non-island

FINALIST of New Zealand Nature Retreat: Antipodes Island

+ FINALIST

New Zealand Nature Retreat: Antipodes Island

[19704]

non-island

Team

Name: Boris Netsov

Nationality: BG

---

The concept explores our desire to protect to an absolute extreme and the impact of our actions on the world. The site is precious and in dire need of protection. At first, it is proposed to simply do nothing—finding value in what is (fig. I)—but how could that be imposed?

The answer seems obvious: erase all data of the Antipodes Islands from our systems, a technical plan to forget and un-discover the islands on a global scale (fig. II). But what if the islands are endangered by someone passing through the area? 

We must escalate. The non-towers (fig. III) offer a simple solution, blocking device signals across the surrounding ocean. Yet the island can still, (non)technically, be reached. 

We must radicalise. The island group is enclosed within a glass dome (fig. IV), a megastructure intended to ensure total protection of this valuable asset. Decades pass and the islands are shielded from the horrors of our world. Inside, nature slowly decays as life becomes isolated from natural flows (fig. V) – a depreciating asset. 

Decades turn to centuries, and the dome falls prey to tectonic shifts and gradual destruction. Life returns to the Antipodes once again (fig. VI). One day a lone wonderer stumbles upon the islands (fig. VII):

“They are mesmerizing… I should tell the others. We must protect them from harm at any cost.”

---

---

Jury Comments

– Federica Fogazzi

Boasting a singular visual identity and a bold narrative arc, this proposal stands out for its embrace of the unconventional. The project derives its strength from a sense of calculated absurdity that results in a design that “cares”.

– Maria Vittoria Delli Carri

Fun, provoking. For the evaluation parameters, the voting outcome is unfortunately not so great. But I would have given a triple maximum score to the narrative. I got goosebumps.