STATUS
IN DESIGN
Oceanix City
2019
CLIENT
Oceanix
TYPOLOGY
Urbanism
SIZE M2/FT2
500,000 / 5,381,955
SHARE
By 2050, 90% of the world’s largest cities will be exposed to rising seas. The vast majority of coastal cities will be impacted by coastal erosion and flooding, displacing millions of people, while destroying homes and infrastructure. As part of UN-Habitat’s New Urban Agenda, blue tech company OCEANIX and BIG proposed a blueprint vision for the world’s first resilient and sustainable floating community for 10,000 residents: OCEANIX city.
Designed as a man-made ecosystem, OCEANIX City is anchored in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, channeling flows of energy, water, food and waste to create a blueprint for a modular maritime metropolis. In December 2021, OCEANIX City named Busan as the site in which the blueprint will be prototyped.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
FOOD KIT OF PARTS
WASTE KIT OF PARTS
WATER KIT OF PARTS
ENERGY KIT OF PARTS
KEY PRINCIPLES
Oceanix Ecosystem
NEIGHBORHOOD
— Each platform accommodates approximately 300 residents
PRODUCTIVE & COMMUNAL EDGES
— A flexible, buoyant skirt accommodates docks, wind-breaks, production, and gathering spaces. Low edges allow residents direct access to the water.
BUILDINGS
— Low-rise buildings are distributed to balance weight evenly, at 4-7 stories to create a low center of gravity and resist wind.
FOOD PRODUCTION
— Perimeter organization creates sheltered production spaces at the heart of the neighborhood.
PROGRAM DIVERSITY
— Each platform accommodates between 10,000 to 15,000 m2 of mixed-use space for living, working, and gathering.
BUILDING FORM
— Buildings fan to self-shade internal spaces and public realm, providing comfort and lowering cooling costs while maximizing roof area for solar capture.
LOCALLY-SOURCED MATERIALS
— We prioritize locally-sourced materials for all buildings, designed for easy maintenance and disassembly at end of life. For example, fast-growing bamboo with 6 x the tensile strength of steel has a negative carbon footprint and can be grown on the neighborhoods.
HABITAT REGENERATION
— Seaweed, oyster, mussel, scallop, and clam arrays beneath platforms clean the water and accelerate ecosystem regeneration.
BIOROCK REEFS
— Biorock floating reefs will regenerate habitat and create sustainable mariculture. The constellation will be arrayed around the platforms to dissipate wave energy and provide intensive whole ecosystem mariculture seafood production.
SHARED MOBILITY
— An 8 meter flexible roadway is shared by small electric vehicles, autonomous delivery robots, bikes, and pedestrians. cars and bikes are parked within the platform when not in use to reduce space demands.
FOOD PRODUCTION
— A primarily plant-based diet will reduce strain on space, energy, and water resources. Organic produce will be efficiently grown in aeroponic and aquaponic systems, complemented by traditional outdoor farms and greenhouses.
ZERO WASTE SYSTEMS
— Materials will be managed in circular loops to avoid the creation of waste. Packaging will be reusable. Domestic items will be shared and fixed at the Exchange hub. Food waste will be collected in pneumatic tubes and converted into energy and compost.
FRESH WATER AUTONOMY
— Platform systems will collect water from rain, humid air, and sea. graywater will be captured and recycled for re-use, and none of it will be released in the ocean.
NET-ZERO ENERGY
— Platforms are designed for energy efficiency. Abundant, clean, renewable energy from sun, wind, waves, and current are harnessed to power and cool the neighborhood.
BUILDING DIVERSITY
— Buildings will have distinct identities, each an experiment in passive design. Forms will be tuned to maximize solar capture and create comfortable indoor-outdoor spaces.
SHARING COMMUNITY
— Residents gather, work, and play in an activated public realm. Diverse building terraces provide indoor-outdoor living and encourage socializing with neighbors. Innovative opportunities allow sharing of resources while creating community, from co-living to compost gardens, to fixing collaboratives.
NEIGHBORHOOD
— The mixed-use platform accommodates approximately 300 residents.
VILLAGE
— A cluster of six neighborhoods creates a community of 1,650 residents.
CITY
— Aggregating to reach a critical density, 6 neighborhoods cluster to form a city of 10,000 with a strong sense of community and identity.
SPECIAL PROGRAM NEIGHBORHOODS
— Six specialized neighborhoods create destinations and landmarks, drawing residents from across the city and anchoring each neighborhood in a unique identity.
SPECIAL PROGRAM NEIGHBORHOODS
— Six specialized neighborhoods create destinations and landmarks, drawing residents from across the city and anchoring each neighborhood in a unique identity.
OUTPOSTS
— Wave-breaking outposts are placed around and throughout the city, allowing for additional energy and food production while providing destinations for residents.
OCEANIX City is designed to grow, transform and adapt organically over time, evolving from neighborhoods to cities with the possibility of scaling indefinitely. Modular neighborhoods of 2 hectares create thriving self-sustaining communities of up to 300 residents with mixed-use space for living, working and gathering during day and nighttime. All built structures in the neighborhood are kept below 7 stories to create a low center of gravity and resist wind. Every building fans out to self-shade internal spaces and public realm, providing comfort and lower cooling costs while maximizing roof area for solar capture.
“9 out of 10 of the world’s largest cities will be exposed to rising seas by 2050. The sea is our fate - it may also be our future. The first sustainable and self-sustained floating community OCEANIX City is designed as a human made ecosystem channeling circular flows of energy, water, food and waste. Oceanix City is a blueprint for a modular maritime metropolis anchored in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The additive architecture can grow, transform and adapt organically over time, evolving from a neighborhood of 300 residents to a city of 10,000 - with the possibility of scaling indefinitely to provide thriving nautical communities for people who care about each other and our planet.”
Aggregating to reach a critical density, six villages connect to form a city of 10,000 residents with a strong sense of community and identity. A larger protected harbor is formed in the heart of the city. Floating destinations and art, including six specialized landmark neighborhoods with a public square, market place and centers for spirituality, learning, health, sport and culture create destinations drawing residents from across the city and anchoring each neighborhood in a unique identity. All communities regardless of size will prioritize locally sourced materials for building construction, including fast-growing bamboo that has six times the tensile strength of steel, a negative carbon footprint, and can be grown on the neighborhoods themselves.
Social, recreational and commercial functions are placed around the sheltered inner ring to encourage citizens to gather and move around the village. Residents can easily walk or boat through the city using electric vehicles.
Below sea level, beneath the platforms, biorock floating reefs, seaweed, oysters, mussel, scallop and clam farming clean the water and accelerate ecosystem regeneration.
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Alana Goldweit Bernardo Schuhmacher Bjarke Ingels Daniel Sundlin Jeremy Alain Siegel Thomas McMurtrie Andy Coward Ashton Stare Autumn Visconti Carlos Castillo Cristina Medina-Gonzalez Florencia Kratsman Jacob Karasik Kristoffer Negendahl Mai Lee Manon Otto Terrence Chew Tore Banke Tracy Sodder Walid Bhatt William Campion Yushan Huang Ziyu Guo
AWARDS
Hive 50 Innovator, Honoree in Design, 2019
COLLABORATORS
MIT Center for Ocean Engineering
Mobility in Chain
Sherwood Design Engineers
Center for Zero Waste Design
Transsolar
KlimaEngineering
Global Coral Reef Alliance
Studio Other Spaces
Dickson Despommier
