Running Out Of Gas On The Fast Lane

Running Out Of Gas On The Fast Lane: Repurpose of abandoned drilling rigs in the North Sea

Kemper, Benjamin (TU Delft Architecture and the Built Environment)

Bier, Henriette (mentor)
Mostafavi, Sina (mentor)
Adema, Ferry (mentor)
van Dam, Sien (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

2018-01-31

Eventually either the oil and gas supply will be exhausted, or society will develop methods to rely completely on eco-friendly energy sources. What will then happen to the oil industry and their factories and structures? In this hypothetical situation, offshore drilling rigs, structures made of billions of euros worth of steel and concrete, will need to be repurposed. These highly sophisticated platforms and jackets resist storms, frequent waves (resonance), and salt water. These abandoned rigs provide society with the opportunity to repurpose, and even extend the site over and under water.
Humans are facing the dangerous consequences of the climate change. Especially the population of the Netherlands, which has to face rising sea levels. An undesired, nor not impossible scenario, would be the loss of livable land due to flooding. The loss of building and living area would result in drastic changes to the means of life. On the one hand, we need to research possibilities to slow down the process, and also change our way of life. However, on the other hand, we must look for concepts and design proposals to support a lifestyle with radical climate changes.

Our society, human behavior, and cities are changing due to the exponential progress of technology. How are we going to live in a future, and which role will architecture play in an augmented world? It might emerge as a balancing act between utopia and dystopia, between the total dependency and repression of the machines and the freedom to achieve more than we ever imagined. Society’s addiction to technical devices emphasizes the urgency at hand to begin to work with new technologies instead of denying the process categorically.

digital architecture
3d printing
robotic production
oil platform
gas rig
repurpose
additive manufacturing
future
paradigm shift
city network
new living
freeform

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8908e9b4-bbe1-49dc-a6e0-d87c0578953d

52.10245, 4.04076

Student theses

master thesis

© 2018 Benjamin Kemper