The project was prepared by Alicja Grzegorczyk, a graduate in architecture from the Wrocław University of Technology. The concept is to rebuild an old oil platform and change its function into a research centre. The student’s concept appealed to the jury members of the international competition “Iron Island”. The Polish student won an honourable mention in the competition.
The competition was aimed at students whose task was to prepare projects that would change oil platforms in the northern Adriatic Sea. The competition was organised by Manni and CNR-IRBIM – the Italian Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology and the YAC platform.
Alicja Grzegorczyk prepared the project ‘Marinascita’, which is an architectural response to the ecological problems of the Adriatic Sea. The problem of the basin is the declining biodiversity of the deep, which is linked to gas extraction. Ongoing drilling there for more than 50 years has harmed the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. There are 47 platforms in the waters near this region. All of them will be closed in the future, so the Italian authorities are developing a plan to restore the biodiversity of the basin.
The architecture graduate is proposing to convert an oil platform into a centre for research into the rebirth of marine life. The site is to serve as an educational centre.
There, visitors would be able to learn about the history of drilling and understand the damage it has caused, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the need to live in symbiosis with the rest of the Earth’s inhabitants. I designed an engaging tour path that would take visitors through a science exhibition, a research laboratory and an underwater auditorium. Its continuation would be a second platform with a vertical farm and living space for staff. There, visitors could learn about aquaponic cultivation. The two platforms together would be self-sufficient in clean energy, water and food, says the project’s author.
Alicja Grzegorczyk made maximum use of the existing structure. She proposes to melt some of the components that need to be dismantled into steel. The facility would be powered by energy produced by quantum dots, wind turbines, a biogas plant and an algae facade. The latter would purify black and grey water.
The competition allowed a great deal of freedom in terms of scale, invasiveness of adaptation and final destination, assuming the greatest possible care for the ecosystem. This is what became my starting point. During the research phase, I tried to understand the needs of all potential users of the site, not only people, but also other members of the ecosystem, such as the coral reef overgrowing the platforms, with its resident organisms, or the birds that fly out into the Adriatic Sea in search of food. Hence, the design includes solutions such as the underwater auditorium, which is a reversal of the typical oceanarium model, or the openwork glazing of the upper deck, which protects not only the interior from overheating, but also birds from flying into the glass panes, adds the designer.
The designer suggests that the new functions of the centre would visually relate to the original purpose of these spaces. The former basement deck is to become a research station.
A year ago, I attended a design class led by Dr. Eng. arch. Bogusław Wowrzeczka, my supervisor. It was about hybrid architecture – megastructures, vertical farms in cities. It was then that my interest in the technologically and functionally complex architecture of this type was born. It fascinates me that designing it is like solving a puzzle, where one decision determines the next, and the final design can surprise you to the end. In the future, I would particularly like to design public buildings whose form will directly reflect the local culture, building techniques and landscape,” Alicja Grzegorczyk concludes.
source: Wrocław University of Technology
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