Students of the University of Cincinnati are participating in a rather unusual competition: designs from their studio ‘Extreme Environments’ which explored chances and challenges of underwater architecture were submitted to France’s Archipelaego competition in an effort to win the Jacques Rougerie Architecture of the Sea Award.

Students prepare the mock habitat for the in-water experiment at University of Cincinnati’s Olympic-sized lap pool (Photo: Brian Davies)

In this design class, students and faculty were actually meeting and working at the bottom of the university’s Olympic-sized pool. The point of the underwater exercises is the same as that for any site visit: to first experience an environment and then design for it, according to Brian F. Davies, associate professor of architecture in UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning and initiator of the Extreme Environments design class.

Negatively buoyant, ready for air. (Photo: Ashley Kempher/U. of Cincinnati)


Here are some of the student designs that were submitted to the ‘Archipelaego’ competition:

Emma Scarmack and Jennifer Moots: “Flatback Habitat: An Underwater Sea Turtle Research Facility”, collaborative proposal for a research habitat off Australia to study Flatback Turtles

John Rezsonya, third-year architecture, and John Ariosa, third-year transportation design: “Deep Search: Exploring the Unknown on our Own Planet”, project for an unmanned drone (this project was a cross-disciplinerary collaboration)

Sarosh Ali, Jason Rohal and Heather Vorst: “Cayo Costilla Resort: the Science & Economy of Ecology”, collaborative project for a hybrid resort/research station at the Belize Coral Reef.

Kelly Hogg: “Underwater Residence for the Near Future”

Read the whole story and the exclusive interview with Extreme Environments initiator Brian F. Davies on Archinect.

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