PHOTOS: Architect designs 3D underwater eco-village

Life under the sea is better than anything they’ve got up there…” at least according to The Little Mermaid’s Sebastian the crab and Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut. His ambitious plans, known as the Aequorea project, include a series of sustainable 3D-printed underwater villages — called “oceanscrapers”.

Architect’s viewpoint

“Never forget this: oceans produce 50 percent of our planet’s oxygen—they are its most active lung! It’s really worth cleaning them, and fighting their acidification, thus re-enchanting our living together,” saysVincent Callebaut, Belgian architect and the creator of Aequorea project.

Facts

• Status: Research and development stage.

• Location: The five ocean gyres and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

• Program: A multi-use oceanscraper printed in 3D from the seventh continent’s garbage.

• Dimensions. 500 meters width, 1,000 meters deep, 250 floors (1/4 for permaculture and agro-ecology).