If you thought it would have never been possible for a multimillion-dollar project in Brazil to help create hundreds of jobs for Americans, think again, because it’s happening now.
The Acquario Ceará is a Brazilian public aquarium designed, engineered, financed, and currently under construction by multiple U.S. firms. The crustacean-shaped structure of steel and glass will stand along the Atlantic coast of the northeastern Brazilian city Fortaleza, designed with the hopes of being a new icon for South America.
The aquarium's intricate, exoskeleton-esque metalwork facade, designed by Imagic Brasil, the Latin American division of Cincinnati-based architect Jack Rouse Associates, will be fabricated by Kansas City, Mo.-based Zahner, whose portfolio includes two Gehry structures: the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago and the Guggenheim Canopy in New York City.
According to The Atlantic’s CityLab, International Concept Management (ICM), a small business and custom aquarium maker in Grand Junction, Colorado, is overseeing construction of the project.
The aquarium, planned to be the third largest in the world after Georgia Aquarium and Dubai Mall aquarium, is set to open in 2015. According to the Kansas City Star, the aluminum support frame and aluminum skin plates that will cover it are currently being made in Zahner’s Midwestern fabrication shops, while the state of Ceará's governmental website indicates tubes and pipes are being made in Houston under ICM's supervision. Components will be shipped south to come together for the project.
But like many projects of its scale, the aquarium is not free of controversy. Brazilian critics say the aquarium is being built without transparency, CityLab reports. Moreover, the fact that such an expensive recreational facility is being built in one of Brazil’s poorest state’s is deemed as distasteful by some.
In the U.S., critics are aimed at the project’s financial backing, which includes a $105 million direct loan from the taxpayer-funded federal export credit agency Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Related Stories
| Apr 27, 2012
APA launches wood design web portal for building and design pros
Design professionals who are members of APA’s Professional Associates are automatically enrolled in the APA Designers Circle program.
| Apr 27, 2012
China Mobile selects Leo A Daly to design three buildings at its new HQ
LEO A DALY, in collaboration with Local Design Institute WDCE, wins competition to design Phase 2, Plot B, of Campus.
| Apr 27, 2012
CSM Group names Comerford as senior project manager
Comerford’s responsibilities include directing and verifying contract compliance by the trade contractors to ensure the owner’s expectations are met in respect to a quality finished project.
| Apr 27, 2012
Hampton Bays Middle School winner of the first National Green Ribbon Schools Program
School was the first LEED-certified public school in the state of New York.
| Apr 26, 2012
USGBC announces inaugural Green Apple Day of Service
On Sept. 29, 2012, participants from all over the world will volunteer to make the schools and campuses in their communities healthier and more sustainable.
| Apr 26, 2012
Gensler's Leiserowitz: Employs holistic philosophy to foster clients' creativity, comfort
Leiserowitz became regional managing principal in Chicago for San Francisco-based architecture and design giant Gensler a little more than a year ago.
| Apr 26, 2012
Blackney Hayes Architects launches new engineering division
The new division, BHH Engineers, will be led by Mark Hershman, PE.
| Apr 26, 2012
Energy efficiency requirements heighten the importance of proper protection for roofing systems
Now more than ever, a well-insulated and well protected roof is critical in new or renovated commercial buildings.
| Apr 26, 2012
Orange County, Fla. high school receives NAIOP “Public Development of the Year” award
School replacement designed by SchenkelShultz Architecture and constructed by Williams Co.
| Apr 25, 2012
Bubble skyscraper design aims to purify drinking water
The Freshwater Skyscraper will address the issue of increasing water scarcity through a process known as transpiration