Global heating leads to an increase in sea levels, which poses a threat to various regions worldwide. Just think that, yesterday, was the hottest day on record worldwide, as confirmed by the data collected by the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The average global air temperature on Tuesday reached indeed a staggering 17.18°C (62.9°F).
According to Climate.Gov, a climate change science and information website managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average global sea level has risen by approximately 20 to 23 centimeters since 1880. About one-third of this sea level rise has occurred within the past 25 years. However, the effects of the climate crisis are now progressing at a faster pace and it is estimated that climate disruptions will affect nine out of ten of the world's largest cities.
The rising sea levels pose a particular danger to Tuvalu, for example, a small Pacific country situated between Australia and Hawaii. This nation, often referred to as a Pacific paradise, faces the risk of disappearance.
Three years ago, the United Nations (UN) initiated an official investigation into floating cities as a means of adapting to climate change.
In 2021, Busan, a city in South Korea, partnered with Oceanix, a firm specializing in floating city development, and the UN Human Settlements Program to collaborate on the development of a floating city.
The architectural design of the floating city is led by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group (an architectural firm that has displayed an interest in aquatic designs with innovative floating architectures) and Samoo Architects & Engineers, which is owned by Samsung. The prototype for a floating and sustainable city was unveiled last year.
Oceanix Busan, located in North Port, South Korea, is the world's first prototype of a sustainable floating community. It consists of three interconnected platforms covering a surface area of 6.3 hectares.
This innovative project aims to address the challenges faced by coastal cities threatened by rising sea levels: the community is designed to accommodate 12,000 people initially, but it has the potential to expand and house over 100,000 residents as the city is planned to adapt, scale, and reconfigure to meet evolving needs.
The platform's design takes inspiration from hexagons, mirroring the efficient use of space and resources seen in beehives.
Each platform serves a specific purpose within the community. The living platform offers a range of housing options and features local food vendors, craft shops, and bookstores, creating a vibrant lifestyle.
The research platform is instead a collaborative workspace and maritime research hub, generating job opportunities focused on innovative climate change solutions. The eco-lodging platform provides guest rooms with harbor views, organic dining options, and skylight greenhouses, making it an attractive destination for visitors.
The floating platforms are complemented by numerous productive outposts featuring photovoltaic panels and greenhouses. These outposts can adapt and expand as needed; link-span bridges also connect the three floating platforms to the mainland.
Floating cities like Oceanix Busan have the potential to mitigate the impacts of climate change-induced sea level rise, that's why this pioneering project sets the stage for future developments in floating infrastructures.
Dutch designer Iris van Herpen has frequently drawn inspiration from architecture but also from water in her past collections. In fact, she went as far as shooting a short film in the world's deepest salsobromoiodic thermal water manmade pool for her previous season.
Being based in The Netherlands, the designer is well aware of the consequences posed by rising sea levels.
Consequently, for her Haute Couture A/W 23 collection entitled "Architectonics", she drew inspiration from the future of floating cities.
The new generation of architects showing us the ingenuity and desirability of waterborne architecture and the concept of bionic design also provided her with the inspiration to explore the boundless possibilities offered by water.
Van Herpen's creative journey began with the visionary ideas of Jacques Rougerie, an architect and oceanographer who carries out researches about humans inhabiting both land and offshore environments.
In some cases the shapes and silhouettes of the laser-cut designs bonded onto nude bodices seemed to replicate the shapes of Rougerie's architectures, in particular his giant floating city shaped like a manta ray (View this photo).
But then van Herpen moved onto "Oceanix": the project behind Oceanix puts emphasis on the use of a modular and expandable environment and these were two words to unlock the collection.
The collection materializes indeed the principles of parametric architecture known for its fluidity, fragmentation, and shifting patterns.
Quite a few designs seemed indeed to be breakable into smaller units, geometric shapes like the hexagons forming Oceanix' platforms.
These small fragments floated on the nude tulle structure of dresses and gowns, combining together to form puzzles and fractal forms, geodesic voids, and distorted perspectives that seemed to expand the body, bursting in various directions and projecting into space (thanks to strategically placed fine fiberglass rods carefully balanced to distribute weight and vibration).
Fluidity was juxtaposed to fragmentation: intricate wirings on gauzy fabric allowed the designer to create structures resembling undersea creatures or creating the movement of ocean waves crashing around the body and replicate fluidity.
Traditional techniques were also combined with laser-cut fabric structures injected with silicone and inlaid flakes of abalone shell.
Lightness was another inspiration: Italo Calvino admired lightness and redefined it as a positive attribute. In his works, lightness was a tool for attaining a broader perspective, a driving force, propelling us forward; lightness had the same purpose in these designs.
There was at times a more costumy mood with one design channelling Wonder Woman's armour rather than Oceanix's platforms (it makes sense as van Herpen has so far designed gowns for many actresses and performers and created costumes for films, while Gal Gadot, who interpreted Wonder Woman on the big screen in the last few years, appeared in the May 2020 issue of Vogue US in a van Herpen creation).
To complete the looks, the designer introduced "bionic" boots, digitally modeled and 3D printed using diverse textures, a collaboration with SCRY (a pioneering footwear laboratory).
The futuristic shoes resembled buildings and showcased the advancements in 3D printing technology: only a few years ago 3D printed shoes were rigid and impractical, but now SCRY can create designs that combine pliability with a sturdy sole.
The photographs from the runway show captured the essence of the hybridization of future lives: taken outdoor rather than inside a venue, they hinted at the duality of our existence, in a future where land and water may intertwine and where we may inhabit both realms.
Will we be wearing such expandable clothes one day in our floating cities? Difficult to say, but the inspirations behind the collection push us to think about the possibilities of hybrid threads, mutable fibers, and other innovative materials, and about designing clothes that can adapt to evolving needs.
After all, while we may be unable to inhabit fantasy couture or fantastic floating cities, fashion, design and architecture can still serve as sources of inspiration and lessons in adaptation and adaptability.
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