Concept Waterscraper Brings Monumental Architecture Into The Open Sea

Loving it!

That's an interesting design. This isn't exactly on topic, but I used to have an interest in designing buildings under water. This could be a good industry to enter, assuming Arde bin Sarkum plans to build these in the future.

My idea I had as a kid was to build a full city underwater. It would have been built with a tubular strucure and would consist of multiple entryways and exits to other building structures. I thought about the troubles that would cause though, like what happens if the city collapses due to water pressure or what if water somehow seeps into the buildings.

Not really feeling the coffin shaped tips of the tentacles. Kinda macabre putting them effectively underground compared to the rest of the living space. Definitely don't want to hang out in my billion dollar underwater condo drinking champagne constantly being reminded of the 'pressure of death' every time I look down out my window. I think I'll be investing in the bright, cheery Zeppelin apartments instead.

If this think was really hundreds of feet deep, you could generate quite a lot of electricity just exploiting the temperature difference between the surface and the cold water at the bottom.

Even simpler than that, you could hydroelectric turbines running down the middle of the building- just let in a little water at the top and let it generate power as it descends. Just be sure you have a very reliable pump at the bottom to push it back outside.

Wow. I really think Sarly Adre bin Sarkum of Malaysia should get a standing ovation. This is really over-the-top. I've always been interested in engineering and architecture, but this is beyond anything I've ever imagined. It's a fantastic concept.
My favorite part about this design is how it can fend for itself. It makes its own food AND electricity while not taking much spaceup in te middle of the ocean. Kudos Sarly Adre bin Sarkum of Malaysia!

Very interesting!! I wonder if wind turbine generators could be mounted on top? Perhaps water turbine generators also? In certain countries like Japan where land is at a premium this makes a lot of sense. (Heck even the coastline of California) I'm not sure how something like this would stand up to a tsunami, but I suspect it's more "earthquake resistant" than being built on "solid ground". If this works on the "positive displacement" theory that makes ships float, I wonder what the actual size you could build would be? I suppose aircraft carriers get as big as 75000 tonnes. But if some current skyscrapers weigh 250000 to 350000 tones, (I'm not sure if those numbers includes foundations and "live load") that is a lot of water to displace!

LOL - at the "coffin shaped" tentacles. But I suppose they wouldn't have to be that shape.

Wheres the giant waterslide?

It's a jellyfish! How exactly would you build that?! Getting it into the ocean would be fun to watch.

Totally Bioshock right now.

BRILLIANT!!!
This is just the type of thinking that could get us back on track.
Simple prediction, Aquascraper will actually start as the self contained farmscraper plan of sorts with workforce living spaces near the top.
Workforce structure much like ships or oil platforms that rotate crew members or possibly even families every few months. Think of a corporation that manufactures offshore with a self supportive environment and minimal negative distraction. How about that rush hour traffic and poor air quality, NOT..LOL
I'm in Sign me up.

I've been thinking about archeologies for a while, and that's a pretty clever idea. Probably way easier to float the whole thing than to keep it supported aboveground, although leaks would be a serious issue. The tentacles probably aren't the best idea, though, and there's not much space up top for the wind and solar power.

Some ideas for improvement: Tether it to the bottom; both to keep it in one place, and tugging on the tether due to tides and ocean currents could be turned into energy. Possibly use multiple tethers to keep the whole thing from tilting. Underwater fans would probably work waaay better than those weird tenticles, and depending on how deep the ocean currents get they could be placed all the way down.

This idea also could be combined with the idea for a swarm of ship-plates that make modular cities; a few of those around the top would give more surface area for solar energy, plants, parks, and so on, as well as some that could move from archology to archology like a circus type thing.

Interesting idea, I'll give you that. Self-sustaining islands floating around the world is a great idea. Though, if you want anything from the main land, it starts getting really expensive. Hawaii for instance has incredibly high prices for things such as food, clothing, gas, bottled water, etc. In addition anyone who's been on an island for long, it can get a little tough for long seasons. Island fever is a real thing. I can't imagine how sub-mariners spend 6 month long tours of duty. It must get pretty challenging at times.
Fox

also it would be eartquake-safe

Bravo -- this is the right idea. I'm curious, how many meters down would the living quarters be? Would there be any natural light at that level at all? What happens in a hurricane? Shopping I can live with underground, and it would be great to not need a car. What about pets? Access to the "mainland?" Congratulations on the idea. Caroline, www.shoes-addiction.com

Hate to be the wet blanket, but what about hurricanes? Being in Florida, that was the second thought. The First one was cooooool. hahaha

just like atlantis

It's a great idea, but technically would be cost prohibitive to construct. Just think of the drydock you would need to build it. Also, maintenance would be staggering; saltwater is very corrosive.

the design is great but my concern is that the only way to build it would be to build it directly over the water. The problem with this is the amoount of money it wuold take to even create this teck. on the bright sid ebuilding theis would probebly creat millions on jobs across the world. i am also worried about what will happen when we dwel to deep in the search for more livable space. what happens if the water pressur becomes too much and crushes the lower part of the city? overall this design has many flaws to work out before we can even think of what to build it with.

A fun idea to look at and think about. It certainly gets the imagination flowing. To comment on a few points from other comments:

Construction - I would think you could build this without a typical drydock or construction facility. For example, build the bottom first, and have it empty so that it floats enough for the next little section to be built on top. As you build up section after section, the whole structure tends to sink, but you can stay above the level of the water, using the ballast tanks in the bottom to make finer adjustments. There are lots of tall sea structures built in diverse ways these days already.

Tsunamis - This thing would not be close to shore, and tsunamis are not dangerous in the open ocean. Most of the time they are waves only a few feet high at most as they travel in open water. It is only as they reach the shallow waters of a shoreline and the depth of the ocean decreases that they have to rise and slow because their energy is essentially compressed upwards.

Cost - I agree the cost would be most likely prohibitive, at least for housing anyone but the ultra rich. The amount of steel and supporting structure you'd need to support those water pressures can't come cheap. Plus there would be lots of specialized systems and equipment, numerous failsafe/backup systems, extra costs due to the wear and tear from the ocean, etc.

Self-Contained - The idea of this being self contained would probably have to be considered with a huge caveat: The people who live here would have to be extreme conservationists. There is simply not enough room to grow/produce the things that average people today use, in the quantity that they use them. Put a few thousand people on there, and you'll probably be killing 10 or 20 cows a day just to keep up with the beef demand, for one example. People would have to be willing to live with a lot less stuff, a lot fewer luxuries than they are used to today. And since only the mega rich could afford this place, that becomes even harder to do, as they are accustomed to having much more.

Hydroelectric - I think the energy generation methods the designer has incorporated are probably the most appropriate for his design. A few mentioned hydro by letting water fall down the length of it, like inside a dam generating station. The problem is that the pumps at the bottom would either have to take it back up, wasting all the energy and more, or they would have to push that low pressure water out into a very high pressure environment, which would also likely require more energy than what is produced by the falling water.

Certainly I enjoy looking at this design, and even if it never becomes feasible, it is still fun to dream. I'd think that to be more realistic we would need something with a much bigger ratio of top surface area to ocean depth. Something akin to a ship that is very flat, not too tall, and has a very large top area for the harvesting of more energy and the growing of more plants and animals for food and other items. I'm thinking like half the height (above water) of an aircraft carrier , but with maybe 10 times the surface area on top? We can all dream I guess.

Marcoreid-

I think you're starting to look at this as a floating arcology, which is definitely another great idea to discuss, but if we look at the title, we have to scale back to just a "waterscraper."

At which point I think you'd have to agree it would have to be near shore and not self-sufficient. Which solves problems such as provisions, which could be ferried over (at a great cost of course.) Or if it is a residential tower then all you would need is a shuttle/ferry and the residents could do all their shopping on the mainland. I don't know if all the sources of energy (solar, wind, water-based) would be enough to power it with current tech; if someone has better knowledge of that please comment back.

However, being close to shore requires greater structural strength to deal with tsunamis and the like. Unless these could be built calmer bodies of water like the Great Lakes. Perhaps of the shores of Chicago?

Finally, I think you're onto something with the "aircraft carrier" design idea. A cube or sphere has more volume to surface area than an elongated structure like a cylinder or rectangular block like most skyscrapers. I know you can't make a floating cube building (unless you're the borg), but I think you see where I'm going with this.

In any event, this won't be built for a long time (if ever) because the economics don't work. Way too much land left to build on which is much cheaper and already has proven tech behind it.

I recently read a novel with a building of this sorts, but it was an underwater hotel, and then a large hurricane came by and threatened to put the hotel into the rocks off one of the Caribbean Islands. I'm just wondering if this would be anchored to the ocean floor somehow, otherwise what is to keep it from just drifting into the shore, besides the enormous length of course.

Shopping cart + Beating someone up = Fine Dining?

Wonderful concept and illustration; we can always dream. What will nanotubes in plastic wraps mean for massive buildings and space enclosures? The upper floors super strong plastic wrap instead of glass and metal how much bigger could light towers be?

You know, everyone's talking about letting low-pressure water fall the length of the building, and the inherent problems with that, but what about letting high-pressure water at the bottom shoot up the length of the building, and then out with the low-pressure water? There's problems with clearing that channel out after every cycle of the thing, but with a little cleverness it could be done. Seems easier than the first bit, at any rate.

Great idea from the designer. I can see a quite a few places on the planet that could be suitable for this "reverse-engineering thinking-outside-the-box" idea.

Technically the precendent for construction is already set via CGS Concrete Gravity Structures used extensively in the oil and gas industry so really this is only a step-forward with a different application. I would presume no matter if this was close to shore or further it would be anchored to the sea-bed.

42.

For people that read science magazines a large percentage of you don't know much about science E.G. water down center shaft. Take a glass of water, get a straw and put your finger over the top end, put it in glass water rises to the water level in glass then stays there. Now you could harness wave power as some mentioned someone else pointed out the possibility of temp diff engines as in Sterling cycle engines, Solar cells floating on top of fish cages tethered to the building. and just off the top of my head sell the fish and drill for oil. Turns out theres a lot of it under the sea floor.

Impractical, idiotic and pointless.

You can't puke off the side if it's underwater.

Wow, that is amazing dude. I like it.

Jess
www.online-anonymity.us.tc

why are we wasting resources building anything that isn't this?

should call it a "seascraper" instead of a "waterscraper", sounds cooler

I agree with marcoreid just the shape of that thing isn't very conducive to good flotation or use of space for living, food growing, or power generation.

For offshore concrete platform the base part is big and can be floated. Then to build the tower in foating position and finally towed to the location and sunken.
For this idea. the bottom part is a cone shape, so it must be built on a giant catamaran barge, then slowly continue lowering it down while continue to build it up.
Due to the deep tall column hanged down, I reckon the strong current will make it inclined a few degrees.

So, let me get this straight. He took the form of a typical skyscraper...flipped it upside down....and submerged it in water? Even for a "concept" project, this lacks any conceptual rigor.

I've been reading "POSCI" since before it became an abbreviation of itself, back when it was called POPULAR SCIENCE---probably been reading it for 57 years.

So I have some perspective on it, before it degenerated into a mouthpiece for the out-of-control liberal leadership of "USA Americans," before they even became known as such, back when we were AMERICANS.

Listen closely, children: I have seen this all before, the bull pucky; I have seen "Popsci" Cover Stories of THE COMING ICE AGE, depicting New York City under a sheet of ice. And now new monstrosities both physical and intellectual in the face of "if global warming," and all that overblown, co-opted erroneous hype.

NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

I'm sorry to even say this, but please get back to good ol' Popular Science before the others all catch on and throw you Pod People clones out with the garbage (Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film).

This once-great and important magazine must be salvaged, and soon.

BTW, how's all the Hopey Changey working out for ya? Subs' up?

If my bike was all wobbly and stuff, like your apparent "news" policy, I'd brake.

Have I sugar-coated this too much?

Jeez...somebody's gotta say it...

It's a design worth looking into, but I have to say that I kind of agree with Jefrois. The whole 'end-of-the-world/living on the ocean' thing sounds a little far-fetched. However, if it ever comes down to it I think that the world could survive if it had to live on a seascraper.
Kudos to Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum for coming up with the design.

An interesting concept comparable to an oil platform but a better usage would be an energy platform.
Build it downwards to utilize the pressure to turn dynamos if you can figure out how to keep the displacement of air and water.

given all the negative responses about the idea, and all the safety concerns, and the fact that people would get very bored or hungry or lonely or you name it on board this building...why not make it into the worlds largest floating prison. House the worst nastiest criminals out there away from society. The really bad ones could be made to walk the plank for entertainment. Monthly shark feedings, or keel haulings for fun! If things got too bad, and there was a riot, the navy could swing by and use the thing for target practice!

The thing should have a capability to go submarine, when a hurricane comes near. And it should be navigatable, to prevent its drifting off post.

Then it should have full-spectrum light, to compensate for the lack of sunlight. And the sun roof should be duplicated by rafts extending a mile in each direction, so people would see the sun and sky from time to time. Of course, the city park would rock a bit, but that comes with being at sea.

Then, if there is a sea current nearby, sewage should be piped at least a mile downstream, and fishing and swimming should be upstream from there.

Law enforcement would be a problem, and the building should be under the authority of a country. Convicted criminals would be shipped to a land-based prison.

There wouldn't be either space or population to support a university, so people would leave to attend there.

First Emperor03/12/10 at 11:31 am

It's a great idea, but technically would be cost prohibitive to construct. Just think of the drydock you would need to build it. Also, maintenance would be staggering; saltwater is very corrosive.
*******************************************
They made something similar in Norway, to house an oil drilling operation. They built it sideways, then towed it out to sea with a monumental tugboat operation.

When they arrived at the location, they turned it upright, went down the tube one last time to inspect it, then flooded it with sea water.

Remember how they built the foundations for the Brooklyn Bridge? they just used massive underwater housings to move workers. Safety would likely be a nightmare, but couldn't that building technique simply be turned upside down, with the weight of the materials acting as ballast with peripherals such as the tentacles added later?

If is can with stand high and strong tsunami,
then it will be great.

Haven't read the evolvo article yet, but what I'm seeing is about six acres of terraced turf above-water, then another half million square feet of office space and infrastructure beneath it. There's no way that even a quarter of the occupants could enjoy fresh air at the same time, and that's just wrong. I would change the design to something more conical, or an inverted pyramid, to address that fresh air problem. But then again that might make the structure less stable in the moving ocean. I'm not against the concept at all, but for God's sake there needs to be more above-water space for the residents to enjoy at happy hour, or they'll just go crazy with claustrophobia.

I'm with landscaper 52, great idea for a prison. But that's cost prohibitive, so something gimmicky would work, like a floating casino, but certainly not a run-of-the-mill office building any time soon.

Bucky Fuller lives!

Great example of creative thinking. Would make a lovely movie prop. But, completely impractical. 1st, you could not grow enough food to feed the amount of people on the base of the Empire state building. It could work as a new fangled mega resort. 2nd, the Empire state building is not really that big. With maybe 1/3 of the building being used as housing and recreation you may have accommodation for 3 to 4 hundred people. 3rd, utopia has never exsisted and never will. Un-perfect people cannot live in a perfect society. Life, death, want, and waste is what drives us as human beings. The day there is no more crime, polution, or hate, is the same day all humans stop existing. Yes, I know. Sad but true. Just keeping it real.

We're one step closer to an actual Cloud City. Build one that flies.

DylanH
I have never seen any thing like it but it looks cool

(sarcasm) Oh whats next, volcanoscrapers!?!? (/sarcasm)

This will have a bad effect on the aquatic environment, and how will the power and food be generated?

Energy: way ahead of our time as far as I know. In order to do this we would need to harness the power of Electrons.

Food: fish eggs, fish, more fish! That would be the diet for the residents

Summary: I think this would make good as a museum or a bank, not a place where humans will live.

Just for comparison, if you could keep it upright, the Empire State Building with full live load on all floors would bob up and down in the ocean around the 45th floor.

all you need is some adam and eve and your good! But really this is a strange design but one that could solve the homelessness crap

First. This is about the posibilties of science. Lets leave the politics out of it.
Second. No one would build something like this unless there was a posibility to make a profit from it. So if you remove all the shopping, food creation, family living area and that sort of thing, Replace them with manufacturing, research, and money generating areas, then you may have a winner.
If a company could create a manufacturing facility in the middle of the ocean where there are no borders, taxes, tarrifs, or regulations of any kind. Then you have something to sell. But if you wanna use it for just more urban sprawl, well, it will be a hard sell.

I believe we already have floating self contained housing that have everything we need. They are called CONTINENTS.
They are free! Visit yours soon!

Marine growth would be a major problem, potentially amassing more weight than the structure could support. This growth would interfere with visibility through any portholes. The tentacles would certainly pose a challenge to keep untangled. Population growth, clean air and water and healthy food seem of more pertinence to me than finding new and different places to live here on Earth.

Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum,
This is one crazy idea.....I think you should abandon it.
If you ever see this thing built, you should be the first to live in it for 10 years to test the sea-worthiness. It would cost gazillions! ....I cannot imagine anyone wanting to live in it. Talk about sea sickness!

Throw a drill in at the bottom and BP will pay for it ;)

thank you very much
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Is that for real or is it going to be made in the future. Looks more like a giant sea world creature monster.

sea weed | predators of the blue ringed octopus

we can all not image that much of technology had ahead at this time, science has became more that the human brain, this concept was sound very amazing to make a huge tower in center of the water,
as sounding this at first time like very impossible, but it is not that much of heard that to stay on the moon. we had seen already bridges, hotel & restaurant under the water or on the water. so the formula is the same, but it make very much. but the only thing i m worrying about the rules of nature, which are absolutely not maintained. & take our global in the edge of the imbalance part, well i do respect of technology n science but i do very much respect to our current scenario of global worming. which is not at all been solved from last many year.

Rob Cook
Motorhomesforsaleusa.com
we can all not image that much of technology had ahead at this time, science has became more that the human brain, this concept was sound very amazing to make a huge tower in center of the water,
as sounding this at first time like very impossible, but it is not that much of heard that to stay on the moon. we had seen already bridges, hotel & restaurant under the water or on the water. so the formula is the same, but it make very much. but the only thing i m worrying about the rules of nature, which are absolutely not maintained. & take our global in the edge of the imbalance part, well i do respect of technology n science but i do very much respect to our current scenario of global worming. which is not at all been solved from last many year.

Rob Cook

This looks amazing, I can picture an entire ocean full of these. It's all about being self sustaining and being green. This combines all of those goals. www.empoweringparents.com

This is dream time. When I was a youngster my friends and I would talk for hours on underwater cities. We lived by the sea, so it made sense that our dreams would include water features. This concept is fabulous and actually achievable. Though what about movement underwater, how would you stablise the building? Would there be underwater window and building cleaning? I actually read some weeks ago, regarding a resort built underwater. I believe for memory it was in Samoa or somewhere similar. Might be worth a look for those who, like I think this would be a fabulous approach to modern living.

www.eurocell.co.uk

For people that read science magazines a large percentage of you don't know much about science E.G. water down center shaft. Take a glass of water, get a straw and put your finger over the top end, put it in glass water rises to the water level in glass then stays there. Now you could harness wave power as some mentioned someone else pointed out the possibility of temp diff engines as in Sterling cycle engines, Solar cells floating on top of fish cages tethered to the building. and just off the top of my head sell the fish and drill for oil. Turns out theres a lot of it under the sea floor.

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To be fair, it is only a design concept, I don't think it was ever actually in danger of being built...

This is almost cool, if it was not so serious. What effects would this and the many building that would follow, have on the already struggling sea world. What, are we going to live next to the fish farms that are being proposed for a seas, Sorry there is something terrible wrong with this concept and is just going to destroy the remainder of the already man damaged water ways and sea life.

www.steel-metal-buildings.net

I am also worried about what will happen when we dwel to deep in the search for more livable space. what happens if the water pressur becomes too much and crushes the lower part of the city? http://www.cutehandbags.org

But roasting http://www.batray-snack.ru roasted sunflower seeds - this is real art!

This open sea waterscraper kind of looks like something out of a 60s bond film, yet I do still find it intriguing! I do like the look of it provided I don't have to take out www.100-mortgage.com in order to be able to live there.

It is cool idea! Concept Waterscraper Brings Monumental Architecture Into The Open Sea - it is very interest! Thanks!

JeremyQooki

www.eaffinitymortgage.com

all you need is some adam and eve and your good! But really this is a strange design but one that could solve the homelessness crap
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