Beyond the Sea

Team: Diego Villa, Mauricio Castro

“Walking around Tarifa I found a place where any surfer would like to be, a place with an architectural balance between open and close, imposing and subtle, technology and ecology, stability and democracy. A long wooden platform goes through the sea, opening its heart to housing and nature. Its organic contour recalls spanish irregular landscape and geography, and its multicultural and strategic location connects two continents, Europe and Africa. Growing from the coast to the sea without damaging the coast, Beyond the Sea is home of people from all over the world. The platform contains all the necessary services a newbie or professional surfer needs, such as medical center, surfboards storage, and food court , yet in the dynamic open spaces, surrounded by wooden and subtle volumes, fishing, jogging and meditation are also the most common activities- plus unimagined activities. While the platform is open to the unexpected, the dwellings are cozy and solid. Here, a volume based in a geometrical concept with a repetitive and simple module. Every building is detachable and movable, and consequently the number of buildings varies depending on the season still chiefly concentrated on the sea. It’s also an adaptive volume that can be modified by its users depending on their desires or needs. Beyond the sea has an 0% footprint, its solar panel roofs captures the sun energy to provide with light and electricity, and all the structures are made of recycled plastic and wood. Operationally, there is a processing system of organic wastes for biogas production, treatment of desalination for drinking water, and renewable supply of greywater.”

Rethinking International Competition