[EU]TOPIA: SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGENERATION
Whilst stuck in my room during the lockdowns, this visual essay became an opportunity for me to reimagine how I think cities should be. The project sited in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Tanzania, is about a floating city expansion, to respond to the influx of rural-to-urban migration in the country, who are currently residing in informal housing.
I was keen to not be prescriptive in the way I went about designing this, as I argued conformity leads to a dystopian society, as often seen in sci-fi. Therefore, this exploratory work only acts as a framework, allowing individuality, culture and character to define how the city grows.
As a floating city, the scheme is all about the water. Rather than perceiving it as a barrier to design, I wondered whether culture, commerce and the city’s inhabitants can adapt to respect and value the water. Perhaps we could harness energy from it? Or grow crops? What about transport? The list goes on.
All these discrete components influenced the story. I played with tangible and intangible design ideas and notions, and I believe the outcome stands between a masterplan and a creative piece.
As I progressed, it became less about the design, but an exploration of self. I gained an understanding of what I want from the built environment; and that was social harmony and resilience, and, environmental reverence and restoration. I understood that extractive and exploitative practices, such as development for land value, or supply and demand without consideration to the recycling of goods, is failing people and planet, and there must be a better version of economic policy and social norms.
