Proposed by global firm AT Design Office and commissioned by Chinese construction company CCCC, this bonkers Floating City was designed as the latest environmentally-friendly, pie-in-the-sky solution to increasingly overcrowded cities. Made from an infrastructure of prefab hexagon modules, the self-sustaining, four-square-mile metropolis extends both across the water's surface and down below, making room for farms, hatcheries and waste disposal facilities.
A boat-accessible cruise dock up top serves as a connection back to, uh, land-based cities, while submerged tunnels—which look like one part mega-mall and one part Little Mermaid castle—create a more local network of roads and walkways.
"Our existing landmass on earth has been built up so extensively that the remaining free land is under extreme pressure and needs to be preserved as much as possible," explains the design team. "[Floating City] offered an opportunity to develop a new urban nucleus of world-class residential, commercial and cultural facilities, as well as to promote a zero-carbon, energy-efficient and self-sufficient city." Take a closer look, this way.
· Floating City concept by AT Design Office features underwater roads and submarines [Dezeen]
· All Metropolis 2.0 posts [Curbed National]