Artificial reef that have begun to appear in recent year where artist and designers have started to be included in project to work along side marine scientists to creat new and exploratory methods around the globe, instead of creating just simple frames this approach works by building artificial habitats for coral to be planted onto or begin to natural form my stimulating the structure with chemicals, sounds or electrical currents, they also consider what other materials and resources can be utilised to ensure that the scaffold is having a positive impact on the environment or climate it is being placed into. This which lead me to Alex Goad & Reef Design Lab who are currently considered the pioneers in this new advancement as they have been able to creat more natural and sustainable scaffold structures for a number of different projects around the globe by taking advantage of more modern technologies such as three-dimensional design soft ware and industrial sized 3D ceramic printers.
Reef Design Lab was originally started by Alex Goad, an industrial ceramic designer and artist. They take advantage of their multidisciplinary studio to work with a variety of marine ecologists to create new habitat infrastructures for the use of research & commercial application. Their main area of focus is to learn how they can progress the design and manufacturing methods to create a more sufficient and effective habitat that will naturally promote coral growth. They are able to achieve this in a environmentally friendly way by utilizing their knowledge on 3D printing, model making and ceramic design in order to manufacture a low cost working method whilst increasing their own ability to make more complex geometric designs.
By also establishing partnerships with research institutions worldwide they have been able to develop techniques for enhancing the ecological performance of artificial structures. These collaborations between designer, scientist and community are essential to improving the relationship between the built and natural environment.
The 3-D-printed reef, installed last summer at Island Maldives resort was the first of its kind. Each of the artificial reef's ceramic components was 3-D printed with a custom design and then fitted with coral fragments that developers hope will grow across the entire structure. RDL calls its patented technique for 3-D-printed coral formation Modular Artificial Reef Structure, or MARS. Instead of using steel or concrete, popular substrates for artificial reefs, Reef Design Labs prints hollow blocks of ceramic, which can be moulded into complex shapes, and fills them with concrete for stability. Divers bring these blocks underwater and fit them together like Legos to form a cohesive and resilient structure.
Australian designer Alex Goad the founder of reef design lab has created a system of modular ceramic components for forming structures that can help rebuild diminished coral reef environments. Goad created the Modular Artificial Reef Structure to form a base for plant and animal life alike to be able to return to habitats that have been decimated by climate change, pollution and destructive fishing practices. The ceramic surface is intended to mimic the calcium carbonate skeletons of foundation or deceased coral, which build up over many years to create structures that living corals can attach themselves onto to gain better access to sunlight and plankton-rich currents. Each of the MARS units is composed of eight slip-cast ceramic vessels, filled with marine-grade concrete and reinforced with composite bars to add weight, yet it is a project years in the making as only time will tell how efficient it is at propagate the growth of coral and it’s ability to with stand the ocean elements.
Reef Design Lab a.k.a Alex Goad also worked on a partnership with the Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences (SIMS) on their project the living seawalls, a team was created to investigate the potential methods for scaling up “greening seawalls” a past project for helping ocean foliage to grown but instead it would now be enlarged from centimetres to meters to develop ecologically informed structures by adding multiple layer to act as different types of habitats enhancing the tiles to act beyond their intended purpose.
Living seawalls provides an modern solution to a growing problem in Sydney of habitat loss from artificial structures in the marine environment. Using 3D printing technology, they have developed concrete tiles that mimic microhabitat features commonly found on the shorelines. The tiles can be retrofitted onto already existing seawalls or attached to seawalls during construction thus transforming the seawalls into ecologically friendly structures.
The benefits of creating a complex microhabitat features on the tiles provides additional space fro attachment by marine organisms. The tiles also provide moisture, shade and water retention that is critical for intertidal marine life. This promotes survival of additional marine life including filter feeding species such as oysters, which should improve water quality by increasing water filtration.
This is another project where only time will tell how effective a project like this works as they are trying to natural stimulate the environment by allowing organisms to inhabit it on their own.
To date only 4 tile designs have been developed, mimicking microhabitats provided by rockpools, crevices and weathered sandstones (honeycombing and swin-through). Each tile is 55cm in diameter and weight is approximately 25kg. The spatial argument of these can be customised to site conditions and goals. Yet they continue to research and develop these further in and effort to be able to facilitate all
One of the projects that has surprising nature is the living seawall that was commissioned by Volvo the car company who designed a living seawall to mimic the root structure of native mangrove trees, the Living Seawall adds complexity to the existing seawall structure and provides a habitat for marine life. This aids biodiversity and attracts filter-feeding organisms that actually absorb and filter out pollutants such as plastic particulate matter and heavy metals.
The Living Seawall is made up of just 50 tiles all designed to mimic the root structure of mangrove trees native to Sydney.The tiles are were then installed along an existing seawall structure in the Sydney Harbour by adding a 6 inch wall mount on top the back of each tile it provided the space need for the filter-feeding organisms to colonise the wall and reduce the decay of the tile from behind. These organisms would then filter particles and pollutants out of the water. Researchers will continue to monitor the Living Seawall for the next 20 years as it improves biodiversity and water quality.
There wasn’t much information available to me when researching this pieces as it was commissioned by Volvo to mainly showcased the work as a public relation project.
One of the projects I found the most interesting was conducted by WWF Netherlands for a oyster reef restoration research project in the North Sea. They had commissioned Reef Design Lab to help with the manufacturing element of their research prototype as they wanted to 3D print the units using D-shape ceramic technology. They were able to successfully manufacture 50 models in a scale size of 50cm in height to 120cm making this one of the largest research based projects assessing the effectiveness of this material and technology.
One of the main challenges this project faced was how to design the units with a simple deployment method as they were unable to include any steel reinforcement during the printing process. They divinised a system that would allow them to lift the units from the base but in a way that kept the units upright and intact.
By using geometry they were able to life the modals from within the unit that held the majority of mass form a single point from underneath while the habitat shelves in the design prevented the unit from flipping over. A fairly simple solution that worked perfectly with this type of printing process.
Although this project wasn’t intended for coral the methods in which they use to design and implement the units is something to be consider as this type of design is also something that can be easily out-planted by anyone anywhere for the purpose of coral instead.