14 DAY TRIAL // Artificial islands aren't unheard of, even if there are very few of them in the world. They're necessary if you're going to build some sort of settlement or structure out at sea or some other large body of water.
Sweden decided to totally bypass that requirement. Or, rather, Sweden-based Belatchew Labs have done so, believing they can create a fully floating city, or at least a neighborhood.
Belatchew Arkitekter is an architectural firm in Sweden that specializes in creating visionary architectural experiments.
Belatchew Labs is a studio within it, and it already has the support of the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning to carry the SwimCity forward.
SwimCity, a floating town
Or a neighborhood, depending on the scales you are used to. SwimCity was developed as a way to turn large bodies of water into real estate.
Considering all the seas, lakes, lagoons, and estuaries up there, so far north, we can definitely see the appeal. Even if people won't be as eager to go swimming as the concept pictures suggest.
The plan is to use 3D printing technology to “create living space for students and young adults, which would have various shapes and would 'adapt to the landscape.”
A whole neighborhood of interlocking “blocks” would be capable of flowing despite involving a lot of concrete. It's all about buoyancy.
The benefits of a 3D printed city or neighborhood
Ease and freedom of design, for one thing. Secondly, there would be very little waste, if any, since there wouldn't be a need for large cranes and other fuel-based machinery. The additives and refuse that are usually involved in a construction effort wouldn't apply either.
Another advantage is that it would offer a lot of possibilities for reusing vacant ports, quays, and docks, which are little more than a blight on the landscape now.
The speed in production is another thing worth taking note of. Additive manufacturing has always brought with it a benefit in time of production. Add to that creativity and design and you have a winning formula.
It wouldn't be such a stretch to think that more modules / homes could be added on an as-needed basis, perhaps even working with the home buyers to create the floating houses and adjacent structures in a particular manner.
“The technological development in 3D-printed concrete has come very far. With SwimCity we show how the new technology makes it possible for us to create unique buildings which today’s prefab industry is not capable of,” said Rahel Belatchew Lerdell, CEO and founder of Belatchew Arkitekter.
