Thalas
Next generation artifical reefs
Thalas is an installation that allows people to grow and fund custom geometry for the creation of state of the art artificial reefs. Through interaction with a growth algorithm people shape their own part of this artificial reef. The generated geometry will then be 3d printed in concrete and steel and placed at the bottom of the ocean.
The user will get a small 3d printed version to take home. Apart from just being a physical proof of their contribution the smaller version is a physical ambassador for the cause of sustaining our environment with a pro-active attitude.
“How can we take the responsibility to start consciously interfering with nature?”
Plastic pollution, oil spills, global warming and many more consequences of human action are negatively impacting the flora and fauna of the sea. Prime examples are the plastic soups that amass in the oceans and the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.
The scale of all these problems is global, but I think the solution, as with most human endeavours, starts at an individual level. Through altering the relation individuals have with the seemingly unreachable underwater world we can start improving our relationship with the ocean. By designing interactions that break through boundary of the water’s
surface, I want people to revaluate their relation with this magical underwater world.
In order to fit and blend in with the natural context, the generated shapes are organic.
In the algorithm the functional aspect of optimizing surface area and cavities for specific corals and fish are balanced with structural integrity.
The algorithm also leverages the advantages of additive manufacturing of both concrete and steel. As the steel can only be 3D printed in a bar it is generated as a vine or branch coiling around the base structure of concrete. The steel is used to generate an electric field that accelerates coral up to four times.