Star-Shaped Seastead: Retire and Play Golf
It already has artificial islands, scuba-diving Cabinet ministers and a back-up plan to relocate its entire population if it is swamped by rising seas. Now the Maldives has another scheme to deal with its watery future: floating golf.
The island nation has signed a deal with a Dutch company to investigate building the world’s first permanent floating golf course, along with a convention centre and residential rooms, on a platform on the Indian Ocean. _ImpactLab
Notice that the "Star Seastead" design could be adapted for the addition of arc-shaped breakwaters at the tips of the star -- similar to the "Gyre" seastead design. Also notice how the arms of the star are terraced, providing a type of tertiary breakwater effect themselves. Also take note of the artificial beach in the webs between the star arms. Such structures when customised could provide a secondary breakwater.
This floating golf club and resort may be the forerunner to a serious seastead design. The devil is in the details. And we know that it will take a real devil of a design to withstand the harsh punishment of the open seas and still provide a livable environment for working, playing, and raising families.
Labels: seasteads
posted by al fin at 9:56 am
3 Comments:
Combine this star design with the gyre design to make a design that ought to be very stable in any kind of rough water. Such a hybrid design would then surrounded by 2 layers of break water (which themselves would have underwater structures attached to them. The hybrid design can be considered a module, of which networks of such modules are constructed over time, surrounded by a breakwater structure, whose length is increased as the network of modules grows over time.
It looks like the "harbor" might be on the one side--turn it away from the waves, and it'll be much better off.
Provided the lookout doesn't fall asleep, you could design one side to deal with waves, keeping that side pointed towards the dominant source. The gyre might end up oblong, with only part made with the more expensive techniques required to break heavy waves, adjusted much like a ship turns into the sea to take the waves on the bow.
Another though I just had is that subs are designed to move, and to minimize the resistance. Since a sea stead isn't intended to move, or at least not often and not fast, the only big deal with circles and rings is that they're efficient at taking pressure.
Kurt: I agree that a modular design that allows seasteads to safely dock together would be ideal.
Loren: Yes. Seasteads are stuck between the metaphor of "ship" and "island." A ship can turn to face the wind and waves, an island cannot.
Roughly one half of Al Fin Seasteads designs incorparate a directional shape for deflecting waves and wind. If the concept of orientation into wind and waves is incorporated into the design, such dynamic weather protection should be scalable.
Speaking of subs, if you are already designing underwater components to your seastead (The Gyre etc) you could also incorporate submarine-like propulsion pods or modules.
In fact, one of the drawings of design-contest winning Seasteading.org "clubstead" revealed what appeared to be horizontal underwater pods at the base of the supporting spars, that resembled small subs.
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