Archinect - News

What's new with the promise of the floating city?

2018-05-01T16:13:00-04:00

A plan to build a platform in a tropical lagoon caught heat from locals, and a campaign stoked by opposition politician Valentina Cross swept away their proposals for an inaugural colony. In February, the Tahitian government stated publicly that an agreement with the Seasteading Institute in 2017 was now outdated and non-binding. [...] That leaves the Institute, and their movement, once again at sea, shopping for a new host nation willing to take on a partnership.

In her article for CityLab, writer Hettie O'Brien looks into the Seasteading Institute's promise of a libertarian offshore utopia in Polynesia and the challenges the movement has been facing recently.

Floating City Project advances to Phase II

2015-07-04T14:37:00-04:00

We closed 2014 by taking a delegation of architects and engineers to an undisclosed location where we hope to locate the first floating city in the sea nearby. We believe there could be a market on our floating city for residences, tourism, aquaculture, a business park, a research institute, and a powerplant to sell energy and clean water back to the host nation.

The Seasteading Institute continues to work towards their goal of establishing the first floating city with significant political autonomy by 2020. Currently they are focusing on - enhancing novel seastead designs, which includes wave tank testing and acquiring more detailed financial calculations; deepening our diplomatic negotiations with several potential host nations; collecting potential resident feedback; and prospecting investors.

To learn more details about progress on Phase II, read a report from the Fact-finding & Diplomatic Floating City Project Mission by Executive Director Randolph Hencken.

Previously on Archinect here, here and here

For Libertarian Utopia, Float Away on ‘Startup’ Nation

2014-06-04T15:22:00-04:00

As dawn breaks over the Gulf of Fonseca, southeast of El Salvador, Patri Friedman sets out for a jog. He trots past domed hothouses filled with fruit trees and feels the sidewalk sway gently underfoot as a tugboat chugs by with a floating apartment building in tow. The year is 2024, and Friedman lives on a so-called seastead, a waterbound city of some 1,000 people who produce their own food, their own energy and -- most important -- their own laws.

Previously:

Paypal Founder Invests $1.25 Million to Create Floating Micro-Countries

2011-08-17T08:51:00-04:00

Peter Thiel is known for having big ideas before everyone else - he launched Paypal, funded Facebook, and is now interested in building his very own start-up countries in the far off, open ocean. The self-made billionaire is working closely with the Seasteading Institute to create sovereign nations in international waters, free from the laws of any country.

PayPal founder Peter Thiel is working closely with the Seasteading Institute to create sovereign nations in international waters, free from the laws of any country.