The New London
Bridges Project:
To provide new floating living spaces in East
London by building over the Thames Estuary thus utilising this vacant area allowing
expansion of the city and at the same time providing greater capacity of
transport between Essex and Kent.
This project proposes the construction of a series
of habitable bridges.
Giant Insect Bridge
Originally designed as part of the ‘FUTURISTIC WATER AND THE BIOREEF DIVERSITY
THEORY THAMES GATEWAY’ competition 2011. Competition abandoned.
Competition brief
“The bio-mechanical
futuristic water competition, is the international call for serious ecological ideas for the design of the biological
mechanical village or urban quarter of the city - for the city of London, The
competition seeks to apply a biological mechanical approach to the future
environments of the city, applying the values of bio reef diversity ( the bio
mimicry of our great origin and ancestors the coral reefs as the image and
problem solver of our future city). The city is limited in growth and marooned
through the implementation of the green belt. The areas for expansion are
either through the current high density processes, which begin to populate
flood plains, or to move eastwards denseifying East London breaking
through the green belt towards the Thames Estuary, where a new second
generation London could rise from the waves. The idea is not new, the Thames Estuary
has been the topic of intense debate through the possibility of building a
floating island airport off the coast of Kent, and a nature reserve with a
flood gate connecting Essex and Kent in its core via a high speed monorail.
These radical approaches cannot be discarded without intense exploration. Could
the next east London generation be a floating one?
The risk of
flooding and density problems points to a need for radical thinking,
bringing the exciting prospect of populating the Estuary and Thames with
a new generation of floating eco villages, Thames bridge communities, and farms
could emerge from the waves, integrating the interesting interwoven layers and
networks of the canals and rivers that London has populated and built. London’s
birth depended on water, London’s present is a balance of city and water
together, London’s futuristic city will undoubtedly be a water based
city formed by the rise of sea levels.
The futuristic
water competition seeks to harmonise the two through the explored application
of the bio reef mechanical diversity architecture theory to its future
environments. The use of new materials, technologies, (green tidal, wind, sea,
bio fuel and solar energy ideals).
Aesthetics, and novel spatial organizations, along with studies on
globalization,population increase, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital
revolution are some of the multi-layered elements that the participants should
take into consideration.
City designs
originally designed for other world cities but provide extremely commendable
qualities which may be useful for London, will also be considered for the bio reef
diversity publication if clearly demonstrated how the concept can be adapted -
world examples section.
There are no
restrictions in regards to site, program or size. The objective is to provide
maximum freedom to the participants to engage the project without very specific
constraints in the most creative way. Proposals could tackle housing issues in
London, tackle and propose a financial and research technology hub, which
brings thousands of jobs, with 21st century homes, urban farm integrations,
public green spaces that has rich urban vibrancy and street life. The question
is how does London grow and prosper in the 21st century as a fluid diverse
world city, but with sustainability at its core. The full brief and competition
material can be found on the competition website.”