3-D Design Contest News from The Seasteading Institute

[Lasse Birk Olesen]

The Seasteading Institute: 3-D Design Contest News
March 4, 2009

Hello!

Here's an update from the <a href="http://seasteading.org/interact/
design-contest">TSI design contest</a>.

========================

THE ARCHITECTURAL CONSEQUENCES OF SEASTEADING

Geoff Manaugh has written about the architectural aspect of
seasteading on his <a href="http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/">popular
architecture blog</a>. When designing your seastead for the
competition, you may be able to draw some inspiration from <a
href="http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/deep-water-city-
states.html">his post</a>:

<i>"What interests me [about seasteading], aside from the
architectural challenge of erecting a durable, ocean-going metropolis,
is the fact that this act of construction – this act of building
something – has constitutional implications. That is, architecture
here proactively expands the political bounds of recognized
sovereignty; architecture becomes declarative.

The stakes for design have gone up, in other words. It's not just a
question of producing better loft apartments, for which you can charge
an extra $300,000, or of perfecting the art of luxury kitchen space;
it's a question of designing architecture for extreme conditions and,
should your architecture survive, thus opening up room for a new form
of what might be called post-terrestrial sovereignty, i.e. governance
freed from landed terrain.

Which is not to be confused with advocacy of the project; I just like
discussing its political side-effects: architecture becomes wed with,
indeed inseparable from, a political project. It is construction in
the service of constitutionality (and vice versa).

Wed with oceanic mobility, the architecture of seasteading doesn't
just aesthetically augment a natural landscape; it actually encases,
or gives physical shape to, a political community. It is architecture
as political space in the most literal sense."</i>

<a href="http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/deep-water-city-
states.html">Read the whole post here.</a>

========================

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ANSWERED

We have been getting quite a few questions about the contest.
Therefore we have created an FAQ with the most common inquiries. Also,
some of the rules have been clarified to avoid misunderstandings. So
if you are in doubt about something, check out the <a href="http://
seasteading.org/interact/design-contest">new rules and the FAQ</a>.
And of course, mail us at <a
href="cont...@seasteading.org">cont...@seasteading.org</a> if you
have a question which has not been answered:

<b>The prizes are way too small. I want more money!</b>

We are a non-profit organization working on a thin budget, trying to
make the world a better place. We know that the prizes are not a lot
compared to the amount of work involved. Our goal with the prize
amounts is to provide an incentive (which we can afford) for people to
contribute their time and talent to a good cause. Plus, you get the
chance to design something quite unusual along the way. If we could
afford to offer $10,000, we absolutely would!

<b>Why do you require the source file to be submitted?</b>

We expect to use the source model for various purposes. Examples could
be for virtual tours and in larger city models consisting of multiple
platforms.

<b>Why must entries be under the Creative Commons Attribution license?
</b>

This allows us to use your design for purposes like we describe above
while still giving you full credit for your work. In addition, it
will probably be several years before there are a variety of seastead
designs in actual production. Until then, one of the most important
things for the seasteading movement is inspiration and awareness; we
feel community collaboration on seastead designs (including remixing
each others' models) is one of the best ways to achieve that.

<b>Should I enclose further information about my design together with
the actual model and the images? Such as floor plans, technical
considerations, etc.</b>

You are very welcome to enclose documents with details you feel that
need to be explained. However, note that this contest is about what is
obvious to the eye from outside. The judges will value visuals that
can excite people about seasteading - beautiful aesthetics and a
lively feel. Technical solutions, interior decoration etc. will not be
considered when choosing the winner.

<b>I have a question about why the platform is designed the way it
is.</b>

Please see the <a href="http://seasteading.org/strategic-areas/
engineering/clubstead">ClubStead hub</a> which contains a lot of
engineering information about the base platform design, such as how
the platform is assembled and deployed and what thoughts lie behind
the structure.

========================

BLENDER VERSION OF BASE PLATFORM AVAILABLE

Good news to Blenders! By request, in addition to .skp, .3ds and .dwg,
a file in the .blend-format with the base platform can <a href="http://
www.seasteading.org/files/Seastead_Base_Model_2009_01_27.blend">now be
downloaded</a>.

========================

That's all for this time. Remember the contest deadline is May 1st.
Good luck with the modeling; we are excited to see your gorgeous
designs!

<a href="http://seasteading.org/interact/design-contest">Visit the
contest web page here.</a>

<b>If you have any questions, feel free to contact <a
href="mailto:cont...@seasteading.org">cont...@seasteading.org</a>.</
b>