Marine Utopia

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BACKGROUND Within the field of architectural design research and speculative environmental design, increasing attention has been given to the relationship between architecture, ecology and climate change. Designers and researchers such as Neri Oxman (Material Ecology), Achim Menges (computational morphogenesis) and Kate Orff (SCAPE’s Oyster-tecture) have explored how architecture can engage environmental systems and ecological processes. These debates frequently appear in international venues such as the Venice Architecture Biennale and the Shenzhen–Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\\Architecture (UABB). At the same time, global warming has increasingly damaged marine ecosystems, accelerating coral reef degradation and biodiversity loss. Scientists warn that most coral reefs could disappear by the end of this century if current trends continue. Despite growing interest in ecological design, there remains a gap in exploring how speculative and computational architectural design can contribute to discourse on marine environments and climate change. This research investigates how architectural design can help visualise alternative futures for fragile marine ecosystems.

CONTRIBUTION Marine Utopia is a speculative architectural design research project and exhibition installation exhibited by Dr Nic Bao at the 9th Shenzhen–Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\\Architecture (UABB 2022–2023). Developed through the RMIT Architecture Master Design Studio Coral, the project explores architecture as a medium for responding to coral reef degradation. As project director, Bao led the research framework, conceptual design and exhibition presentation. The work integrates computational design exploration with ecological awareness to propose floating architectural systems and artificial coral reef structures as conceptual strategies for low-carbon marine environments.

SIGNIFICANCE The work was selected for exhibition in the 9th Shenzhen–Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\\Architecture (UABB 2022/2023), a major international architecture biennale. It was presented in the Longgang International Low Carbon City sub-venue exhibition “C Journey, Architecture Towards Future”, curated by Associate Professor Fei Wang (Syracuse University). The inclusion of Marine Utopia demonstrates peer recognition of the project’s contribution to discussions on architecture, climate change and marine ecological futures.