T H E   P R O J E C T

UNDERWATER THERMAL  EXPANSION ~ MALDIVES
"Underwater is essentially a community public art and ecology project that creates a melting pot of sustainable technologies involving a green (or rather, blue) redesign of architecture and a city park".
        -Jenna North

North recently embarked upon a research residency through the National Art Gallery where she spent a month in the Maldives working with local Maldivian artists, ecologists, architects and students on researching project sites, recycled building materials and plant options to further conceptualize and design using available resources. By the end of her residency, and during a second meeting with the mayor of Male’, North was directed to consider using the Dharubaaruge convention center (which is the largest building in Male’) and park area on the southeastern corner of the island, that also houses the tsunami memorial.

THE MURAL AND ROOFTOP GARDEN:
The “mural” in situ, in the spirit of Jenna’s mixed media approach to painting will be composed of sustainable materials such as vertical and rooftop gardening, integrated solar panel equipment, mirrors, and nano-technology paint that will cool the building, reducing the air conditioning costs of the convention center. Other local sustainable material options are still being explored.

THE GARDEN/PARK:
Adjacent to the Dharubaaruge convention center there is a city park across from the tsunami memorial that we'll redesign around the idea of sustainability and building community through a collaborative effort to raise green awareness through art.

      Some integrated elements include:

• An aquaponics plant and fish garden to serve as both an aesthetic component of the mural and an offering to the community as an edible meeting ground for viewing the mural.
  
• Medicinal herb garden designed by a local traditional Maldivian Doctor.
  
• A children’s playground built out of all recycled materials.
  
• A biogas filling station where locals can bring food and plant matter waste in exchange for cleaner non petroleum based fuel

MALDIVES NATIONAL UNIVERSITY ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS:
During her research residency, North worked with a local Maldivian artist Fazail Lufti and his architecture students at MNU to brainstorm ideas to design a city park using recycled materials that will further the illusion of the water filling in the area. These students have continued to be an integral part of the project and currently working on designs for the area.

SOUND AND CLIMATE MONITORING
Through the use of hydrophones we will bring the sound of the sea to the land. Robert Davis is a systems developer in the Psychology Department of Goldsmiths College, University of London, who is particularly interested in systems that are contingent upon the environment and the entities that inhabit it, as well as the adaption within such systems. He plans to work with local climatologists to assist in designing monitoring systems, using bio indicators to collect data at the UNDERWATER project site.

BLUEPEACE AND GUIDANCE TO GARBAGE ISLAND:
North also had meetings with both the founder (Ali Rilwan) and director (Ahmed Ikram) of Bluepeace (the Maldives oldest and most active environmental NGO). Jenna and Fazail were escorted by Ikram to tour Thilafushi, an artificial island created as a municipal landfill situated just a couple of miles west of Malé. It was an emergency measure adopted to solve the areas trash crisis, and it’s ominous dark plumes can be seen from Male’ and all the adjacent resorts and inhabited islands. Here the three of them surveyed the plentiful materials that could have some use for the project.

A GROUP EFFORT:
We believe that the strength of our artist/architect/designer/ecologist/gardener team will offer the people of the Maldives a unique cultural experience that will inevitably bring international attention to the growing environmental concerns and activism present in the Maldives. We believe that sustainable initiatives that take place within the Maldives will have greater significance when people living in larger countries around the world continue to take notice. This rooftop mural/garden/park will bring global awareness to the consequences of our interdependent, global economy on the Maldives and other low-lying islands in the Asia-Pacific region. We are prepared to carry out the responsibilities of travel preparation, project building management, as well as build relationships with colleagues, sponsors, and friends.

THE TIMELINE:
The current political climate is delaying the project, but North plans to return to the Maldives this summer to continue planning, designing, and working with students and local artists, ecologists, and architects.