Proteus: this will be the first research center under the sea
It may seem like the title of a new movie based on a future submarine in which life will take place under the surface. Nevertheless, Proteus is as inconceivable as it is real . Scientists dedicated to marine and ocean research they will have their own center for their work in the best setting for study: the bottom of the sea.
This ambitious project emanates from the mind of the Fabien Cousteau Oceanic Learning Center (grandson of Jacques Cousteau). Although his main motivation is science, the participants also include researchers, academics, government agencies and corporations around the world . All of them with a single goal: to help the planet.
This underwater scientific research station has as its purpose, not only that related to the ocean, but also Medicinal discoveries, food sustainability and the impacts of climate change . All this, betting on an ecological solution in which the platform will be fed with measures such as conversion of ocean, wind and solar thermal energy.
Proteus will be an advance in the improvement of the planet thanks to a life under the sea.
It is already said that telling it is not the same as living it, so Proteus settles on the most appropriate environment for his activity: the island of Curaçao, in a protected marine area of the Caribbean Sea. Its creation supposes the possibility that scientists can live there long enough and necessary to reach results never before achieved.
AN ARCHITECTURAL WORK OF ART
Perhaps baptizing it as a "research center" is short of simplicity, since Proteus is structured in such a way that could pass for a hotel or any leisure space . The aesthetics of its design is responsible for characterizing it as something unusual and providing that futuristic aura that it gives off , popular work industrial designer Yves Béhar and his firm Fuseproject.
The building stands as the largest ever built in underwater territory , they will be twelve people who can stay at the same time within its walls. It remains anchored to the bottom of the sea by means of special legs that allow it to adapt to variable terrain.
Small modules protrude from its two floors , whose uses will include laboratories, bedrooms, bathrooms, storage, etc. As if it were a common house, the largest capsule corresponds to our traditional garages , except this time, the parking lot is taken care of by submarines.
As a duplex, Proteus has two floors, connected to each other by a spiral ramp, a design that dominates the entire construction. Both floors will be dedicated to common spaces : dining room, living room, kitchen and also work areas. However, its goal is get away from the cold that normally characterizes research centers and advocate for comfortable spaces, but also attractive.
LIKE FISH IN THE WATER
It is easy to be impressed by a totally unknown way of life that sits under the sea. However, questions quickly arise about how everyday habits will perform on a day-to-day basis . Fortunately, it seems that Proteus is designed for any inconvenience.
As far as the kitchen is concerned, logically fire is not the right element for a life passed by water. That is why the center will also have the first underwater greenhouse, which will facilitate the cultivation of fresh vegetable food to your tenants.
On the other hand, to avoid social isolation, the inhabitants of Proteus will have connection and professional collaboration at all times. To alleviate the problem of natural light, the structure is articulated in a completely open way. Both the upper part and the capsules that surround it will have windows (Which makes us wonder what it must be like to sleep with those views).
We embark on a journey to the future, but this time next, in which they will discover new species of marine life , as well as an advance in the understanding of how climate change affects our oceans . Some advances that are possible thanks to the experience itself, which also includes the opportunity to conduct day and night dives for data collection.
Proteus will arrive like a whirlwind of innovation and that is, there is nothing better than investigating the ocean... submerged in it!