Honorable Mention
2013 Skyscraper Competition
Park Sung-Hee, Na Hye Yeon
South Korea
The quantity of small plastic fragments floating in the north-east Pacific Ocean has been increased a hundred times over the past 40 years accumulating and forming what we know as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a great hazard to the earth ecosystems balance.
Studies estimate that the amount of plastic floating on the Pacific Ocean is twice the size of the US State of Texas.
Kinetic Islands address this problem and propose a solution for disposal huge-amount of plastic and garbage patches in North-east Pacific Ocean, and take advantage of them as construction elements for a futuristic floating city.
The project propose a modular study on floating elements. Each module or element works as a flotation device, using 3 floats, that allow it to move trough the pacific ocean currents. Each module will recollect as much garbage as it is founding trough his path. Then when its full it will move to meet the nearest units to form a garbage chain. By the time many chains floating in Pacific Ocean, meet each other, they can be assembled like a Spiral Shape formed by ocean currents and centralized like a big island. That island can be covered by soil in order to have c a strongly solid founding that allow to develop farming crops.
The units in the island will work as an artificial land, and eventually can be steady enough to support agricultural activities, as well the possibility to use vacant units as buildings blocks for shelters housing and resorts.