ticonderoga, in Ticonderoga, N.Y., along Lake Champlain, dates to 1755 and was the site of battles in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The new $20.8 million, 15,000-sf Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center pays homage to the French magasin du Roi (the King’s warehouse) at the fort.
| Jan 21, 2011
Virginia community college completes LEED Silver science building
The new 60,000-sf science building at John Tyler Community College in Midlothian, Va., just earned LEED Silver, the first facility in the Commonwealth’s community college system to earn this recognition. The facility, designed by Burt Hill with Gilbane Building Co. as construction manager, houses an entire floor of laboratory classrooms, plus a new library, student lounge, and bookstore.
| Jan 20, 2011
Construction begins on second St. Louis community center
O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex in St. Louis, designed by local architecture/engineering firm KAI Design & Build, will feature an indoor aquatic park with interactive water play features, a lazy river, water slides, laps lanes, and an outdoor spray and multiuse pool.
| Jan 20, 2011
Community college to prepare next-gen Homeland Security personnel
The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., began work on the Homeland Security Education Center, which will prepare future emergency personnel to tackle terrorist attacks and disasters. The $25 million, 61,100-sf building’s centerpiece will be an immersive interior street lab for urban response simulations.
| Jan 19, 2011
Extended stay hotel aims to provide comfort of home
Housing development company Campus Apartments broke ground on a new extended stay hotel that will serve the medical and academic facilities in Philadelphia’s University City, including the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The 11,000-sf hotel will operate under Hilton’s Homewood Suites brand, with 136 suites with full kitchens and dining and work areas. A part of the city’s EnergyWorks loan program, the project aims for LEED with a green roof, low-flow fixtures, and onsite stormwater management. Local firms Alesker & Dundon Architects and GC L.F. Driscoll Co. complete the Building Team.
| Jan 19, 2011
New Fort Hood hospital will replace aging medical center
The Army Corps of Engineers selected London-based Balfour Beatty and St. Louis-based McCarthy to provide design-build services for the Fort Hood Replacement Hospital in Texas, a $503 million, 944,000-sf complex partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The firm plans to use BIM for the project, which will include outpatient clinics, an ambulance garage, a central utility plant, and three parking structures. Texas firms HKS Architects and Wingler & Sharp will participate as design partners. The project seeks LEED Gold.
| Jan 19, 2011
Museum design integrates Greek history and architecture
Construction is under way in Chicago on the National Hellenic Museum, the nation’s first museum devoted to Greek history and culture. RTKL designed the 40,000-sf limestone and glass building to include such historic references as the covered walkway of classical architecture and the natural wood accents of Byzantine monasteries. The museum will include a research library and oral history center, plus a 3,600-sf rooftop terrace featuring three gardens. The project seeks LEED Silver.
| Jan 19, 2011
U.S. Green Building Council Welcomes New Board Directors
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced newly elected officers and new directors to its 2011 Board of Directors, including Elizabeth J. Heider from Skanska; Kirsten Ritchi from Gensler; and Dennis Maloskey, from the Pennsylvania Governor's Green Government Council.
| Jan 10, 2011
Michael J. Alter, president of The Alter Group: ‘There’s a significant pent-up demand for projects’
Michael J. Alter, president of The Alter Group, a national corporate real estate development firm headquartered in Skokie, Ill., on the growth of urban centers, project financing, and what clients are saying about sustainability.
