Sydney transforms its coast with 3D printed residential wall, structured structures that imitate natural habitats such as rock pools and mangroves. These are not typical concrete defenses. They are carefully developed to recharge the life of the sea, where it once thrown.
The Living Seawalls project, which is managed in collaboration with Reef Design Lab by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, uses digitally designed panels from 3D printed reusable shapes that emulate the corners and crevices of the rocky coast.
These panels are installed on existing women in the port of Sydney and support a remarkable ecological comeback within one to two years. They hold at least 36% more species than traditional flat residential walls and organize up to 115 species of algae and invertebrates, just like natural rocky reefs. Fish also annoys these surfaces and finds rich feeding areas and protected zones.
In Rushcutter's Bay, these panels have supported the growth of oyster and shell populations that filter the water naturally and in turn improve the conditions for leisure activities along the bay. Over 2,500 of these panels were impressively installed worldwide. They also serve as powerful educational instruments and commit students at all levels to learn how Green-Engineering solutions can restore sea ecosystems.
At the same time, Unsw Sydney introduced the Biosherter project that offers an alternative but complementary solution. Designed by computer architects at the Unsw school of Built Environment, these are with 3D printed recycled plastic forms that are later filled with concrete, which includes shredded oyster shells, an ingredient to promote the oyster colonization of oysters. The bioshwerters were recently on the new Sydney Fish Market location in Glebe, an area that has long been utilized by the variety of natural coastline, a significant measurement of around six meters with two meters and 90 centimeters in segmented panels.
Professor M. Hank Haeusler compares the situation with a “real estate crisis” for sea creatures, especially for oysters, and says the goal is to create artificial habitats that feel as natural as possible.
These structures are developed using algorithms and robot factories from marin biology -based algorithms to serve oysters, seatang, seaweed, fish and other sea organisms. Prototypes were tested under the Anzac Bridge in 2020 and after only six months they were populated by oysters, seatang, seatang and small fish. The installation of the fish market is now permanent.
The unsw team hopes to print directly into concrete one day and optimize the design fabrication pipeline so that marine biologists can enter data in a design platform and generate tailor-made habitats for the world. You have already started discussions about the expansion of biosheroes in the seals in Sydney Harbor, and fascinating the same modular, lively design principles one day on artificial houses for mammals, birds, bats or rodents that need refuge.
The rise of living life wall and biosher in Sydney is an option of how urban spaces can coexist with ecological systems. Computational Design and 3D printing, which were once mainly regarded as experimental design tools, are now used directly to solve ecological challenges.
Photo credits: © living mother works