When thinking of green architecture, it is not often that thoughts of floating civilizations come to mind. If Al Gore was right about the state of the earth, then we can expect the North Sea to be at our doorsteps within a matter of decades and that the time for action has been and gone. Vincent Callebaut, a Belgian architect, illustrated a fantastic idea of self-reliant floating cities that would cater for society's continual loss of land. The concept is outlandish but helps to suggest that maybe designers should be looking at a plan B (damage control)- just in case apocalypse is on the horizon.
Each pad is supposed to hold 50,000 residents and relies on sustainable energy from wind and solar, joint with rainwater harvesting. It is a great example of biomimicry at work; Callebaut claims to have been inspired by the Amazon Victoria Regina lily-pad. Though no price estimate has been given for such a titanic project, the architect claims it would still be relatively economical when governments spend billions on making there coastlines bigger and stronger.
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