Kinetic Marine Conservation Tower (Honorable Mention)
A Dynamic Environmental Restoration Mechanism
Designed by Alex Phi and Alexandra Levian Gabai
BACKGROUND. The Kinetic Marine Conservation Tower is a proactive, innovative building that acts as an environmental restoration mechanism to clean waste and pollution throughout the Pacific Ocean. The building is a monolithic tower with shifted and sheared elements that blur the visual understanding of singularity and multiplicity of form. Located in Tokyo Bay, Japan, the dynamic skyscraper focuses primarily on the heavily contaminated waters between Japan’s eastern coasts through the western coast of the United States. In an effort to challenge conventional architectural notions, the Kinetic Marine Conservation Tower aims to prove that the integration of environmental issues into a skyscraper can introduce new typologies and various dynamic responsibilities into a single building.
OBJECTIVE. Marine pollution throughout the Pacific Ocean has been at an all-time high as a result of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the continual dumping of toxic wastes, plastic debris, and industrial oil spill accidents. Due to this, the ocean’s living organisms and the health of humans have experienced severe side effects. For example, populations living in the most contaminated areas affected by the disaster face an increased risk of certain cancers. The Kinetic Marine Conservation Tower helps improve the widespread marine pollution and works to stabilize the well-being of the ecosystem. This facility design does so by collecting waste and transferring the pollutants to an onsite research center, providing researchers with materials to be further analyzed, in an effort to find a long-term solution to the growing problem.
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN. The structure of the skyscraper is home to the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute at the University of Tokyo, where scientists dedicate their careers to investigating and improving widespread marine pollution. In addition to the research and development facility, the tower consists of two large detachable elements, known as Aquatic Restoration Vessels (ARVs), which consist of propellers, filters, and processors and are operated by an intelligent robotic system. These vessels, coated in a lightweight carbon fiber shell, navigate through the seawater on various routes led by the naturally occurring ocean currents, using advanced satellite imaging technology.
· While following different current paths, the machine-operated and algorithm-based ARVs detect and collect commonly occurring pollutants and hazardous chemical substances that are extremely harmful to the environment and ecosystem—specifically plastics, heavy metals, dioxins, and PCBs.
· After collecting the harmful materials, the ARVs reconnect to the tower through a retracting hydraulic cylinder system, and discharge the marine waste and pollutants into an underground plant.
· The waste is then sorted and refined, and certain pollutants are sent to the laboratories to be further researched and examined.
THE STRUCTURE’S IMPACT. The Kinetic Marine Conservation Tower investigates a new typology in architecture by addressing significant environmental issues and implementing an effective solution. With multi-functional programs presented throughout the monolithic, yet segregated tower, the legibility of the complete form is continually blurred, making it difficult to distinguish whether or not the ARVs are attached to the building, or if they are in the ocean collecting waste.
The building challenges the idea that a tower is only capable of being in a singular state and proves that there can be various stages, programs, and ontologies within one building. The skyscraper further investigates the part-to-whole relationship of form by actively testing both states of the building: one, while all of the pieces are attached, and another, while the ARVs are detached and in the ocean. The implementation of active pollution restoration through a dynamic and innovative skyscraper emphasizes the significant role that architecture has on the environment, as well as on society.
