A floating research center

Fall 2018 Stuttgart University

ITKE - Institute of Structures and Structural Design of Buildings

Design of reactive and kinetic envelopes

Collect / Convert / Consume A floating research center

Prof. Saman Saffarian

Collaboration: Emirhan Akin Constance Bebey Aycin Can

Our globalized society of mass consumption is facing a problem of international proportions : managing a phenomenal amount of waste. Mountains of plastic are being washed out to the sea, carried by currents and clumping together to form vast «garbage patches» in the oceans.

Our project was to create a research campus in the heart of the North Pacific, one of the regions most affected by the problem. We found this location to be suitable for both collecting waste from the water surface and researching its reuse.

It would even be possible to expand this campus by simply reusing the collected plastic.

Thanks to its floating characteristic we were able to imagine a dynamic construction. The mobile elements would be moved and reassembled according to the needs of the moment. Our campus thus imitates a living organism. It adapts by reconfiguring its modules to create new associations over time.

Finally, we also sought to design a kinetic roof, which would meet the various protection needs that must be put in place in an environment as unstable as the ocean.

Photography

amazes me by its capacity to make us stop and observe. Capture ephemeral moment or highlight moments that were always present and never considered. A way to learn about the human behaviour, interactions, and nature that I find simply fascinating.

https://annesteullet.wixsite.com/photography