SeasteadingFuturists have long been fascinated with how people will live in years to come and where technology will enable humanity to settle.
Well, it seems the future is just over the horizon, as architects begin planning the first ever floating city.
Artisanopolis, the brainchild of the Seasteading Institute, is a vast tourist complex which will float in the seas off the coast of French Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean.
Jacopo WertherAfter signing an agreement with the government of French Polynesia, the American company hope to begin construction of this ‘permanent and innovative community floating at sea’ in 2019.
Artisanopolis is positioned at the watery mid-point between Australia’s east coast and the west coast of South America, where rising sea levels threaten 118 islands constituting French Polynesia.
Residents will be treated to sprawling sea vistas, stretching out from the middle of the ocean.
SeasteadingCreated by Gabriel Scheare, Luke & Lourdes Crowley, and Patrick White of Roark 3D and Fortgalt as a gift to The Seasteading Institute, in conjunction with the Institute’s Architectural Design Contest, this animated footage shows the plans for Artisanopolis.
SeasteadingThe futuristic tourist resort will see guests stay in glass domes, with spectacular views, completed to the highest specification beyond any Skaagen you might’ve seen in Ikea.
The white-washed hi-tech buildings will house sun loungers by the hundreds for the ultimate in relaxation.
The residential resort will branch out from a central complex into the sea and utilise solar panels to upkeep its supply of power.
YouTubeRandolph Hencken, executive director of the institute, said:
What we’re interested in is societal choice and having a location where we can try things that haven’t been tried before. I don’t think it will be that dramatically radical in the first renditions.
We were looking for sheltered waters, we don’t want to be out in the open ocean – it’s technologically possible but economically outrageous to afford.
If we can be behind a reef break, then we can design floating platforms that are sufficient for those waters at an affordable cost. We don’t have to start from scratch as this is a pilot project.
Randolph added he was confident the project could benefit the French Polynesia’s economy – and draw in a fresh wave of tourism.
I’ll start saving my pocket money now, then.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.