Honorable Mention
2015 Skyscraper Competition
Ma Yidong, Zhu Zhonghui, Qin Zhengyu, Jiang Zhe
China
With the increasing demand of energy resources and the exhaustion of inland petroleum, the exploitation of marine seems inevitable. The drastic development of offshore rigs, however, comes with the great potential risk of oil spill, which will endanger the whole marine ecosystem tremendously for decades. The clean up of the spill, however, is still inefficient and time-consuming.
Our design transforms the original rigs into vertical bio-habitats, which aims to exert instant response to oil spill, restore damaged eco-system and offer all beings shelter from future disasters. The original rig will become a reactor center, where the spilled oil will be converted into catalyst and building materials, as well as a recreational center and research facility. The structure underwater will be attached to pipes with a floater at the end. Our strategy could be divided into the following three periods of time.
1. Short term strategy: absorption of spilled oil
When an oil spill incident happens, the floaters at the end of each pipe will immediately absorb the spilled oil covering the surface of the sea as an instant response.
2. Medium term strategy: Habitat for marine life and migrating birds
The collected oil will be transported through the root-like pipes underwater to the central processor attached to the original rig, where the crude oil will be converted into catalyst for coral reef and produce plastic as building material. The catalyst will be transported back to the pipe to booster the growth of coral reef on its surface and the plastic will become the building material of the plastic-twig structure with the help of 3d printing and the injector. In this way, the project will become a habitat for vertical bio-habitat and help revive the biodiversity.
3. Long term strategy: shelter from future disasters
Ultimately, when the sea level rises to a disastrous degree, the twig like structure would continue to remain above the sea level. Then the oil rig will become the Noah Oasis.
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