The Maldives, a tropical island nation in the Indian Ocean, may be on the fast track to becoming the world's first country to be submerged by rising sea levels. In response, their government has pledged to become carbon-neutral within the next decade, looked into buying land elsewhere to relocate the entire population - and to top it off, staged an underwater cabinet meeting to draw attention to the plight of low-lying countries threatened by rising seas. Now the Maldives is also the inspiration for a competition entry into this year's Skyscraper Competition, aptly-titled Floating States of Maldives - which answers the question: what would an entire nation, housed in towers floating in the middle of the ocean, look like?
This network of skyscrapers will hover to a maximum of 1000m above sea level, while their keels will dive 1000m below the water. These beautiful series of towers will accommodate floor areas of up to 56 times that of the combined Petronas Twin Towers. With the increase in population, the height of the tower will be increased or more towers could be erected to accommodate people. With their plan, designers William Fong, Joshua Loke, Livee Ta haven't let the recognition of Maldives as a series of islands fade away. The Floating States of Maldives is one of the finalists in the 2010 Skyscraper Competition.
We like the idea of a dynamic form that not only seems to biomimic the natural shape of a flower (or is that a cracked coconut?), and yet can be augmented to respond to changing population demands. So if you can't beat them, float them, right?
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