Creating a man-made island is a tall order on its own, but designing one that also acts as an artificial reef and fosters marine life is another challenge entirely.
The French-Romanian architectural team of Quentin Perchet, Thomas Yvon, and Zarko Uzlac, has done just that with its award-winning Biodiver[city] project, Inhabitat reports. The design was recently announced as one of the Jacques Rougerie Foundation’s International Architecture Competition laureates.
The proposed island would allow visitors to view the enormous faux-reef and its accompanying marine life from the water’s surface to its depths, functioning as an educational center and marine life reserve. Animals would be free to come and go as they pleased, rather than trapped in captivity.
Visitors would need a boat to reach the island, where, once aboard, they could see three levels of exhibitions and concessions above water. Below the surface, visitors would descend past animals such as whales and dolphins to reach fish, coral, and reef-dwelling microorganisms. The project was designed to give people a chance to see marine life in its natural habitat.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Clark Group, Mortenson among nation's busiest state/local government contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 40 State/Local Government Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit /giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Call for entries: Building enclosure design awards
The Boston Society of Architects and the Boston chapter of the Building Enclosure Council (BEC-Boston) have announced a High Performance Building award that will assess building enclosure innovation through the demonstrated design, construction, and operation of the building enclosure.
| Aug 11, 2010
Portland Cement Association offers blast resistant design guide for reinforced concrete structures
Developed for designers and engineers, "Blast Resistant Design Guide for Reinforced Concrete Structures" provides a practical treatment of the design of cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures to resist the effects of blast loads. It explains the principles of blast-resistant design, and how to determine the kind and degree of resistance a structure needs as well as how to specify the required materials and details.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, CH2M Hill, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the 75 largest federal government design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Federal Government Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Manhattan's Pier 57 to be transformed into cultural center, small business incubator, and public park as part of $210 million redevelopment plan
LOT-EK, Beyer Blinder Belle, and West 8 have been selected as the design team for Hudson River Park’s Pier 57 at 15th Street and the Hudson River as part of the development group led by New York-based real estate developer YoungWoo & Associates. The 375,000 square foot vacant, former passenger ship terminal will be transformed into a cultural center, small business incubator, and public park, including a rooftop venue for the Tribeca Film Festival.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler, HOK, HDR among the nation's leading reconstruction design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 100 Reconstruction Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Brunswick, Maine
Since its founding in 1794, when what is now the state of Maine was still part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bowdoin College has played a pivotal role in the educational and cultural life of Maine. Contributing to that role for more than a century has been the Walker Art Building, an 1894 McKim, Mead & White-designed structure and home to the college’s Museum of Art.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler among eight teams named finalists in 'classroom of the future' design competition
Eight teams were recognized today as finalists of the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom. Finalists submitted designs ranging from an outdoor classroom for children in inner-city Chicago, learning spaces for the children of salt pan workers in India, safe spaces for youth in Bogota, Colombia and a bamboo classroom in the Himalayan mountains.