#WTP-CAMPUS
Floating Biotop off Manhattan
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Urban development – swimming platform for people & nature
WHAT WILL OUR CITIES LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE?
3deluxe was commissioned by the New York-based organization #WeThePlanet (WTP) to create an inspirational structure that nurtures and explores new, forward-looking opportunities for people-friendly architecture in harmony with nature. The #WeThePlanet Campus serves as a communicative platform to protect all life on land and in the sea while advancing the frontiers of design. The Campus offers facilities for hosting international summits, workshops, and educational programs that focus on transforming our world for a better future, addressing topics such as human longevity, planetary flourishing, climate change, social justice, and equal opportunities. The floating building complex is designed to serve as an inspiring example for future living, collaborative workspaces, and communal environments.
| Type | Floating architecture |
| Location | Hudson River/Manhattan, New York |
| Year | 2020 |
| Status | Design study |
| Client | #WeThePlanet |
»In nature is the beauty, the æsthetic and the heart of this project.«
LAURA MURAKANA – CO-FOUNDER #WETHEPLANET
WHAT IS THE IDEA BEHIND 50/50?
The 50/50 concept developed by 3deluxe foresees an architecture for the future that center on shared spaces for both people and nature. The basic idea behind this architectural concept is that in future all building projects should give back just as much substance to nature as they take from it. This would mean that as compensation for soil sealing, CO2 production and the use of energy and materials, new living environments would be created for flora and fauna (neophytes). Used consistently, this would completely change our requirements of the cityscape of the future. Innovative new architectural structures could come into being, of the kind that have 50% nature-oriented biotopes integrated into them. The quality of life in the cities would be enormously improved in every respect: A better air quality, a more pleasant inner-city climate which would heat up less and the fact that it would suddenly be possible to enjoy the experience of something unfamiliar in such environments – nature.
ARCHITECTURE NEEDS ATTITUDE
The WTP Campus represents a new generation of corporate buildings. It offers not only the functional structural shell of a building but, beyond that, it conveys an attitude, it takes up a stance on relevant social questions such as climate protection, nature conservation, joint responsibility, openness and transparency.
After the shock of the pandemic and the social polarizations of recent years, there is a longing for positive change.
»It is time for architecture and urbanism to take a more ambitious approach to humanizing our living environment.«
DIETER BRELL –CREATIVE DIRECTOR 3DELUXE
FLOOD-RESILIENT ARCHITECTURE
The WTP Campus’ floating platform is a piece of real estate that is future-oriented, mobile and unaffected by rising sea levels. By creating a floating natural biotope, the WTP platform extends the tightly packed land area that is Manhattan by an extra piece of greenery. This partly public platform not only represents an additional destination for New Yorkers for sports, leisure and communication, but also an attractive new honeypot for western Manhattan. An option exists to extend the principle of the floating green platform and to install other floating parks and green running courses along the shoreline.
THE BEAUTY IN NATURE & TECHNOLOGY
The most salient aspect of this building idea is that of the floating marshland biotopes, making up 50% of the overall surface areas. However, it is not only here that living space will be created for flora and fauna, the meadow, the sand biotope, as the thatched and green roofs also produce living environments for a diversified, urban animal and plant world. The building materials can be divided up into natural materials such as wood, clay or reeds and recycled materials such as bioplastics. The latest surface technologies for air cleansing will also be used, along with algae bioreactors, wind farms, photovoltaics and marine power plants under the platform for energy extraction.
The vision of the WTP Campus is to be completely self-sufficient in generating energy and drinking water. The sustainability measures are integrated in a fluid, organic design concept that cooperates with the forces of nature (wind, sun, water), thus making for a genuine, elegant naturalness.
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