KLS: Kehidupan Laut Seawall, inspired by Nature.
BioInspired Argentina´s solution was elected as one of the seven winners of the ideation phase at Kura Kura Bali Happiness Island Challenge.
Versión en Español: clic aquí
Creating the Island of Happiness
The Island of Happiness seeks to create a model community based on the principles of the Balinese belief in the Three Ways to Happiness: harmony with people, with nature, and with spiritual in all aspects of living. You can learn more about it and how it has been translated into a sustainable design framework by following this link. To this end, both the design and implementation of all projects must enhance and help maintain the natural beauty and culture of the island, and allow for further implementation and/or scale to other locations, worldwide.
The search for harmony between people and their environment is timeless, but our successes have traditionally come with a negative impact on the environment. Seawalls have been no exception to this legacy, but their function of protection from storms and erosion remains a vital need. That’s why The Island of Happiness is looking to bridge the gap in sustainable seawalls, and that’s where we need original, mold-breaking designs.
There has yet to exist a treatment for the sea edge that is sustainably designed without sacrificing an elegant aesthetic. The challenge is to propose a new kind of sea edge treatment that can be created first for the Island of Happiness, and eventually become the new standard for sea edge treatments in the rest of Indonesia and possibly other parts of the world.
KLS: Kehidupan Laut Seawall, inspired by Nature.
Marine life friendly, biomorphic Seawall design with jetting assisted technology, inspired by Nature: razor clam, coral reef and sea turtle’s shell.
BioInspired Argentina created a complete Seawall solution inspired by Nature: razor clam, coral reef and sea turtle’s shell.
Features:
· Jetting assisted pile driving technology: Each pile has a special “clam bio inspired” feature consisting of two water jets that liquefies the sand below the clam like tip, making it softer and easier to penetrate just using lightweight equipment.
· Biomorphic design: The shape of each pile is inspired by the razor clam and the sea turtle’s shell. The round edges provide a visually stunning organic look, while absorbing wave energy very efficiently.
· Marine life friendly: The coral reef and turtle’s shell inspired texture provides abundant cavities to support marine life development
· Urban furniture enhanced crowning: The piles are bonded by a specially designed piece, which provides several urban furniture add-ons options: Bicycle parking stand, seat, self-watering planters, etc.
BioInspired Argentina explored two viable environmentally friendly material options:
Option A: Glass foam. Similar to FOAMGLAS® but with thicker cell walls; its a strong, long lasting material described as “the building material of the future” by Blue Economy creator Gunter Pauli. It is produced using recycled glass and CO2. It is waterproof because it is made of pure glass. Cannot rot because it is inorganic. Has an extraordinarily high compressive strength without deformation under load due to its unique cell geometry. It is non-combustible; fire behavior classification according to EN 13501: A1. Vapor-tight: It is air and vapor tight because it consists of hermetically sealed glass cells. Dimensionally stable: glass neither shrinks nor swells. Acids and organic solvents resistant. Ecological: It is free of environmentally damaging flame-retardants and blowing agents; has no relevant eco-toxic components.
Option B: Roman concrete. Contrary to the principles of modern cement-based concrete, the Romans created a rock-like concrete that thrives in open chemical exchange with seawater. Concrete used for ancient seawalls was made by mixing lime, seawater, volcanic ash and rock. Roman concrete contained aluminum tobermorite, a rare mineral that adds extra strength. The combination of minerals produces a possolanic reaction (named after the commune of Pozzuoli in Naples). Elements in the ash react with seawater, which actually strengthens the material. Long-term exposure to seawater helped these crystals to continue growing, reinforcing the concrete and preventing cracks from developing. In contrast, waves erode modern concrete. Switching to a similar type of concrete could make KLS less harmful to the environment, since the production of modern Portland cement uses high-temperature kilns that make a significant contribution to industrial carbon dioxide emissions.
BioInspired Argentina´s vision about the challenge.
“It is well known that forests are key allies in our fight against climate change as they absorb greenhouse emissions. But did you know that oceans are the earth’s main buffer against climate change?. Most of the greenhouse gases that we emit actually gets absorbed by the oceans, as does over 90 percent of the extra heat produced by human-induced climate change. However, oceans are also one of the most affected. Human activities are resulting in acidification and increasing water temperatures that are affecting our oceans and marine life within them.”
“We believe Happiness Challenge goes way beyond a nice Seawall design; it’s a great opportunity to use humans unique creativity combined with the 3,8 billion year of nature’s experience. The Oceans brought life to our planet and is still looking after us; its time to become more respectful, resourceful and sustainable.” said Charly Karamanian
“Although we decided to participate in just one open innovation challenge per year, a few weeks after winning the CubeSat Challenge we found this incredible challenge that we could not let go. We just learned that we are among the 7 winners of the ideation phase and will be part of one of the two teams that will compete for the next six months and travel to Bali to build the Seawall prototypes.” said Alejandro Bollana.
“The island where this amazing ecological complex is being built is a global model on sustainability, inspired by the 17 sustainable development goals from United Nations. Now we have the chance to collaborate on the final design with Adi Newman from Econcrete, an Israeli company with huge expertise on sustainable seawalls construction, Hugo Shelley from Iota technology, an outstanding industrial designer from UK” said Charly Karamanian.
*Kehidupan Laut means Marine Life in Indonesian language.
Versión en Español: clic aquí
Related News:
