-NEOFORTIFICATION URBAN-ORGANISM____
CIUDADES NO-FICTICIAS____NON-FICTIONAL CITIES
Team Members: Emma Bonilla _______Antonio Velez
Tutors: Daniela Atencio______Claudio Rossi
Cartagena, year 2300. Overpopulation and over industrialization have changed how humans live and interact with the planet. Excessive production of carbon dioxide has led to the acidification of all oceans, where life can no longer exist. Additionally, sea rise level has increased to the point where buildings are found completely underwater. Hence, cities have reinvented themselves all around a common theme: management of sea rise level and depleting drinkable water sources. Cartagena is the prime example of success. It’s surrounding walls, initially built to protect the city against pirates and later serving as a tourist attraction, have transformed the city once again. Transfigured into a permeable membrane, the wall and its monolithic towers collect and manage how water is used and stored in the city. These man made cells are the only ones capable to neutralize the acidity in water, so that it can be used to nourish the inhabitants of Cartagena and its vast surrounding region. News of these towers have spread far, with travelers coming from all around the globe to witness the new role architecture plays in defining everyone’s livelihood. Other struggling cities look towards Cartagena as a North Star; several are trying to imitate a structure that so perfectly purifies water and creates the conditions for its ecosystem to survive. Nonetheless, few have succeeded. The key to Cartagena’s success lies in reinventing the city itself, with water management no longer as a service, but as a core organism to the city’s infrastructure.
