On the surface, floating cities seem like a far-out, somewhat unrealistic approach to dealing with climate change. Can we really be self-sustaining without immediate access to land? In the Netherlands, a thriving community of floating homes has proven that it really is doable. Each individual home is equipped with rainwater collection, solar panels, geothermal heat, green roofs for food gardens, and a small wastewater bio-refinery that produces additional power.

This model could potentially be scaled up, too, introducing all sorts of new possibilities to the contemporary design world. And when you look at its success, it’s a lot easier to imagine a futuristic concept like “Current for Currents” by DADA Studio becoming a reality. Based in Manila, DADA’s team of architects has dreamed up an unusual solution to the ever-present threats of natural disasters, storms, and rising sea levels facing the Philippines.

“Current for Currents” is a circular arrangement of modular housing units floating on the surface of the water. Each dwelling is made of molded plastic in a shape reminiscent of ships, anchored to the sea bed and powered by both tidal and solar energy. With the motto of “blue is the new green,” this floating coastal community connects residents to essential resources and services in a way that’s difficult to do using conventional boats.

Equipped with multiple sources of renewable energy, the structures have clearly been designed with flexibility in mind, still capable of powering up whether the seas are unusually calm or the sun isn’t shining. Computer renderings also show hydropower turbines just under the surface of each unit. Some scientists say that harnessing the power of ocean currents could provide “a clean and limitless form of renewable energy,” though the systems must be designed to minimize threats to marine life.

In this case, DADA envisions each turbine providing more than enough power for the individual homes, and even becoming a potential source of revenue for the community at large. Inhabitants who own and maintain these structures could then sell the excess energy to communities on the mainland, reducing the need to go ashore for work.

The city’s molded plastic construction makes it exceptionally durable and easy to reproduce, and the uniformity and simplicity of its modules avoids creating an eyesore in beautiful natural areas valued by the public for universal recreational access. While DADA may have designed these particular units specifically for the Philippines, it’s easy to see how they could be adapted to other locations around the world, perhaps even with slight changes to their shapes to reflect the local vernacular.

We’ve seen lots of similar concepts over the years. A decade or so ago, architects like Vincent Callebaut kicked off a trend of floating city concepts that seemed just as untethered to reality as they were to land, but maybe that’s just because it had never been accomplished before. It’s highly likely that coastal cities grappling with unstoppable rising sea levels will eventually have to abandon their attempts to “shore up” against the problem and learn to similarly live with the influx of water. DADA’s concept is just one way to pull it off.

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Apparitions are usually pretty tough to explain to those around you, but in the case of the Ghost Ship, it’s something everyone looking at Philadelphia’s Ben Franklin Bridge can witness. The temporary art installation is stationed there for public viewing from now until the first week in November.

Aligning perfectly with the month associated with all things ghastly, the Ghost Ship sits in the river between Race Street Pier and Pier 12 and is visible every Wednesday through Sunday night. The illusion is created with the help of mist fountains anchored beneath the surface of the water. The hazy sails are brought to life using lighting projected from a nearby platform.

Designers of the art installation intentionally set it up so that the ship’s port side would be visible from Race Street Pier, while its bow can be seen from the nearby Columbus Boulevard. For added folly, a pop-up Ghost Ship beer garden sits on the waterfront on evenings when the ship appears.

It’s not a hallucination caused by beer goggles, though. Instead, a lot of planning and preparation went into bringing the piece to the river. It’s the first result of the Delaware River Waterfront Corp.’s new Waterfront Arts Program, which aims to explore the history and diversity of the area through works of art. With this in mind, organizers opened up a call for exhibitions that represented that goal.

“We’ve always had cultural events like fireworks displays at the waterfront,” says DRWC President Joe Forkin. “So we started to think about how art complements the waterfront and how it can bring new audiences here.” The council debated, scrutinized, and brainstormed ideas until they agreed to focus on past and present communities affected by the Delaware River as a theme for the works.

The exhibition call was answered by Ryan Strand Greenberg, a public art curator and photographer from the area. Having visited an inspirational light display in Amsterdam with a similar theme, Greenberg reached out to Biangle Studio (based in Estonia), who agreed to modify their original work to represent the history of migration in the area during the 18th century — when the river was used to carry products like cocoa beans and crude oil, as well as both free and enslaved people.

“This particular time period was really important to the city’s development,” Greenberg explains. “It contributed to the social fabric of Philadelphia.”

The team studied ships from the target era until they decided on the final model. They then hired local engineering firm Pennoni to obtain permits, anchor the lighting, install a submersible power cable in the river itself, and mount lights on nearby properties.

“It was a pretty neat project for us, because this is the kind of project that our guys don’t get to work on every day,” says David DeLizza, President and CEO of Pennoni.

The installation will be visible from 7 to 10 PM on all the aforementioned evenings, and onlookers can even enjoy a self-guided tour via smartphone on SoundCloud, as accessed through the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation’s official website.

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Finders Keepers?

Back in 1981, an American company known as Sea Search Armada first found the San José. Colombia quickly claimed the famous ship — along with all the cargo in it — as their own. After battling it out in court for 30 years, a judge finally decided in 2011 that Colombia had patrimonial rights to the vessel but that the bounty would be divided equally between them and Sea Search Armada.

A Fly in the Ointment

Enter the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who found the sunken ship still untouched off the Colombian coast in November 2015. More specifically, the team used a robotic submarine, the REMUS 6000, to determine the ship’s location and contents through sonar. REMUS was also able to identify the ship by taking photos of its cannons, which are engraved with some very unique-looking dolphins, at 30 feet away.

Rob Munier, the Vice President of Marine Facilities and Operations at Woods Hole, explains: “We’ve been holding this under wraps out of respect for the Colombian government,” although some think that the estimated $17 billion booty may have played a part in the company’s silence. However, The Washington Post reports that the “researchers at Woods Hole say they have no financial stake in the haul.”

The History of the San José

In the early 18^th century, the San José, a heavy triple-masted, square-rigged sailing ship, was a favorite of the Spaniards. Armed with 62 cannons, the ship departed South America in 1708, making its way back to Spain to deliver emeralds, silver, and gold from the Peruvian mines in Potosi (which many historians believe were obtained under questionable circumstances). When his attending warships were delayed, the Spanish commandant decided to leave without them, even though the War of Spanish Succession was already in full swing. Before his reinforcements could catch up with it, four English warships overtook the San José and sunk it, with most of the ship’s 600 odd passengers losing their lives.

What’s Next

Colombia has revealed plans to construct a museum and high-tech conservation lab to commemorate the San José. The country also plans to put the treasure on public display. The national government has already started fundraising to recover the bounty.

Of course, Spain has other plans. They claim that the riches rightfully belong to them since they’re on one of their historic ships. UNESCO has even entered the arena at this point, warning Colombia that they “would cause the irretrievable loss of significant heritage” if the unearthing of the San José was commercially exploited.

However this saga finally ends, it sounds like no typical treasure hunter will ever get the chance to roll around in the piles of gold and silver resting in the hull of the San José.

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Two wood-clad cantilevered appendages stretch out over rocky cliffs to take in views of the ocean in this Nova Scotia residence inspired by ships. Reminiscent of sea vessels put up on cradles for the winter, the twin telescopic pavilions not only extend the home closer to the ocean, but create protected outdoor spaces between and beneath them.

Two Hulls House by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects is a full-time home for a family of four with timber skins that extend out over the glazed ends of each section to provide covered porches. The architects envisioned the illuminated ends of these two appendages glowing like lanterns to anyone who might see them from the sea or shore.

One of these volumes is the ‘day pavilion,’ holding the living spaces, while the opposite is the ‘night pavilion,’ containing the bedrooms. The third section of the home, containing the entry foyer and kitchen, runs perpendicular to the others, providing a view down the coastline. The home is elevated on a concrete seawall to protect it from rough seas.

The interiors are bright and open, full of the same pale timber cladding as the exterior, which covers the ceilings and also makes up large sliding doors that open or close off various parts of the home as desired.

“This is a steel frame house, with a wood skin. Its white, steel endoskeleton resists both gravity loads and wind uplift. The 32′ cantilevers and concrete fin foundations invite the sea to pass under without damage. The wooden rain screen consists of 8″ vertical, board-on-batten on the two ‘hulls’, while the linking piece is a monolithic block of weathered wood inside and out, clad in 4″ horizontal shiplap.”

“The lantern ends dematerialise by eliminating the 1″ channel joints. The fenestration of the ‘binocular’ ends is minimalist curtain wall with structural silicone. The side elevations contain storefront glazing. The concrete floors contain a geothermally heated hydronic system. This sculptural, yet calm and mature project contains generous white volumes on the interior, and exhibits the ironic monumentality of boats on the exterior.”

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When is a kitchen island not an island? When it’s actually a sailboat! No? Not funny? OK, then we’ll skip the one about it being ‘shipshape’ too, and perhaps the one about its ‘streamlined’ shape as well. Honestly, though, it’s all right there, and corny puns are hard to avoid. (You secretly like them, don’t you?)

This series of designs called “Mare Cucina” from Alno embodies nautical sources of inspiration, seen most clearly in the island but also present in the supplementary cabinet sets that smoothly arc out from the walls and glide back into them. They’re not too literal, but the inspiration is undeniable. 

The centerpiece island serves as a flagship, if you will, anchoring the design, while its curve encourage cooking and interacting activity around its edges, and participation in the middle – all hands on deck! If you’re someone who loves nautical things or the sea, perhaps the Mare Cucina collection is exactly what you never knew you needed. But here it is, and what else can you do now except drop some serious cash on a designer kitchen that looks like a sailboat? Resistance is futile.

Alno’s description, translated from German, leaves a little bit of their intentions mysterious with this one, so we’ll just leave you with their exact words.

“The elegant shape of this unique kitchen pays homage to the maritime lifestyle. An association of what we meant is symbolic: each member of the team counts and one is home to a ship sailing at maximum speed.”

“We have been developing steadily for over 90 years. Kitchens are our passion. Our highest quality demands, together with craftsmanship, produce a standard that does not compromise. Of course, we don’t lose sight of the attention to detail here. Researching new innovation opportunities is reflected in our products. ALNO produces high-quality kitchen dreams that are entirely individual.”

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What six-year-old children don’t dream of something this spectacular? A space ship theme was considered, as were race cars and medieval castles … but with pirates you can never go wrong, right? Argh!!!

“The rope bridge is connected to the top of the jail cell, built to accommodate evil doers, thieves and little sisters.” At the end of the bridge, across from the crow’s-nested-and-steering-wheeled vessel, sits the faux-stone prison turret with a theme-fitting wood ladder.

Curved wooden ribs support plywood planking (sorry, no actual plank!) covered with plaster and epoxy for stability and aesthetic effect.

A knotted climbing rope drops down from the lofted play area to a closet below … and then a secret spiral slide spins you the occupant the way down to the first floor.

Designed and built by Steve Kuhl, a Minneapolis design-and-build expert, this extraordinary work has become something of an overnight sensation around the world, to the point where the designer’s portfolio site was so deluged it crashed … drowned, as it were, in the internet’s version of Davey Jones’ locker.

Read more about how this room, completed years ago, suddenly went viral on the internet at the Star Tribune:

“Six years ago, Hopkins remodeling contractor Steve Kuhl took on a quirky project. The client was his older brother, who was building a house in Medina and wanted ‘something fun’ for his two young children. Kuhl delivered: a climbing wall, a ‘super luge’ (a 55-foot spiral slide into the sport court), a secret door hidden behind a suit of armor, and a pirate-themed bedroom for his nephew, then age 6.”

“Kuhl pulled out all the stops in the bedroom, which included a ship’s hull jutting out of the wall, a crow’s nest, a rope bridge, a jail cell (‘for evil-doers,’ Kuhl said) and an under-the-sea paint job. ‘It was fun,” said Kuhl, whose company, Kuhl Design Build, typically works on kitchens, bathrooms and additions. ‘I like to work outside the box.'”

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Oh, and the twenty grand does not cover your trip to and back from this unique retreat – that will run you and your fellow guests closer to half a million dollars. While the accommodations may not be spacious by Earth standards, they are certainly luxurious compared to the International Space Station.

Set to launch as soon as 2016, this commercial resort is the brainchild of the Russian corporation Orbital Technologies … a kind of private-enterprise counterpart, contesting America’s lead, once again, in a different kind of space race. You can bet that it, too, will break more than a few (off-)world records.

Each section will have horizontal and/or vertical beds (not that it matters much in zero gravity), self-contained showers (instead of the usual astronaut sponge baths) and precooked gourmet meals (rather than bland food tubes) rocketed up from the planet’s surface to be reheated in outer space.

By the same token, the guest fridge will feature higher-end beverages including juices, sodas and mineral waters … but for reasons that should be fairly obvious (if disappointing to some), no alcohol will be permitted on board.

Of course, each group of visitors (up to seven per round) will be accompanied by an experienced crew to help them make their way to and from the pod … but be warned: in an emergency, members of the International Space Station might just drop by for an unannounced stay.

From The Guardian:

“It is scarcely five-star luxury. On the other hand, there will be many compensations. Views of the Earth from the space hotel’s special observation windows should be breathtaking as the craft whizzes round our planet every 90 minutes – providing guests with 16 sunsets and 16 sunrises a day. Visitors will also be able to choose to have their beds vertically or horizontally inclined to their line of flight. Indeed, the prospect of weightlessness offers all sorts of zero-gravity activities that can only be dreamt of on Earth.”

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Mobile living is no longer just for land lovers, and floating mini-cities are no longer just a vision for the open oceans or high seas – why not blend the best aspects of portable homes, cruise ships and air trips into a single stylish and sustainable flying ship designed to float, drift or drive anywhere the wind blows?

Yes, airships are back in style – but why? Perhaps we have finally come back around to the idea that flying could once again be a sustainable way to travel as new alternative fuels and off-the-grid energy technologies begin to take over from classic CO2-producing combustible alternatives. Seymourpowell presents an option that looks far-fetched but is remarkably plausible – at least insofar as they have done a great deal of research into potential materials, construction techniques and technologies.

Moreover, there is continued material research into structural systems that have the ideal blend of flexibility and stability – perfect for the dual needs of large flying machines. Hydrogen gas keeps the entire thousand-foot-tall structure aloft while hydrogen fuel cells provide power for other uses and sufficient water is stored for short trips through the air. Who knows – it may start with hotel rooms and apartment rentals but could end with full-blown flying condos for sale.

Private duplex living, dining and sleeping spaces in individual apartments are complemented in this concept by bar, lounge and other community spaces. And how long would it take to travel? Cruising speeds are estimated at being around the same as those of sea-faring ships, meaning you could make it halfway around the world in a few days depending upon the weather – and which places your airship plans to stop along the way. Of course, you have to dock sometimes – or maybe that is just a yet-unsolved design problem for those who wish to remain permanently aloft!

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