DESIRE FOR AN OBJECT
2008
Project type:
The Dead Sea ecological problem and the “Peace Canal” development: a 420 meters tower which reconsiders the ways of perceiving space and form while examining ancient culture and technological methods.
Location:
Dead Sea northern basin
Area:
160Km Water Canal[RSDSC]
420m Skyscraper
Project description:
"There is a formless desire for an another form, the desire for a new location, new arcades, new corridors, new ways of living and of thinking." Derrida
The Dead Sea is drying up
The Dead Sea is rapidly shrinking with severe negative consequences on the ecosystem, industry and wildlife in the area. Its coastlines are crumbling and its water is becoming too salty.
The water level in the Dead Sea drops by about a meter each year. The sea level is currently about 420 meters below sea level and is the lowest place on earth.
To deal with the future and develop new relations
The scale of the problem is such that it calls for collaboration between the Dead Sea neighboring countries, Israel and Jordan. Both countries would be required to commit considerable human and technological resources to preserve the global ecological system. At the same time the project will strengthen Middle East local stability, and social advancement through local or global economical collaboration.
The “Peace Canal”
The most promising solution consists of a “peace canal” linking the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The canal would be about 160 kilometers long, extending from the Gulf of Aqaba down to the Dead Sea. It would pour up to 1,200 million cubic meters of water into the Dead Sea each year. The project will bring economic growth and prosperity to the whole region: a free trade zone, international tourist attractions and facilities, gardens and agricultural areas, residential and employment opportunities.
[b]The canal edge
a 420 meters tidal wave tower[/b]
The canal terminal is a critical point which aims at representing the heart of the conflict between the nature and the human interventions. Beyond its engineering requirements the end of the canal embodies the symbol of peace and technological progress. How can architecture represent such an intense development, a milestone hovering above the reality?
A dynamic system
The spaces created are not directly associated to defined typologies; they are used together as a dynamic system. Being involved with the revival of the Dead Sea, the tower has to deal with the sea level rising and changing with the time.
There is no tower at all, but a desiring device of architectural scale, lack of perceivable fixed point in the sensible environment in with the body is unable to orient itself in space and in time.
