If Al Gore and scores of scientists are right, the high tides caused by global warming will swallow many low lying residential areas. There are very few urban design solutions that address this, and certainly none are as spectacular as this one. Vincent Callebaut’s Lilypad is a concept for a completely self-sufficient floating city, which provide shelter for future climate change refugees. Biomimicry was clearly the inspiration behind the design, as the Lilypad looks like a huge waterlily afloat in the ocean. Sustainable technologies including solar, wind, tidal, biomass are envisioned, as well as a titanium dioxide skin that would allow for the processing and absorption of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Each of these floating cities is designed to hold approximately 50,000 residents. A mixed terrain man-made landscape, provided by an artificial lagoon and three ridges, creates a diverse environment for the the dwellers. Each Lilypad is intended to be either near a coast, or floating around in the ocean, travelling from the equator to the northern seas, according to where the gulf stream takes it. No word on whether or not it could control it’s own movements like other ocean faring vessels. Save for the renderings and concept info, the project isn’t even close to happening anytime soon, but there is value in future forward designs like the Lilypad, and our previously featured Hydro-Net. They inspire creative solutions, and may actually provide a real solution to climate change.
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