Dreamt up in 2007 as part of an ideas competition the proposals were in serious consideration in early 2008. A structural assessment showed the technical feasibility of the structure and further development of the project was under way, when the project was stopped in the 2008 financial crisis. Since launching my new website www.mathias-koester.com featuring the project, there is revived interest in the project, with new publications as in the Argentinian “Para ti Deco” magazine this August.
Let’s see, maybe we can will built it after all, so please let me know if you are interested in the project.
The Waterscraper
Besides the upcoming space tourism and further adventurous tourist destinations, the Waterscraper offers a respective opportunity to experience the world’s largest element – the water and its amazing habitat.
Build as a skyscraper upside down into the sea, the Waterscaper creates a habitable link towards the lower levels of the sea and features a unique hotel with a distinctive combination of recreation and scientific facilities.
Half building and half vessel, the Waterscraper’s design and construction is purely driven by the aquatic forces. The circular setting out provides an effective ring structure to withstand the water pressure. The floor plates diminish in size as the water pressure rises in the lower levels.
The submerged main body is stabilized by the floating ring which connects via a dampened bridge structure to ensure the vertical position of the Waterscaper at all times.
The main cone reaches down 400 ft. Above a glazed dome marks the top of the structure and allows light to penetrate deep into the inner atrium, which connects the public and private zones of the hotel facilities. While the hotel’s lobby, restaurant and café are situated in the levels above the sea, the conference facilities and hotel rooms are located below sea level with a view into the vivid underwater world.
The surrounding ring accommodates a series of apartments with direct access to the Waterscraper’s beach platforms.
The Waterscraper is a floating building. It can drift within the open sea, move to a different location or it can anchor at a fixed position.
This project defines a new challenge for today’s engineering to overcome the forces of nature and to combine the knowledge of tall buildings and watercrafts to create a new experience and a new icon of advanced architecture.