Belgian designer Vincent Callebaut, who has always been committed to finding solutions to the problem of water shortages that will hit the planet with the population explosion that has already begun, has developed several concepts over the years that provide new perspectives. One of these is the 'Physalia Project', a cloud of amphibious gardens capable of simultaneously acting as a traveling exhibition space and cleaning system for Europe's rivers.
Let's not hide it: our survival depends on the amount of clean water to drink. According to analysts' estimates, however, already today 1 in 8 people does not have access to drinking water. The UN reports that 4000 children die every day from the poor quality of the water they drink, and by 2050 a quarter of the world will live in areas perpetually short of water supplies. It's a disastrous scenario.
From these premises, Callebaut thought of Physalia: more than a vessel, a hydraulic network in aluminum, a filtering system capable of 'dredging' and purifying river waters during navigation. Physalia's covering, in titanium dioxide, makes the system 'self-cleaning' and capable of producing more energy than it consumes through solar panels placed over its entire surface, and systems capable of converting river currents into electricity, when the vessel is stationary.
Interiors - Beautiful in appearance, beautiful in heart: Physalia hosts water gardens, exhibition areas and research laboratories all around an amphitheater designed to host important events. “A real ecosystem capable of reacting to the surrounding environment, a fragment of a living planet,” declares the Belgian designer.
Physalia wants to bring people together around the concepts of respect for water, dynamic balance and sharing in movement.
We do not have many details on the scope of the project and its effective applicability: it is, after all, a general vision, a concept, and as such it must be taken.
We like the idea, and it is of indisputable beauty.