Futurist underwater plaza to be built in West Palm

Currie Park Plaza will occupy an area of 19 hectares in the Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida. In addition to many restaurants and shops, the huge complex will offer apartments with spectacular views. On their free time, the lucky tenants can enjoy the circular pool in the middle of the ocean.

The plaza, designed by the international design office Carlo Ratti Associati, would use “some of the same technologies employed in the construction of underwater vessels” to create a complex with housing, retail and leisure facilities. A spokesperson for the architect firm told for Dezeen: “The project showcases how a new technology allows us to radically redefine the relationship between architecture and water. Architecture usually conceives of buildings as separate, autonomous entities, but in this case, the plaza inhabits the water as if it was carved right into it. The water becomes a moving element that harmoniously accommodates the new public space.”

Visitors would be able to walk from West Palm Beach’s city center into the middle of the lagoon, as the plaza will be partly under the sea level thanks to a system of responsive air chambers similar to the ones used by submarines. This unique plaza is due be completed by 2018 and work on this project is scheduled to start this month.

The inventive use of underwater vessel technology is, to director of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and founding partner Carlo Ratti, an entirely new way of conceiving architecture. Ratti describes his project as "carving" into the water. He goes on to say that “with this project, we aim to reclaim West Palm Beach’s connection to the natural elements that surround it, and give shape to a vibrant new district that will serve as a creative catalyst for the entire city. Still, all involved say lots of study of the concept is needed, before a proposal is formally presented to city commissioners.