Queen Charlotte at Risk

Say hi to my first artificial reef design project, Queen Charlotte at Risk. 

Another forthcoming megathrust-earthquake threatens The Queen Charlotte Islands. Pacific and North American tectonic plates are sliding along each other obliquely, which means that at certain points along the Queen Charlotte Fault, they also push against each other. Stress and strain are focused on HaidaGwaii, threatening large colonies of red sea urchins which hide at day time in crevasses of the Epipelagic Zone along the coast.

A decrease in the sea urchin population might determine the slow death of a large number of other marine species that feed on them.

Chaos starts in the South...

Clusters of carbon fiber thick wires enclose the holes of the crevasses in which the urchins hide during the day, like pellucid curtains of stalactites. Flexible, elastic and lightweight, the wires form an entirely interconnected system. Not only is this system supposed to give a new, safer shelter to the red sea urchins while the rocks undergo a major thrust event, but it also frames a behavioral change in the red sea urchins.

It is a system supposed to evolve in time, to become a dynamic city, an artificially evolving architecture which should represent the 'house' of new-born urchins. Therefore, the woven carbon fiber wires form an intricate mesh with the aim to maximize the area where 'food' can grow. But their connection is thin enough to break in case of a damaged wire, so that the rest of the system would still be safe.

In conclusion, the system will resemble an upside down kelp forest, close to the beloved darkness of the urchin's little 'caves'.