In 2009 Evelyn A. Kamilaki participated in one of the TSI Institute’s first projects – a Seasteading Hotel-Resort. This futuristic idea is no longer a Utopia in 2023.
A familiar theme in science fiction is the idea of floating cities – independent, self-sustaining nation-states at sea where start-up societies work to redesign society and government and don’t have to fight over who owns the land. The concept even has a name: seasteading.
Seasteading is the concept of creating permanent dwellings at sea, called seasteads, in international waters outside the territory claimed by any government. No one has yet created a structure on the high seas that has been recognized as a sovereign state. Proposed structures have included modified cruise ships, refitted oil platforms, and custom-built floating islands
In recent years, the idea has evolved from pure fantasy to something approaching reality. These days, there are companies, academics, architects, and even one government working to create the first prototype seastead in 2020.
The Seasteading Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 2008 by political economic theorist Patri Friedman and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, based in San Francisco.
The organization aims to build “start-up countries” at sea, known as “seasteads”, that offer greater freedom for innovation in science, technology, and politics.
According to its website, the institute’s goal is to develop “open spaces for experimenting with new societies” in order to “allow the next generation of pioneers to peacefully test new ideas for how to live together”.
The company claims that building floating cities will offer an alternative to conventional models of governance, with few regulations. The government of French Polynesia has signed an agreement with The Seasteading Institute to cooperate on the creation of a pilot city in a lagoon near Tahiti.
The Seasteading Institute plans to build the city using existing floating architecture technology developed by Dutch engineering firm Deltasync.
A plan to build self-sufficient floating cities outside of national borders features also in the latest movie from the Dezeen x MINI Living video series.