Aequorea: Vicent Callebaut Oceanskyscrapers
Tall Buildings magazine readers are offered the article devoted an innovative project of the iconic Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut, which represents unusual description of the inspiring architectural concept in the form of an open letter of the future habitant. He is trying to focus people’s attention to the environmental problems and highlight negative urbanization effects. The architect, worldwide known for his sustainable projects, on behalf of a fictional character describes Aequorea concept features implying complete rethinking of the vertical structures and the ways of their construction. Detailed description of the new environmentally friendly materials, megastructures construction ways and ocean problems are originally presented in the architect’s appeal to the people of the Land.
An Open Letter to the People of the Land
Hi People of the Land,
My name is Océane. I’m 15 years old. I’m an aquanaut teen. I was born in immersion in 2050 in an underwater farm called “Aequorea” off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Bio-inspired, the farm draws its name from a bioluminescent, light-emitting jellyfish characterized by its articulated, webbed tentacles. These tentacles enable it to swim and ensure its stability, while producing its own energy.
My grandparents are oceanographers and architects. For the past 50 years, they’ve been participating in the collaborative construction of Aequorea. It’s a genuine underwater village printed in 3D from algoplast, a composite material they invented that mixes algae with garbage from the 7th continent. You know, the 7th continent? That infamous soup of plastics formed at the beginning of the century in the heart of the five main ocean gyres, where the Coriolis effect causes the currents to swirl.
Full content of this issue you can read here
The full version of the article can be read in our printed issue, also you can subscribe to the web-version of the magazine
Materials provided by VINCENT CALLEBAUT ARCHITECTURES
English translation: MARIANNE O’DONNELL