Presentation Premiere of UC Berkeley Architecture student work on Pac Rim Studio: Design and Island brief

DESIGN AN ISLAND: To save their atoll homes under threat from sea level rise, several low-lying Pacific Nations search for new home lands.

We will design platforms for relocating island communities threatened by the sea level rise anticipated due to global warming. Strategies for relocating village populations as well as the use of waste stream materials for construction will be emphasized. Studio sponsors are pioneering the abatement and reuse of ocean plastic wastes and their potential use as materials for ‘island’ and other construction. Together we will develop design solutions based on these emerging recycling technologies to conceptualize ‘Island Moving’ projects with Pacific atoll Nations such as Tuvalu. [time: 2-3 week blitz]

The Design an Island brief is being run concurrently with students of architecture working with Prof. Kris Palagi at the University of Hawaii and Prof. Mark Anderson at University of California Berkeley. Meanwhile, University of Sydney Professors Glen Hill and Daniel Ryan in conjuction with Lake Macquarie City Council are convening a studio focused on Sea Level Rise in Swansea, Lake Macquarie—a coastal lagoon, very vulnerable to inundation, located just north of Sydney.

Design solutions

Design solutions will come from the students and studio participants working together in the Pac Rim Studio. Participating schools include: University of California at Berkeley, California College of the Arts, Maori Centre for Architecture (Unitec, New Zealand), University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Auckland, Un...iversity of Sydney and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The voyage of the Plastiki

In honor of the voyage of the Plastiki we are initiating a multi-country trans-Pacific studio that will involve students of architecture stretching from California to Asia along the Plastiki Expedition route.

What is Plastiki ?

The Plastiki, its a 60foot catamaran made from thousands of reclaimed plastic bottles and recycled plastic.