NEXT GENERATION ATLANTIS

Future architects designed underwater living spaces, as the earth will be submerged almost 3 meters in the next 100 years because of global warming and melting of the glaciers. Students of Department of Architecture, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Izmir University of Economics (IUE) planned underwater living units as part of their future themed projects. 

Asst. Prof. Dr. Burkay Pasin, Lecturer at IUE Department of Architecture, reported that students designed living spaces in extraordinary environments each year as part of their future themed projects. Pasin said, “Scientists predict that sea levels will rise up to 3 meters within a century because of global warming and melting of the glaciers, and majority of continents will be underwater in a far future. This makes humans’ turning towards underwater resources and planning a life underwater inevitable. We organized a two-week workshop titled, “Mission Aquarius: A Biomimetic Structural Organism” together with our sophomores based on such a future scenario. Students, motivated by underwater living forms, designed living units that are capable of reproducing and moving in approximately 80 thousand square meter area”.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Pasin said that students created their designs under the guidance of Asst. Prof. Dr. Güzden Varinlioğlu and Lecturers Hugh Clarke, Özgür Genca, Lale Başarır, Filiz Keyder Özkan, Ayşe Bozkurt Karal, And Akman, Onur Dinmez, and Onurcan Çakır. Pasin stated the following:

“Oceanographer Fabien Cousteau, grandson of famous ocean explorer Captain Cousteau, has broken his grandfather’s record by spending a record 31 days living and working underwater in Aquarius, the only operational laboratory submerged in Atlantic off the Florida Keys. Therefore, he took the first step in the establishment of a real Atlantis, an environment that will continue its existence without any support from the surface.  Therefore, we, as designers, need to create scenarios about living underwater and try to realize these scenarios. We wanted to be able to transfer into living forms without threatening other living creatures. Based on this approach, our students created unique living forms by both taking biological features of ocean creatures into consideration, and using energy resources such as waves, hydrogen gas, etc. The 17 projects, as a result of this workshop, are being displayed at Multi-Purpose Hall at Building D.”