Tag Archives: artificial coral reefs

3D-printed artificial reefs made from cremains are designed to regenerate marine biodiversity

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Resting Reefs is a system of artificial reefs that are 3D-printed from the cremated ashes of passed-over loved ones.

Spreading the ashes of relatives who’ve passed over across the ocean is a beautiful way to memorialize loved ones. While the symbolism behind it is the point of tossing your loved ones’ ashes into the wind, Royal College of Art graduates Louise Lenborg Skajem and Aura Elena Murillo Pérez developed a means to still memorialize our passed-over loved ones while regenerating endangered ecosystems in the process. Resting Reef, a line of artificial reefs made from cremated ashes using 3D technologies, marks the culmination of Lenborg Skajem’s and Murillo Pérez’s studies at RCA.

Designers: Louise Lenborg Skajem and Aura Elena Murillo Pérez

Working with the remains of deceased animals instead of human ashes, the design duo combined animal bones with pulverized oyster shells and a binder to create a composite to be 3D-printed into stippled mounds that resemble underwater reefs. While the designers are still testing their formulas, “it will contain a binder like a low-carbon cement suitable for marine environments.”

The 3D-printed mounds offer ideal growing conditions for oysters by mimicking the form and natural growing scheme of ​​stromatolite reefs, which are formed from microorganisms like blue-green algae. Forming the cremated ashes into solid reef mounds also allows surviving family members to visit their loved ones’ eternal resting places.

Built to prevent natural and human-induced erosion, protect shorelines from the natural elements, and regenerate native biodiversity, Resting Reef transforms traditional funeral services into preservational burial methods that protect marine life. Putting the customizable process in their own words, the design duo explains, “The way they grow is in layers, which is very similar to how oyster shells grow. We are using 3D printers to bio-mimic similar layers and ridges that are ideal for small marine organisms to attach to.”

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These 3D printed terracotta tiles along Hong Kong’s coast are designed to revive the marine coral life!

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Coral reefs are one of the most beautiful natural wonders of the world and I can say that from my personal diving experience – there is a whole colorful world that thrives underwater and we must protect it because they support more species per unit area than any other marine environment! Coral presence has rapidly declined all over the world, especially in the last decade so Hong Kong-based marine scientists and architects have created terra-cotta tiles to help rebuild and give corals a fighting chance against climate change. This is a crucial leap for ocean restoration projects!

Hong Kong saw an 80% decline in the coral population in Double Island, Sai Kung, over the past decade and that drove the team to come up with a solution that would not only help that region but also the rest of the world that was blessed with corals. The team from Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and its Robotic Fabrication Lab of the faculty of architecture worked together to 3D print terra-cotta tiles that will act as artificial reefs. The result is a mesmerizing, organic swirl of line and negative space that reads like a burnt orange topographic map—and mimics the natural patterns of the coral itself. Why terra-cotta? It’s highly porous with “nice surface micro-texture” for marine organisms to latch on to, says team member Dave Baker, and an eco-friendly alternative to conventional materials such as cement or metal, the HKU team says.

The team 3D printed terra-cotta clay into the reef tile pattern and fired it to 2,057 degrees Fahrenheit to produce the 128 tiles so far. Each tile is almost two feet in diameter. The team placed the reef tiles seeded with coral fragments over about a 430-square-foot area across three sites within Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park in Hong Kong this past July and will monitor it for the next two years. The designs can also be specific to the environment and underwater conditions where they are placed; for instance, the team designed these tiles to prevent sedimentation buildup, a major problem in Hong Kong waters. The tiles interlock organically which enables the team to keep expanding when needed without disturbing existing settings. It gives the corals lots of nooks and crannies to anchor onto. Manmade or artificial reefs help restore lost coral populations by reintroducing an environment amenable to regrowth—and they’ve been made of everything from purposefully submerged shipwrecks to cement sculptures because corals aren’t picky, they just want to grow!

Designer: Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU)

The robotic 3D printing process offers unique advantages in the design and production of artificial reefs, it makes production easier and more efficient, by allowing the team to create large pieces in a short amount of time. It also enables the team to create tiles with different designs and functions that could be specific to certain corals and help in accelerating their growth.

“Though these tiles could be produced with other methods, such as making a double-sided mold, it would be quite complex to do since the design of the tile is very three-dimensional,” Lange says. “3D printing offers the advantage to produce objects and parts much more cost-effectively. But the most powerful advantage of it is that it could print each object with a different design without increasing the cost.”

The team from Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and its Robotic Fabrication Lab of the faculty of architecture worked together to 3D print terra-cotta tiles that will act as artificial reefs. With time the team will use different designs in the next iteration to figure out how they affect the species.

Reeform wants to bridge the gap between urban architecture and ocean sustainability

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Designed as a series of modular islands that can transform any waterfront into a public space, Reeform aims at supporting life on land as well as underwater. A portmanteau of the words Reef and Form, the floating island comes with a two-part design. The upper half is designed as a hexagonal floating platform crafted entirely from recycled plastic, while a lower half bio-mimics the design of corals, using 3D printed concrete and calcite. As a result, both the upper and lower halves act as areas of interest for humans and marine life alike. Humans can use the modular platforms to create social spaces on water bodies like riverfronts, lakes, or pools, while the coral-inspired lower half helps reduce ocean acidification as well as promote the growth of live corals which in turn creates its own marine ecosystem, attracting fish and other underwater animals. It’s a win-win!

The Reeform builds on an ambitious attempt to save our marine ecosystems, which are dying due to rising sea temperatures and the plastic crisis. By resorting to biomimicry, much like Volvo’s attempts to save Sydney’s shoreline, Reeform tries to spur the growth of natural corrective systems that help keep our planet in balance.

Designers: Ching-Yi Lo, Chia-Yu Lee & Ting-Hsuan Yu.

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