Vertical Ark
Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition
Yangpeng Xin, Shiyu Fan
China
With the advent of global climate disasters and war conflicts, more and more sea refugees are suffering these every year on this planet. Their homes were flooded by rising sea levels or destroyed by war, leaving them adrift in search of new homes. When they were adrift in the ocean, they may be hit by a hurricane or a huge wave at any time, causing their boat to capsize and lose their lives.
The design aims to solve the survival problems of sea refugees — how to take shelter when they encounter storms and huge waves while drifting at sea. Our inspiration comes from the buoy used in fishing. The buoy stood above the water and would not capsize after the storm. This is because when the slender buoy stood in the water, gravity and buoyancy can maintain a good balance, even if there is a strong external force interference. This is something that we use very well in our design. Traditional lifeboats that serve as safe havens for refugees are still vulnerable to capsizing in storms. If the refugees’ safe haven is a giant buoy, it can stand up in a storm.
On the eve of the storm, our ocean ark could sail like a normal ship and search for refugees. At the stern of the ship was a small refugee town. When the storm hit, the huge water tank at the front of the ark began to inject the seawater, and the center of gravity of the whole ark shifted to the bow. The difference between the water tank at the front and the refugee living area at the rear formed a huge gravity difference, which caused the water tank of the ark to partially sink and the refugee living area to rise. At this point, the ark is perpendicular to sea level.So, the ark becomes a skyscraper. The refugees on the ark will not confuse because of the 90 degree rotation of the hull. The refugee settlement consists of many square boxes. These boxes have different functions. Some are for living, some are toilets and some are restaurants. All the boxes work well in both cases.In every living module, bed, toilet, lockers… There are two sets of mutually perpendicular. Traffic facilities are also specially designed to accommodate both angles of traffic. So in both models, refugees can survive. That way, refugees don’t have to worry about the threat of storms and huge waves. Skyscrapers would be very stable in the ocean.
After the storm, as long as the release of water in the tank, the ark can be restored to a huge search and rescue ship for the voyage.
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