The studio of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels unveiled its prototype at the second United Nations Roundtable on Sustainable Floating Islands. Designed for the city of Busan in South Korea, with local studio Samoo, Oceanix aims to provide cutting-edge technology to coastal cities facing severe land shortages, exacerbated by climate threats. Accommodating up to 12,000 people, each of its neighborhoods will be designed for a specific purpose: living, research, or housing. The low-rise buildings on each platform, defined by their soft lines, have terraces for indoor-outdoor living. Oceanix Busan to transform “organically” over time ensures BIG, to meet the needs of the city of Busan. Thus, it could consider accommodating over 100,000 people if necessary. The floating platforms on which this city of the future would be based would be accompanied by a dozen “productive outposts,” as well as greenhouses. In addition, it would be ecologically impeccable, with zero waste, a closed-loop water system, and innovative mobility. Interconnected systems that would generate 100% of the energy required, thanks to floating photovoltaic panels but also those on the roofs. Similarly, each neighborhood will process, reduce, and recycle resources and offer innovative urban agriculture. A proposal that gives a little hope at a time when the IPCC’s warnings are increasingly alarming.

Lisa Agostini