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Monday, June 6, 2011

Futuristic Floating & Flood-Powered Public City Park Design

futuristic floating water park
Everyone knows that urban space is hard to come by, leading to elevated parks like the Highline in
New York City that take advantage of what little real estate remains available in ever-more-dense downtown areas. Moreover, it is incredibly difficult to generate power via traditional means within cities due not only to land value but also the potential pollution and other disruptive impacts.
This fantastic floating park idea by GRO Architects addresses these two urban problems at once by generating natural energy from the very waves it rides upon while also providing additional open green public space for pedestrians right out on the water. Turbines that turn out to be the very housing of the interior portions of this park rotate silently around people as they pass through.
futuristic floating park idea
While it may look futuristic and rather artistic, the forms of this unusual design idea are in fact driven by and optimized based on the physical requirements of the power-harvesting turbines. In theory, the aesthetic is motivated largely by the eco-needs of this sustainable design, but in practice it seems clear that it is also being made to look very very cool.