Probably one of the most bold island development proposals I have seen in a long time a group of architects from the Netherlands have proposed a crazy idea to take all the plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean and recycle it into a floating island the size of Hawaii.

Climate refugees would be able to move there and live in recycled plastic homes, and work on farms or grow seaweed. The entire island would be totally self-sufficient once built, producing its own food and energy, and managing waste. While totally off the wall, this is an intriguing concept that gets our imaginations in motion about what we can do with that ginormous mass of plastic floating around in the ocean.  

For more information on this proposal visit Inhabitat.

Touted as a self-sufficent floating city, Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum’s Water Scraper utilizes a variety of green technologies. It generates its own electricity using wave wind, and solar power and it produces its own food through farming, aquaculture, and hydroponic techniques. The surface of the submerged skyscraper sustains a small forest, while the lower levels contain spaces for its inhabitants to live and work. The building is kept upright using a system of ballasts aided by a set of squid-like tentacles that generate kinetic energy.

The architects “envision a future where land as a resource will be scarce; it is only natural progression that we create our own. Approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface is ocean, even more if climate change has its way, hence it is only natural progression that we will populate the seas someday.”

Source: Inhabitat.

Underwater floating sky scraper

Although still just a concept, this upside-down, underwater eco-skyscraper (say that five times fast!) could be the future of building, especially if sea levels rise and we are forced to spend our lives living on floating islands. Designed by Victoria BC-based firm Zigaloo the Gyre is a floating eco development meant to be both a research station as well as an off shore resort complete with shops, restaurants, gardens and recreation.

Powered completely by the sun, wind and ocean, the Gyre would offer a zero emissions stay for both tourists and researchers hoping to gain a better understanding of the ocean’s ecosystem.

Source: Inhabitat

A new man made island design allows eco-conscious exercisers to synch your workout with a little river detox, then rehydrate with a cup of the fresh water you just filtered. This people-powered water purification island is designed by Jakub Szczesny as part of the synchronicity architecture and art festival in Warsaw, Poland. The premise of the poject is that it hooks up basic exercise machines to kinetically pump polluted water through four filters into overhead tanks that spill into a large drinking fountain at the end of the cycle.

This floating platform located on the Vistula River aims to empower citizens toward environmental clean-up, and apparently would work on any body of water with enough local bodies willing to pedal for their potables!

Source: Inhabitat

This island isn’t messing around either, it’s darkened shores are strewn with polished human bones and it is reputed to be so scary that no tourists are ever allowed to set foot on it.  In the late 1500’s when the plague ravaged Italy, and bodies were piling up by the thousands, city officials took the drastic step of sending the sick and dying, including children and babies, to the island of Poveglia and thrown into the pits of rotting corpses, where they were left to die in agony. As many as 160,000 tormented bodies were dumped there over the years.

The whole island is still covered in a layer of ash, the remains of all the burned bodies. Before long, local people began seeing strange things and hearing strange sounds coming from the haunted island. In light of the islands dark history, in 1922 they did the only logical thing…they built a mental hospital on the island!

The hospital was run by an excentric doctor who experimented on live patients. Lobotomies were performed using a basic hand drill or just a hammer and chisel. After years of these horrible experiments, the doctor himself began seeing ghosts. It is said they led him to the top of the bell tower, and forced him to throw himself off. It is rumored that the mental patients then bricked up his body in the bell tower. There his ghost remains, haunting the empty tower for all eternity. HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Sudden shifts in electromagnetism soon followed, further substantiating the preceding battery activity and lending credence to theories linking energy fluctuations with the paranormal. The K2 meter, used to measure such shifts, began registering anomalous energy readings. As is often the case, TAPS quickly began using the device in an attempt to make contact with any potential presence, asking for the entity to manipulate readable energy and light the meter’s display.so

The lighthouse has a long history of death. Among the long list of lighthouse keepers is the tragic story of a mid-1800’s man and his wife, whose isolation on the island eventually drove the man mad resulting in him taking axe to both himself and his wife. To this day people still report hearing the sounds of the piano the wife used play to break the silence of their isolation.   

The most recent report of the island being haunted occurred in 1985 when the island was being decommissioned and the furniture was being packed by the warrant officer. During the night the officer was awakened by the apparition of a man dressed in oil skins shaking his bed. It seems the ghost had a message, purportedly saying “Don’t take the furniture, please leave my home alone.” The next day the boat that carrying the furniture sunk when an accident happened while lowering the loaded boat into the water. 

Since this time the islands lighthouse has been renovated and is open to visitors.

I have noticed that while land based modular homes are becoming evermore popular, floating homes are also becoming increasingly popular with island owners. These floating homes allow island owners to maximize the use of their island while  allowing them to live on the water. One concept that recently captured my attention is the Jelly Fish.

Arguably the most ambitious floating home yet conceived. This as yet built home would stand 33 feet high and 45 feet wide, and blow the standard houseboat out of the water. The highlight of the Jelly-Fish is its submerged lower deck for dining, drinking and viewing ocean life. A spiral staircase joins the five stories of the floating habitat and ample windows accommodate views in all directions from all levels. At 2.5 M this home is not cheap, however I can only imagine how stunning it would look moored off an a beautiful caribbean island.

Although I would hate to think people would use an beautiful island for something so insideous, the author does make a point. After all, Private Islands do provide immense privacy, which would no doubt allow for a discrete affair to take place.

According to the article the best island for an affair is Beyond Mnemba Island, a private island retreat near Zanzibar. The resort features 10 rustic but luxurious palm-frond bandas, tucked in a tropical forest fringed by a white coral sand beach. 

To read the full article visit ABC Travel

For those who are interested in something between these two options a new technology may be just the answer. A new self-sustaing floating home recently proposed by Polish designers may be just the compromise for many island owners. Using solar power, water desalination technology, natural ventilation, water recycling and other eco-friendly technologies this futuristic floating home would be completely self sustaining.

Naturally this home is still in the design phase, but as someone who reads a lot about architecture and island living, it wont be long before this type of habitat not only becomes practical but desired as well.

Source: inhabitat.