Minnari Lee - The Creature

The Creature

The Creature

Minnari Lee

The North Sea

Sea of Eternal Darkness: Tales of

North Sea before 1850

Revealing the unknown surface: Offshore

Industrial activities from 1850 until now

Territorial Expansion of Technology from now into the future

North Sea as an Energy Factory

Dichotomously complicit: Radical simplification of a complex living system

Creating a Technological Mediator

The Creature - Year 2200

Ijmuiden, The Netherlands

The body

History of IJmuiden

An Interview with hypothetical residents in 2200

Environmental Management and Planning with The Creature Chambers of Resources

The North Sea

Sea of Eternal Darkness: Tales of North Sea Before 1850

The North Sea has long been ‘something from the other side’ for people around its shorelines. It was a zone between heaven and earth, between the familiar coastline and whatever lies beneath lies beneath the water. It has been the place of the unknown, waiting to be explored. Numerous stories have been formed and passed down for generation among the people who live around the coast; civilization developed, trade flourished, and tales were written. Due to its geological location and changes in barometric pressure, the North Sea is cold, rough, and experiences frequent alternation in weather conditions. In the past, its notorious strong winds have challenged sailors navigating their ways. For example, in 16 AD, a Roman military commander, Drusus Germanicus, attempted to sail his fleet over the North Sea, but was pushed back by a storm. Albinovanus Pedo, a poet who was part of the fleet, wrote that God was calling them back from the unaccepted visit to the quiet home of God.1 15th century Norwegian maps of the North Sea from the 15th century, depict it as a space where imaginary sea creatures and giant monsters inhabited, making it a dangerous and mythical place, where huge and terrifying beings of evil, such as the Kraken and Leviathan resided. These were governed by different laws of life than on the mainland. The North Sea was the edge of the world, and no one could imagine going any further. This was a place where the sea collided, where water rushed into a bottomless void, and where water flowed into the first substance that existed in the beginning, a place called ‘the abyss’. 2

This map depicted the unknown space of the offshore area of the North Sea by filled with imaginary sea monsters. It was created during a time when exploration of the seas was still in its infancy, and there was much speculation about what lay beyond known territories.

The Kraken is a legendary sea monster often depicted in Scandinavian folklore and mythology. It’s commonly portrayed as a massive, tentacled creature resembling a giant squid or octopus. It dwells deep in the ocean and can drag ships and sailors to their doom.

Fig 1. 15th-century Norwegian North Sea map

Fig 2. Kraken

Revealing the Unknown Surface: O shore Industrial Activities from 1850 until Now

This North Sea’s notoriety largely faded away since the 19th century. Since the industrial use of coal became the norm, the way the North Sea was perceived began to shift. And the tales of the Sea were slowly erased from our collective memory. Most notably, the invention of steamships (primarily driven by the advancements in steam engine technology) exponentially increased human activities in the offshore region. Since then, the discovery of oil fields in the North Sea and subsequent commercial oil extraction began as early as 1851 in the Midland Valley of Scotland. 3 Its abundant fishing grounds where its sand bank providing a breeding ground for flatfish, sand eel fish, whitefish, nephrons’ fish, scallop fish, and other local marine animals, became hubs of commercial fishing industries. Or take the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the largest port in Europe, which opened in 1888 and made the North Sea as one of the highest ship traffic density regions in the world. Fast forward to today, the grounds of Dogger Bank have provided ample space for corporations and governments of the surrounding countries to install numerous wind power generators, leading to the world’s largest offshore wind farm. This new development phase simultaneously brought second chances to declining industrial cities around the North Sea coast, such as Hull (England) and Bergen (Norway) to now become forefront of a new ecological era. These cities are experiencing a new economic growth by producing wind turbines and providing related offshore industrial services. Especially, Ij-muiden (The Netherlands), a home for the early industrial steel factory, receiving a lot of attention for its future trajectory. The multi-national steel factory recently announced to be committed towards reducing carbon footprint in production. The North Sea is thus bound to play an important role in the future of energy

3 Glennie K. W. Petroleum Geology of the North Sea: Basic Concepts and Recent Advances, 12. 4th ed. John Wiley & Sons, 1998.

provision in Western Europe. Most recently, The Netherlands plans to insert cameras and radar systems which secure intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, protecting pipelines and wind turbine cables in the area.4 With the intense configuration of all these activities, the North Sea is no longer an unknown space. Instead, it is a playground for testing cutting edge engineering technologies and innovations. Now, it is a fair to say that humanity have an ability perceive the North Sea without mythical beings, sea monsters and our imaginations of bottomless voids. Rather, we have witnessed this place transforming into a human-centered space at an exceptionally rapid pace.

4 ‘This capability helps deter potential perpetrators of sabotage and espionage,’ Ollongren and Van der Maat wrote. ‘Improving the protection of the vital infrastructure on the North Sea has the full attention of the cabinet.’ Ruitenberg, Rudy. “Netherlands to Boost North Sea Surveillance to Deter Seabed Threats.” Defense News, 20 Dec. 2023, www.defensenews.com/naval/2023/12/20/netherlands-to-boost-north-seasurveillance-to-deter-seabed-threats/. Accessed 10 Jan. 2024.

Fig 3. Opening of the North Sea canal King Willem III was at the opening of the North Sea Canal in 1876.

Territorial Expansion of Technology from Now into the Future

We can see this transformation of the North Sea into such an anthropocentric space in the way journalist, scientist and policy makers talk and write about it. Yet it is hard to comprehend what actually the significance of it is or what on scale it plays out due to its considerable geographical and physical distance from our own living environment. In fact, this anthropocentric system is barely visible for us, while the insertion of these technologies into landscape of the North Sea is deeply connected to our lives inhabiting the surrounding cities. It is a smoothly functioning background 5 that offers people the necessary resources: to have on indoor lights in house anytime, and to keep the indoor temperature always pleasurable, and to receive our (so-called) sustainably made clothing, shipped from across the continent in any time, or to consume exotic fruits and fresh fish at to nearby supermarkets. As Paul N. Edwards stated, ‘mature technological systems such as cars, roads, municipal water supplies, sewers, telephones, railroads, weather forecasting, buildings, and even computers, in the majority of their uses, reside in a naturalized background, appearing as ordinary and unremarkable to us as trees, daylight, and dirt. Our civilizations fundamentally depend on them, yet we notice them mainly when they fail, which is a rare occurrence.’

6 Due to their inaccessibility, the offshore structures in the North Sea, towering over 300 meters above the surface of the sea, are merely visible as small dots from the coast. Moreover, the most of its supplementary facilities and sub-structures are completely invisible. Additionally, beyond offering basic needs such as drinking water, food, and buildings to live, our desire to feel secured started to also include social connectivity through new information technologies, as well as an assurance that we can continue to do so in the future. This entails continuous use of

5 ‘The most salient characteristic of technology in the modern (industrial and postindustrial) world is the degree to which most technology is not salient for most people, most of the time.’ Edwards Paul N. Infrastructure and Modernity: Force Time and Social Organization in the History of Sociotechnical Systems, 185-188. The MIT Press, 2002.

6 Edwards Paul N. Infrastructure and Modernity: Force Time and Social Organization in the History of Sociotechnical Systems, 188. The MIT Press, 2002. Today, it is fair to say that the machine is not so much in the garden as it is indistinguishable from the garden; They are inexorably intertwined. Strang Gary L “Infrastructure As Landscape [Infrastructure As Landscape As Infrastructure].”, 4. 1996.

electric devices as much as we want, taking pictures of our daily activities, and unlimitedly storing them on internet cloud. All this became an intrinsic part of sustaining life in modernized cities. These systems, which offer people a sense of assurance and security, can be called ‘infrastructures’. They are connective tissues, circulatory systems and manufacturing processes that function collaboratively and synergistically, producing and distributing a continuous flow of essential goods and services.7 In fact, all infrastructures are sociotechnical in nature. This means that to be infrastructures, it also needs to include organizations, social acceptance and reliance to public, and accessibility to its service are required for a system. 8 However, I am mainly refereeing to its hardware quality in this text.9

Building and maintaining any types of infrastructure requires large and longer lasting institutions; they rely on enormous political, and social power and great wealth.10 Particularly, offshore infrastructure demands more efficient engineering, is larger in scale and more costly to install than any other infrastructures on the grounds. Hence, numerous business proposals related to offshore projects in the North Sea are long waiting for financial funding and government approval. They involve a wide variety of projects, from innovating home care systems over increasing urban biodiversity to chemical emissions from offshore wind farms.11 These plans want to promise us a better future by tackling major societal problems that threaten human’s territories, such as rising climate catastrophes, and increasing unpredictable resource flows. These projects claim that they can gain control over these risks by implementing hyper-efficient technologies. As an anthropocentric practice takes the oceanic turn, the North Sea should be included in the contemporary urban realm where an expanding field of modernist ideas has been finally arriving. Considering its significance in its materiality, political position, and ecological space for the future of humanity, I would like to question: What are the overlooked aspects as the North Sea transforms into a human-centered space through a technocratic approach? And how can we employ technology for the future of the North Sea?

7 Edwards Paul N. Infrastructure and Modernity: Force Time and Social Organization in the History of Sociotechnical Systems, 187. The MIT Press, 2002.

8 Edwards Paul N. Infrastructure and Modernity: Force Time and Social Organization in the History of Sociotechnical Systems, 188. The MIT Press, 2002.

9 Some type of infrastructure such as educational institutions or legal systems rely relatively little on technology, but these fall out of the scope of this text.

10 Edwards, Paul N. Infrastructure and Modernity: Force Time and Social Organization in the History of Sociotechnical Systems, 200. The MIT Press, 2002.

11 Forfang, Sofie. “Go-Ahead for 14 New Projects, Interreg VB North Sea Region Programme.” Interreg VB North Sea Region Programme, 21 Sept. 2022, northsearegion.eu/about-the-programme/programme-news/ go-ahead-for-14-new-projects/. Accessed 10 Jan. 2023.

All we can ‘see’ are small dots beyond the horizon. However, the scale of land required to sustain these installations is colossal.

Location West coast of Norway Dogger bank -

Type Oil and gas platform Offshore wind farm A claster of wind turbines

North Sea

North Sea

Fig 5. A list of offshore Infrastructural projects in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the North Sea Currently, more than 500 offshore installations are actively extracting oil and gas from the continental shelf throughout the North Sea. Additionally, hundreds of new proposals for offshore infrastructure await governmental approval.

North Sea as an Energy Factory

To address those questions, this study examines and questions the current proliferation of technologies into the North Sea. I outline some of the major criticisms in this chapter.

Blinded by the affective backdrop of the numerous future solutions (mostly energy-related) by the implementing of offshore structures into the North Sea landscape, we may overlook that it entails a further industrialization and even imperialistic territorial expansion. As mentioned earlier, most offshore projects are carried out on a large scale, requiring vast sums of money and sophisticated technology. Several national-scale institutions are integrated into carrying out the projects, from preliminary planning to eventually service distribution. Economic motivations have historically driven territorial expansion, particularly in the scramble over resources and market shares. Yet, there is an important omission here. Those large projects often take place through brutal removal of local elements such as small social groups, nonhumans, and local ecosystems. Through wielding enormous political and economic power, institutions and governments have possibility to eliminate, which, in most cases, happens during the earlier phases of infrastructure development. Henry Veltmeyer has aptly described this expansionistic growth as being based on a new model of ‘extractive imperialism’12 Technology has been radically used to achieve this through embedding it into the local landscape. Take, for instance, the railway systems that were installed during the colonial times. They figure as the clearest example for imperialism by means of technology. As Margot Francis stated that ‘railways symbolised the expansionist audacity of imperialism and provided ‘the essential technology to bring the west into [its] emerging dominion’’.13 The physical act of transforming seemingly empty territories into spaces of extraction, only beneficial to the colonial

12 Extractive imperialism means ‘a form of primitive capital cumulation that has stark similarities to the old style of Colonial Extractivism organised by the European empires in the nineteenth century.’

Nesbit Jeffrey S and Charles Waldheim. Technical Lands: A Critical Primer, 157. Jovis 2022.

13 Francis Margot. Creative Subversions: Whiteness Indigeneity and the National Imaginary. University of British Columbia Press, 2012.

authorities has long been justifies by also labelling these places as previously ‘empty’,14 which establishes, expands, and maintains the existing powers. This essentially signifies our method of territorial expansion.15 Therefore, the habitats, such as marine animals and microorganisms that the North Sea has nurtured for hundreds of millions of decades, are being sacrificed to these machineries, that are producing more (green) energy for the surrounding city residents.

Second, what is often overlooked is that building infrastructure in the North Sea means that the resources need to travel longer distance. Placing large machineries near urban areas often evokes reaction and dissatisfaction among the city residents. To avoid political unrest and minimize economic losses, authorities (such as urban planners, property managers, governments, and etc) usually opt for the easiest solution: placing infrastructures a far away from the urban population. By perfectly arranging machinery in a row and in distant offshore area solves a lot of complex socio-political issues. The key is to functionally separate residential and technological areas, maintaining a physical gap between the two. In this way, machines become inaccessible and can be aesthetically and completely ignored, while our reliance on remotely extracted natural resources are eventually increased. This human-exclusive zone become a heaven for machines. They are allowed to monopolize the surface and space of the North Sea, creating a new classification of terrain: ‘Technical Land’. Peter Galison asserted that ‘The more infrastructure expands to ever-wider circles— from local to state, national to international- the more they are technical lands’.

16 Hence, having technical land in a far distant location also means that a larger area of our landscape, both under the seabed and on the mainland, needs to be engineered and exploited in order to transport resources from these distant areas into cities. This involves the insertion of pipelines and cables. And it is inevitable that these works disturb local landscapes, inhabiting non-humans, and ecosystems.

Lastly, integrating offshore structures into the North Sea necessitates the perpetual maintenance of structures in an optimal condition, ensuring the

14 Said Edward W. Culture and Imperialism, 9. Vintage Digital, 2014.

15 Arturo Escobbar asserted that ‘These categories are often leveraged to justify, legitimize, and sometimes even legalize environmental degradation and social exploitation in service of economic, political, and/ or social agendas.’ Henni Samia et al. Deserts Are Not Empty. “Designs for the Pluriverse, book Desert”, 82. Columbia Books on Architecture and the City an Imprint of the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation Columbia University, 2022.

16 Nesbit Jeffrey S and Charles Waldheim. Technical Lands: A Critical Primer, 23. Jovis 2022.

absence of any threats to efficient operations.17 This also means that everything intended to be permanent and whatever threatening its perfect condition (and is not plannable or foreseeable) must be brutally removed to maintain its ‘unchanging state’. For instance, pipeline is such a vulnerable target to terrorists, the security precautions for one in Dyce (Scotland) with 200-kilometre length are so rigorous that even the local rabbits along the route have sought refuge.18 The offshore infrastructures are a ‘matrix of control’ taking a physical form, controlled by authority with a convenient mixture of State ownership and private enterprise. The notion of having a final and sole purpose implies that other beings who are not included in the plan are not welcome or even need to be eliminated from the territory. Spontaneous elements with a result of a temporary nature, outcomes that are unexpected are also considered as risks and not according to the plan. Those will lose their places when it becomes like territory. There is a growing body of evidence that there is a considerable bird collision risk with offshore wind turbines. Throughout the evolution of marine birds (birds which exploit the resources of the sea) did not have to deal with the collision risk posed by discrete objects that invade into their flight space above the water surface.19 Not only the area above the surface is affected, but also underwater, sounds caused by operational wind turbines and other comparative machineries, influences some local fish. During operation, fish that live close and even further away (in the order of tens of meters) to the turbine may detect noise generated by the particle motion of the turbines associated with. This may cause behavioral among certain fish species. 20 These offshore machines are fundamentally not designed to be coexisting with other beings. As a responds to it, there are diverse attempts to understand what humanity can reacts on the destruction, including genuine efforts to restore the seabed around Dogger bank 21, studies on giving colors and achromatic patterns in the blades and

17 Definition of matrix of control: ‘the ongoing joint effort of those in power (often governments and corporations) to ensure that everything is perpetually maintained in a ‘perfect state’ and that there are no threats to efficient operations.’ Boer René and Kees de Klein. Smooth City: Against Urban Perfection Towards Collective Alternatives. Valiz 2023.

18 John Kerr, “North Sea oil begins to flow – archive”. The Gardian. 1975. 3 Nov 2017. https://www. theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/03/north-sea-oil-forties-field-begins-to-flow-scotland-1975

19 Martin Graham R and Alex N Banks. “Marine Birds: Vision-Based Wind Turbine Collision Mitigation.” Global Ecology and Conservation.

20 Hawkins Anthony D and Arthur N Popper. “Effects of Anthropogenic Noise on Animals.” Effects of Man-Made Sound on Fishes, Faculty of Science Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2018. pp. 145-New York NY : Springer.

21 ‘Expedition sets out to research restoration opportunities of the Atlantis of the North Sea’ Nature today.

27 Nov 2023. https://www.naturetoday.com/intl/en/nature-reports/message/?msg=31583.

Fig 6. Map of inhabitants of the North Sea in 2200: Future scenario

A <A Gigantic Energy Factory> In this scenario, the last seagulls and fish have left the North Sea. The sea is now becoming a gigantic efficient energy factory. As the wind blow faster, the waves become more turbulent.

North Sea

Clusters

North Sea

pylons of turbines to reduce bird collision, also advanced studies on human induced sound in the ocean to understand its impacts and migration patterns of marine animals and their habitational quality. However, those studies are merely ‘additional’ elements to the problems. If the very essential principle of engineered machine as ‘its efficient operation as the most valued’, the North Sea would force the marine life to migrate. This would be the very first step for the North Sea becoming a giant energy factory.

Dichotomously Complicit: Radical Simpli cation of a Complex Living System

The belief in inserting of multiple technologies into the grounds of the North Sea stems from a dichotomous worldview. In short, this is, in philosophy, often referred to as ‘dualism 22 .’ This dualistic perspective is about putting things in two different pockets with contrasted aspects and giving things either superior or inferior. Such an understanding of the world can lead to conceptualise the relationship between humans and nature, machine (or culture) and nature, heaven and hell, physicality and mentality, form, and substance, ideal and reality, body and mind, sea and land, and more. This epistemological point of view has long shaped humans’ way of seeing the world, especially in Western cultures, 23 by focusing on categorizing the world into two sets of properties. This naturally implies a simplification and generalization of matters to fit them into the two pockets. However, this dichotomized worldview falls short when it comes to explaining the complex and diverse values intertwined with today’s reality, especially when in dealing with our damaged earth. The dualistic worldview oversimplifies a complex, multidimensional reality, neglecting the intricate interdependencies and nuanced relationships that exist between various elements of the world. Similarly, such an attitude towards the North Sea reflects a hierarchical relationship whereby humans are considered distinct

22 The Genesis story in the Bible, where humans are given dominion over the Earth is a great example of the anthropocentric ideas in the Western culture. In Greek philosophy, thinkers emphasized the dualism between form and matter: form represents the ideal, while matter symbolizes disorder and imperfection. This dualistic perspective, suggesting that nature is chaotic thereby human’s rationality and reasoning are necessary for order. The scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries, marked by Galileo, Copernicus, and Newton, advocated a mechanistic view of the universe. This perspective laid the foundation for modern science and technology. With the advent of industrialization and capitalism in the 18th and 19th centuries, the exploitation of natural resources for economic gain intensified. The emphasis on progress, growth, and material wealth often led to perceiving nature as a resource to be exploited for human development. During the era of European colonial expansion, there was a tendency to view the nature as a subject to be conquered, exploited, and controlled for the benefit of colonial powers. This mindset contributed to the exploitation of indigenous peoples and their lands and the destruction of ecosystems.

23 The classical emphasis originates in Plato’s Phaedo. Plato believed that the true substances are not physical bodies, which are ephemeral, but the eternal Forms of which bodies are imperfect copies. Robinson, Howard. “Dualism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 11 Sept. 2020, plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/.

from nature and superior to it, giving a justification to exploitation of natural elements. It portrays nature (the concept extends from non-humans, organism to ecosystems) as a something to conquer and utilize.

In the book ‘Water and dream’, Gaston Bachelard describes ‘[t]he sea [as] both an adversary seeking to defeat us and, at the same time, an adversary we must conquer. Those waves are like punches that we must confront and fight against. A person swimming gives the impression of throwing their entire body into the fray, colliding with the limbs of the adversary.’24 For decades, the struggles with the North Sea has been intertwined with a significant part of the history of European countries bordering its body of water. This is especially true for The Netherlands, which has been fighting against water for centuries. This dualistic approach has strongly shaped how we treat the sea and react on it. Take, for instance, the severe storm surge in 1953 struck the northwestern parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, England, and Scotland, causing the collapse of coastal defenses. This led to widespread flooding of shore areas, displacing millions of people who had to abandon their homes. In investigating the causes of such disasters and implementing measures to prevent future floods, the Delta Works, designed through engineering technology, stands as a project that vividly illustrates the Netherlands’ struggle against water. Simultaneously, it has contributed to fostering a strong belief in engineering as the sole method to triumph over water and waves, in the ongoing battle with nature.

What is critical to follow my point of view, is that this dualistic attitude towards the North Sea creates continuous conflicts. By stating a ‘versus’ position, conditions of loosing and winning naturally emerge. Such conflicts are bound to persist until one is destroyed or defeated. In order to ‘win’ from climate crisis, we must ‘conquer’ and ‘utilise’ it!

In this ‘versus’-thinking, we will ‘end’ if we do not manage to ‘win’. This hostile relationship blinds us for the intricacies that are inherent to the present-day global landscape. In the same vein, the offshore infrastructure is inherently incompatible with natural elements, making a symbiotic relationship impossible. The construction of offshore infrastructure, in most cases, leads to inevitable disruptions of existing ecosystems and the displacement of organisms. My argument is that this has been fundamentally attributed to a dualistic worldview from which technology has been developed, and because of which it is destined to confront nature. Consequently, from this situation, the cohabitation of two entities gives rise to a binary and persistent antagonistic

24

Bachelard Gaston and Edith R Farrell. Water and Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Matter. Pegasus Foundation 2006.

confrontation, wherein one must eventually devour the other’s land to be continuous. Coexistence between these two (seemingly conflicting) entities appears impossible. This ongoing and apparently eternal dualistic conflict can only be overcome by technology transcending the limits imposed by such a worldview.

This mega-structure is the largest of the Delta Works, designed to protect the Netherlands from flooding from the North Sea. The construction of the Delta Works was a response to the North Sea flood of 1953. Its great success is a heroic symbol of ‘man versus water’.

Extensive flooding along the coastlines of the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, has resulted in significant loss of life and property damage.

Fig 8. North Sea flood of 1953

Fig 7. Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier

Fig 9. Increasing soil subsidence and sea-level rise It is referenced from “Increasing soil subsidence and sea-level rise in the western peatlands in the Netherlands over the past 1000 years” (Zagwijn, 1991), and figures of the sea level rise are sourced from the moderate scenario in the IPCC reports of 2022.

Creating a Technological Mediator

This project explores a new form of infrastructure: an entity that serves as an ‘indeterminate interface’, intertwining ‘hard’ technological systems with ‘soft’ biophysical processes. It aims to become a tool for creating a better relationship with the landscape, non-humans, and natural elements, eventually replacing the way conventional infrastructure operates in our current environment. This project is with several objectives. (1) It attempts to free from our conventional belief in ‘infrastructure,’ both in conceptual and physical way. 25 Its inception resides in the realm of imagination, and the expansive domain of the ocean, a historically a past imaginative space for humanity, serving as a catalyst for future endeavors. (2) It aims to prioritize the Earth’s metabolic exchange over a conventional emphasis on humans as sole end users. It is an exercise grounded in a new design ethos, offering an alternative to the prevailing industrial complex which overly simplifies intricate living systems and facilitates an extraction of life to increase economic value. (3) Through this intervention, a new interaction can arise between humans and the technology that ensures their lives. In this manner we can redefine our, somewhat forgotten, relationship with our resources, ultimately aiming for a renewed and more conscious connection. This new interaction hopes to satisfy a longing for

( technological inventon)

(technological inventon)

Fig 10. The rule of efficiency (observation) Obtaining maximum outputs with minimum inputs; highly efficient.

Fig 11. The rule of abundance (design suggestion) Weaving complex inputs and outputs in an organized and balanced manner.

belief and trust in our fundamental intuition, the courage for ethical action, the rhythm of our bodies, and the natural, joyful, and sensory interaction with earthly life. As Rosalind Williams said:

‘To landscape is to work with the planet; to improve, enhance, and adorn it; to liberate its potential, as opposed to imposing structures of conquest. Landscaping brings with it an acceptance of the passage of time as something to be appreciated rather than battled. e typical verbs associated with infrastructure are age and decay. e typical verb of landscape is cultivated through long-term commitment of human labour and other resources, it is renewed and reworked. From the landscape orientation, maintenance is not a core to be resisted but the core of what it means to create a human world.’ 26

When considering the urgency of today’s environmental issues, it might give the impression of being overly romantic. Yet, many environmental measures, policies, and technological interventions will not work fully if a profound ecological consciousness is lacking. Following Donna Haraway who proposed ‘tentacular thinking’, referring to a way of understanding our living environments that embraces interconnectedness and complexity, the tentacle imagery suggests a form of thought that reaches out in multiple directions, making connections and engaging with a diverse range of ideas and perspectives. 27 This project represents an effort to translate these theoretical concepts which previously confined to the realm of abstraction into a more concrete model with tangible practices. Diverse formats, such as moving images, paintings, sculpture, floorplans are extensively used to communicate these ideas. is endeavor begins to slowly to appear on the horizon, in a form of ‘ e Creature’.

25 Bélanger Pierre asserted that infrastructure and their designers (equally means engineers) form ‘an unbreakable bond of beliefs that transcend public consciousness across a wide societal spectrum’. ‘... engineers have secured a position in society that is not only based on common sense or on the foundations of technology as some believe, but that hinges on an entire chain of ideals, impulses, and inclinations. Together, they form an unbreakable bond of beliefs that transcend public consciousness across a wide societal spectrum: infrastructure - technology - engineering - strength - stability - security - precision - protection - permanence - public work - federalism - identity - nationalism - state - economy - growth - development.’

Bélanger Pierre. Landscape As Infrastructure: A Base Primer, 54. Routledge 2017.

26 Bélanger Pierre. Landscape As Infrastructure: A Base Primer, 7. Routledge 2017.

27 Haraway Donna Jeanne. Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Duke University Press 2016.

The Creature Year 2200

A Junctional Being

The Creature stands in a blurred boundary between elements that have long been dichotomous, such as sea and land, past and future, nature and human (human culture or machine), and post-industrial and environmental realms. In particular, The Creature is a mediator formulating a new dynamic relationship between the North Sea and humans (implying nature versus humans) through the following interactions:

(1) The North Sea, a natural entity and environment where The Creature thrives, provides the energy and resources for The Creature. In return, The Creature cleans up pollutants from the industrial age that are widely distributed along the coast of the North Sea.

(2) The Creature, a technological being, is a junctional existence. Its soft existence supports human coexistence as a part of the ecology. These floating entities serve as an ‘environment’ that provides energy and resources for humans; growing seaweed, providing a habitat for fish and small animals, desalinating seawater, harvesting energy from sea waves, and transporting these sea products to nearby human settlements. The Creature also functions as a ‘tool,’ carrying out maintenance of the healthy North Sea and its coastal areas.

(3) Humans, as natural beings, build The Creature and provide maintenance to it. They are dependent on The Creature for every day lifes by collecting and hunting resources from the interior envrionemnt of The Creature. And they are always in proximity to The Creature’s activities.

This interplay between the North Sea, The Creature, and humans is a pivotal in integrating human activity into Earth’s metabolic system. The Creature, as a mediator, is designed to improve the previously simplistic and one-dimensional relationship between the North Sea (or nature) and humans. This broader perspective enables us to grasp the issue within a larger context, fostering environmental stewardship and promoting the sustainable coexistence of all beings.

Art cial environment for the visitors Natural environment for the creature

The North Sea

beings

The Creature Humans

Interplay between the North Sea, The Creature, and Humans

1. Resources

2. Maintenances

Post-Industrial Being

The birth of The Creature relies on past industrial activities. Without this history, The Creature also would not be existed. The post-industrial cities that dot the shores of the North Sea serve as the birthplace of this enigmatic being, their abandoned factories and neglected waterfronts providing the raw materials for its creation. The very machinery and infrastructure that once drove the engine of industrial progress now serve as the building blocks for The Creature’s existence.

But The Creature is more than just a product of industrial detritus. It embodies the resilience and adaptability of nature in the face of humaninduced change. As the industrial age waned and society began to reckon with the consequences of its actions, The Creature emerged as a symbol of regeneration and renewal. Its existence represents a merging of the artificial and the natural, a fusion of human ingenuity and ecological resilience.

Despite its unconventional origins, The Creature plays a crucial role in the ecosystem of the North Sea. Its presence has catalyzed a process of ecological restoration, drawing diverse forms of marine life to its habitat and fostering biodiversity in the region. Animals and creatures that inhabit the North Sea have learned to coexist with The Creature, forming intricate ecological relationships that sustain life in this dynamic environment. In many ways, The Creature serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of all living things and the importance of embracing diversity in nature. Its existence challenges our preconceived notions of what it means to be ‘natural’ or ‘artificial,’ blurring the boundaries between human and non-human worlds. As we continue to grapple with the legacy of industrialization and its impact on the environment, The Creature stands as a beacon of hope, offering a glimpse of a future where humanity and nature can thrive in harmony.

Industrial infrastructure: offshore windturbine, containtership, and The Creature

An Interfacial ‘Body’

The Creature has a body intertwining ‘hard technological systems’ with ‘soft biophysical processes’, making the body itself ‘a technological interface’. This body resembles a collection of spaces and functional machinery, crafted to mimic the organs of an animal. With these organs, The Creature actively tends to the North Sea through its digestive processes, including absorbing, storing, and discharging. There are countless small animals and sea organisms sustaining their lives within this body throughout this process. However, having this ‘body’ comes with limitations. For instance, the quantity of resources that it can produce in a given time is limited, and it can only handle certain natural conditions. These thresholds may sound limiting in terms of its possibilities; however, it helps to create a better relationship with both Humans and The North Sea operating within the Earth’s metabolic systems. The intricacies of this interaction is described in the following pages.

Relation between internal and external water flow

Ijmuiden, e Netherlands

The

body

Internal Reservoir

e internal reservoir is the core space of e Creature’s body. It takes the biggest space of all. It is closely connected to the surrounding environment, the North Sea. Seawater is absorbed into e Creature’s body through the entering spaces under the surface of waterlevel at the chamber of sh. During this process, sea organisms such as plankton and small sh are owing into the interior spaces along with substances like sand, sh eggs, and seeds. ese organisms are transported by internal water currents and settle in suitable locations, enriching the diverse internal environment of e Creature.

Plan: on water

1. Internal reservoir

2. Chamber of freshwater

3. Chamber of fish

4. Chamber of electricity

5. Main entrances

6. Entrances for toxic materials

7. Physical work platform

8. Technical rooms and storages

9. Public toilets

10.Entrances from docks

11.Lobby

Internal Fluid Materiality

The Creature’s internal space is primarily composed of three materials: freshwater, sand, and industrial toxins. These substances move around the internal spaces and chambers over long periods of time. These flows of materials are related to the shape of the organism’s body and organs. Moreover, it is also linked to the flow of materials in the external environment surrounding The Creature.

Freshwater

Sand

Detoxing Gut

One of The Creature’s most remarkable abilities is its capacity to mitigate the impact of human-induced pollution and habitat destruction. The Creature’s lower floor is mainly composed of toxic processing system. People remove the Industrial toxic substances that have accumulated in the ground of IJmuiden and bring them to this processing facility. This digestive system is a long tube-like space where algae and bacteria capable of breaking down these toxic substances inhabit. The new city IJmuiden accommodates the laboratory of bacteriology. The industrial toxins are removed through the symbiotic process of the organisms within The Creature’s body. Eventaully, the remaining substances are treated to be returned to nature. After that, the North Sea environment naturally disposes of such debris. In doing so, it creates a safer and healthier environment for all inhabitants, both human and non-human alike.

Plan : underwater floor

1. Detoxic gut - toxic material entry

Detoxic gut - tube with bacteria

Fresh water laboratory

Chamber of electricity - machine room

Fish entries

Entrances for Fishes, Water and Humans

The fish entrances are located under the water surface at the chamber of fish. The spaces have small openings towards the North Sea where the sea substances flowing in and out freely. The entrances for human visitors are located its tail, where it can anchor to the dock of IJmuiden city. The entrance space is located relatively higher in order to be smooth connected to the docks. Human visitors can walk down the internal reservoir.

Longitudinal section ishes small animals seeds and sea ate can ente and leave th ough the ent ance a ea in the inte nal ese vio

Cross section (top right) Humans enter the internal space of The Creature from the anchoring tail.

Skin Texture

The Creature’s skin is woven meticulously with synthetic byproduct of steels harvested from IJmuiden. The steel is collected from the various area around IJmuiden and Amsterdam. After its collection, the processed scrap steel is melted down in a furnace. Once the steel has been melted and purified, it is then cast into shapes, depending on which body parts that it will become. Detail

1. Framing steel structure

2. Connecting steel rod as grid

3. Weaving steel rod

Born Structure

The foundational structure of The Creature’s body is constructed using steel. This backbone of The Creature offers stability to store the diverse fuctions and programs of the internal spaces and machines as well as it supports as it navigates its environment of the North Sea.

Anatomy of The Creature

In the body of e Creature, there are various organs such as skin, skeleton, mouth, lungs, and a gut. ese organs are closely related to each other and collaborate in its metabolic processes. While these organs serve mechanical functions, they also function as architectural spaces visited by residents of the city.

Anatomy of The Creature: organs and function of The Creature

1. Top skins - roof

2. Top ribs - main structure

3. Mouths - the chamber of fish

4. Liver - the chamber of fresh water

5. Left lung - the chamber of electricity

6. Bottom ribs - main structure

7. Right lung - the chamber of electricity

8. Gut - industrial detoxing tube

9. Bottom skins - plates

History of IJmuiden

IJmuiden is situated at the entrance of the North Sea Canal. Its strategic location serves as a vital gateway to the industrial activities and transportation networks to Amsterdam, o ering e cient import and export operations.

IJmuiden, The Netherlands

A map of the North Sea featuring one of the birthplace of The Creature.

North Sea

IJ muiden

North Sea

IJ muiden

Costal Nature, 1850

Previously, this area was a wetland protected by sand dunes. It was also a place where people raised livestock and established a small village called Breesaap exsisting from the late Middle Ages to the 19th century. The farmers in Breesaap kept sheep and grew some potatoes and grain.

Fine sand

Glacial clay

1. The North Sea.

2. Dune slack.

3. The Breesaap after the land consolidation in 1850.

4. Sand dune (mound).

The North Sea Canal, 1880 e North Sea Canal constructed between 1865 and 1876, connects Amsterdam to the North Sea at IJmuiden. is arti cial waterway was built to facilitate maritime navigation and provide seafaring vessels access to the port of Amsterdam. However, as a consequence of the North Sea Canal excavation, the groundwater level in the Breesaap decreased, resulting in the land drying out and causing a decline in the farmers’ livelihoods.

1. The North Sea Canal connecting between North Sea and Amsterdam.

2. Construction of the canal lock, 1876.

3. One of the famer’s house(Boschlust) in Breesaap.

4. Tank crane was used to build the piers, Amsterdam Canal Company (AKM).

Steel Factory, 1920

Established in 1918, Royal Dutch Blast Furnaces and Steel Mills (Koninklijke Nederlandse Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken, KNHS) emerged as a pivotal entity in the landscape of the area. e factory’s genesis aligned with the advent of the canal locks, symbolizing a shi towards mass-scale industrialization. e arrival of the factory coincided with the introduction of large canal locks, marking a period of industrial steel production alongside internaltion free trade. Due to the enlarging the North Sea Canal together with the paving the wet ground to asphalt to make the ground comfortable for the human uses, the groundwater level in the Breesaap consequently dropped, leading to land drying out.

Glacial clay Canal Steel Factory

1. The first part of the steel factory (KNHS).

2. Factory worker at KNHS.

3. Blast furnace.

4. The ship ‘S.S. Johan de Witt’ departing from IJmuiden through the North Sea Canal in 1930.

International Steel Factory, 2020

e factory has enlarged several time over the century. e layout of the steel factory is based on the conventional way of producing steel: It is emphasis on e cient linear process. At the year of 2020, more than half of the factory facilities were not used anylonger due to the decrese demands of the industrial steels in the global market.

Glacial clay Canal Steel Factory

1. Factory worker operatoring at the pan oven.

2. Factory worker controling in billet casting.

3. Opening a new gas factory by Mayor Dailly and Ir. A. H. Ingenhousz, 1955.

4. Sand dune reinforcement.

Relocation Plan, 2050

Due to continuous sea level rise over the past 80 years, large-scale ooding and damage have persisted in low-lying areas in recent times. Flood defence systems like dams and water locks are already reaching their limits, with a sea level increase of +4.5 meters. Small towns are frequently inundated by oods. However, the steel factory’s location remains secure, being on average +8 meters above sea level. ere is a plan to relocate residents of ood-prone areas to this area, which is situated in a relatively safe location. is 13 square kilometre polluted area, a result of heavy steel industry activities, is undergoing transformation into a new home for a population of 20,000 people, as well as becoming the birthplace of e Creature.

Glacial clay Canal Steel Factory Human habitations

1. Increasing frequency of small scale flood in The Netherlands.

2. Evacuation from flood.

3. Altitude file in the Netherlands (AHN), 2024.

4. Relocation plan to IJmjiden.

and Dunes m

An Interview with Hypothetical Residents in 2200

Beach grass ‘Ammophila’, IJmuiden, 2023

There is the massive structures next to the shore. Did you build this?

‘Yes, I am a builder and one of the people who built The Creature. We built her all together. About a population of 20,000 people live in our city, and we all contributed to building her.’

What is The Creature?

‘Think of The Creature as a regenerative farmer of the North Sea: growing seaweed and vegetables, desalinating seawater into freshwater, and harvesting energy using waves, and bringing these sea products to our city. Plus, we live in close proximity to her activities. The Creature is essentially an artificial being. She serves a dual role for us, as “an environment” and “a tool”. As an environment, she provides us with resources. while as a tool, she has a functional role in keeping our land healthy.The relationship between these three entities: human, The Creature, and North Sea is maintained in a balance by mutually exchanging “resources” and “maintenance”.’

Sand dune, IJmuiden, 2023

Dune slack, 2023

What distinguishes The Creature from the previous infrastructural system, and how does it interact with the North Sea?

‘The Creature has a “body”. This sets her apart from the previous infrastructural system of the industrial era. Her body is like a collection of spaces and functional machines, designed to resemble organs of an animal. She cultivates the North Sea through digestive activities, storing, absorbing, and discharging. There are many small animals living within her body throughout this process. However, having this “body” comes with some limitations.

For instance, The Creature’s body is designed for activity on shallow waters of the North Sea; therefore, she cannot be on land nor in deep water. These thresholds may sound limiting in terms of her possibilities; however, it helps to create a better relationship with both us and The North Sea.’

How do you create a relationship with e Creature?

‘We collect fresh water, vegetables, electricity, and hunt fish in The Creature. Her internal environment is cultivated in a way that allows those resources to grow there over time. As visitors, we find and collect as many resources as we can carry with our bodies. These visits are usually made 2-3 times a week. It’s like going to a supermarket. To get the necessary resources for our lives, we also maintain her internal environment. So she stays healthy and resilient. The relationship between us and The Creature is created through this careful exchange of “resources” and “maintenance”.’

Dune slack, 2023

Dune flower ‘Viola Curtisii’, IJmuiden, 2023

How did you learn to build it?

‘Mostly I learnt from school. We are all trained as designers, craftsman, and builders. For my case, I’ve been repairing and maintaining the small compartments of The Creature since I was a kid. I have grown up with seeing my parent and neighbors working together to keep the machines running. Building her comes naturally to me. There are several workshops in the city where I do experiments and test new findings. In the archive center, all of our published knowledge is stored in a digital format. There are plan drawings and construction details. everyone can access them.’

Could you explain how to cultivate the land?

‘Cultivating the land is like working with the planet. We try to improve, enhance, and adorn it; We try to liberate its potential, as opposed to imposing structures of conquest. First, divide the polluted land into 70 by 800 meters. Each parcel of land is managed and cultivated by a group. Some are heavily polluted from industrial activities in the past. But it’s okay. All groups can go at their own pace. Because there is no clear result that needs to come out on time. No one owns land here. Our purpose is only to keep it healthy. We build The Creature from the harvested steel from the land. And we limiteldy use crane and excavator to fulfill our role as steward of the land. These machines can only be on the “hard passage” since it easily damages the soft surface of our dune.’

Sea wall concrete, IJmuiden, 2023

Common view, IJmuiden, 2023

Could you share your favorite place in the city?

‘Everyday, I go swimming in “shallow water basin”. It is a place where I am taking care of a small water garden. Local animals like plovers and sandpiper are visiting my water garden! My friends and neighbors come there to have a small chat and we do picnics sometimes.’

Could you briefly introduce the history of your city?

‘Before we have this clean and safe land that everyone wants to visit, our city was well-known for its industrialized steel production and for being a part of the North Sea Canal. At some moment in the past, industrialization was the norm in many societies. The earth, land, ocean, and dunes were targeted for exploitation. And our land, the wet land with the dune was hugely damaged. Before, this area used to be a swamp; a wet land protected by sand dunes. You can still see the old dune mostly on the north of our city. In the past, the larger and deeper dunes once guided us to the North Sea. The old steel industry has heavily polluted the land before our settlement in the area. We had to create a better relationship with the land. That is also for our survival. The Creature emerged from there’

Common view, IJmuiden, 2023

Common view, IJmuiden, 2023

Tata steel, IJmuiden, 2023

Tata steel, IJmuiden, The arrival port for coal, iron ore and other raw materials delivered by ship. (left) blast furnace(right), 2023, Google Earth

Tata steel, IJmuiden, The arrival port for coal, iron ore and other raw materials delivered by ship. (left) blast furnace(right), 2023, Google Earth

Environmental Management and Planning with The Creature

Dividing Land

e land division process commences with the implementation of allotment layout and an excavation grid. It is to facilitate collective cultivation, ensuring the involvement of all parties. e division aims at creating equitable and manageable sections, each assigned to speci c groups such as families, relatives, and friends, typically consisting of 100 to 150 individuals. Despite variations in pollutant levels and soil quality across di erent plots, the collective responsibility is assumed to rejuvenate the entire expanse. In certain regions, the restoration e orts spanned two or three generations, dedicated to clearing old contaminants and restoring the land healthy.

The Planning of the New City Total population of 20,000

area approximately 6.000.000 m2 (6km2)

size of a parcel 66 x 1600 m (105.600 m2)

population of 500 in a parcel

Harvesting Steel for building The Creature e residents excavate the industrial toxins that remained on the ground. Meanwhile, they also harvest the steel, which KNHS and Tata Steel have been producing for more than a century. is local steel had become a fundamental material of the land, shaping the region’s identity over decades. is is also where e Creature was born from. People built e Creature by using the steel harvested from this area. e industrial steel plants and the North Sea Canal, which once divided the sand dunes in half, are now the materials for building e Creature.

Target Objects in Details

1. Cooking plant-heat converter

2. Cooling water tank

5. Arrival port for coal, iron ore and other raw materials. 6. Blast furnace canal (Hoogovenkanaal)

Excavating Ground Toxic Clays

Each group has its own pace, employing various methods and skills for land cleaning, toxic excavation, and steel collection, creating di erent results. On average, digging about 3 meters is necessary to reach the healthy sand. e Toxic materials were transported to e Creature through the hard road.

Detail

1. Excavation of industrial toxic materials.

2. Working together with the machines like excavator. 3. Physical relation with baskets and jars.

Invention of The Creature.

New Patterns of the Landscape

‘ e New City’ doesn’t have a traditional centre. Instead, it has e Creature’s decks where everything converges. In each ‘parcelled block’, there is an area hosting a collective community, laboratory, market, and workshops. Residential blocks encircle the communal block on both sides of the street, strolling to the next block in about 5 minutes. It’s a city where hierarchical systems and political power are absent.

Detail of the landscape quality

1. Sediment budget, sand and mud.

2. Wetland.

3. Sand dune landscape.

4. Water inflow blurring the boundray between land and sea.

500 m

Water Moves Freely

Water moves freely within ‘ e New City’. is city is meticulously woven, blurring the boundary between land and water. Having water around brings e Creature closer, making resources more accessible. e depth of the excavation, the ows of sand through winds, and the tides of the North Sea determine how much water gets into this land.

* e plant list referenced by A.P. Grootjans, R.M. Bekker ‘Why Young Coastal Dune Slacks Sustain a High Biodiversity.’

List of the local plants

1. Australis phragmites 2. Littorella uniflora

3. Carex riparia 4. Sedge

5. Dune slack in a natural state

6. Dune slack after people’s treatments

500 m

Sand Dune Protection

e New City depends on the sand dunes to protect it from storm surges. Consequently, the e orts of the city residents are focused on cultivating and nurturing these healthy sand dunes. e more people invest in cultivating the land in this manner, the safer they become from natural disasters.

Chambers of Resources

Chamber of fish

It is an extensive area where sh and seaweed thrive, connected to the internal reservoir and the sea. People come here for shing and collecting shells, seaweeds, and other items they might nd. ere are a total of eight di erent chambers, each with unique conditions dependent on internal currents, depth of the sand bed, and the organisms that have settled down.

Geometrical axonometry of the chamber of fish (left) Perspective view of the fishing and diving platform (right)

Principle section and mechanism of the chamber of fish

1. Small animals, planktons and fish eggs can enter and exit from this entrance.

2. Fishing platform.

3. Jetty and walkway for visitors from the seaside.

4. Releasing freshwater. It is slowly helping the North Sea to be less saline.

Principle plan of the chamber of sh

Internal reservior

Fishing platform

Diving platform (internal entry)

Diving platform (external entry)

5. Peripheral deck and entrance to the chamber

The North Sea

Chamber of Electricity

It is where people can charge their digital devices and batteries. is place is organized similarly to an o ce or collective working space, with rooms for a certain number of people to sit around tables. People can work with their digital devices using electricity generated by wave power.

Geometrical axonometry of the chamber of electricity (left) Perspective view of the corridor (right)

Principle section and mechanism of the chamber of electricity

1. Enclosed space has an opening beneath sea level which allow water to flow to this space and back. Water level in the chamber rises and falls with the rhythm of the waves.

2. Electric generator. The wave action alternately compresses and decompresses the trapped air forcing an air flow moving back and forth through a wells turbine that drives a generator and produces electricity. [Well Turbine]

3. The winds once passed through the electric generator move cross the wind corridor.

Work rooms are where people gather to charge their digital devices and machines.

4.

Principle plan of the chamber of electricity

1. Entrance area to the chamber

2. Staircase to the upper oors

3. Elevator to the upper oors 4. Corridor 5. Wind corridor

Group O ce

Chamber of Freshwater

It is where people can get their drinking water. People can bring their water jars and ll them up. It might be heavy, but fear not, you might have a carrying robot! e mechanism for making fresh water involves simple physics like condensation, creating internal rain within the chamber. Rainwater is also collected.

Geometrical axonometry of the chamber of freshwater (left) Perspective view of the public well (right)

Principle section and mechanism of the chamber of electricity

1. Fresh water in this chamber is cultivated in the following order: (a) Strong heat from the sun enters to the enclosed space. (b) Evaporation occurs on the surface of the water on the internal reservoir. (c) Condensation occurs on the internal surface of the ceiling. (d) The water drops. (e) Fresh water is saved in the freshwater tank. And the clean water filtered by local sand is being ready to be distributed to visitors at the collecting point.

2. Freshwater tank is consisting of two parts: an upper hanging tank and an underground storage. Freshwater is clean, safe, and drinkable. In the water laboratory next to the underground storage, a quality control system and a remote research lab are located.

3. Internal rain gives enough water for the plants to grow and flourish in the communal garden.

4. This cycle allows the internal reservoir to be brackish water.

Principle plan of the chamber of freshwater

1. Entrance (on the level below) 2. Internal garden

Staircase to the public well

Public well

Living with Creatures

The three post-industrial cities situated around the North Sea emerge as the birthplace of The Creature, Ijmuiden, Bergen, Hull. As a mediator between humanity and the natural world, The Creature plays a crucial role in fostering harmony and coexistence among the diverse array of life forms inhabiting the North Sea. The birth of The Creature represents a transformative moment in the relationship between humans and the environment. Historically, industrial activities have often led to ecological degradation and the disruption of fragile marine ecosystems. However, The Creature’s emergence signals a shift towards a more balanced and sustainable approach to cohabitating with all other beings. Furthermore, The Creature serves as a symbol of resilience in the face of adversity. Its existence underscores the potential for positive change and the possibility of forging a more harmonious relationship with the natural world. By embracing The Creature’s role as a mediator and steward of the environment, humanity can work towards a future where coexistence and sustainability are prioritized, ensuring the continued well-being of the North Sea and its inhabitants for generations to come.

Scale Comparison

e Creature from the di erent cities have di erent sizes. is stems from factors such as their natural habitat, available resources for its materials and structure, and population density. ese elements intricately shape the physical dimensions of each creature, re ecting adaptations to their speci c environments.

13. Scale comparison of the three creatures in relation to the modern offshore infrastructure, wind turbine, containership.

NAP + 2m

Fig

Bergen, Norway

Bergen a location

A map of the North Sea featuring one of the birthplace of The Creature.

Bergen

Bergen

Bergen locality

Bergen served as Scandinavia’s largest trading hub from the 11th to the 18th century.

Bergen materials

The Creature is predominantly constructed using Norwegian timber frames sourced from the nearby forestry. The forest and its rich biological diversity hold immense value as an ecological resource for the surrounding cities.

Bergen currents

A quiet inlet from the Norwegian Trench: Bergen is situated in a place where the inflow of the fast current of the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea is filtered by the morphology of the landscape and terrain.

The depth of the Norwegian

Bergen norwegian trench

Trench can be reached to 300m. The Creature from Bergen is evolved as an underwater entity.

The seven mountains (de syv fjell) are surrounding the city, Bergen. It used to be an area described as ‘the green meadow among the mountains’.

Bergen mountains

Bergen,

Section

The Creature is anchored to the dock of Bergen, directly becoming a part of inner-city center.

Creature b

Bergen

The main structure is woven is like a

to prevent the main structure from spreading and expanding in the deep level of Norwegian

Bergen woven

jigsaw puzzle

trench.

Bergen principle plan Principle plan

Hull, England

Hull

Hull a north sea

A map of the North Sea featuring one of the birthplace of The Creature.

Hull

The city is situated along the Humber River. The 14 km length of the riverbank is suitable for the large number of The Creature cluster to be anchored. This river is characterized by dynamic tidal movements and varying depths along its course.

Hull riverbank

Hull riverbank depth

Closer to the river’s mouth to the North Sea and along its banks, depths may be shallower, especially in areas where sedimentation occurs. The small scale of The Creature from Hull is perfectly adapted for such natural condition.

Hull post-industrial

The city had become a major hub for offshore wind energy since 2020, with companies like Siemens Gamesa and Ørsted establishing manufacturing facilities and offshore wind farms in the area.

Hull

materials

The Creature is built from the byproducts of the offshore wind farm construction. The unwanted materials and its trash for one wind turbine will be managed to create 5 small creatures (b).

Hull cluster(behavior)

The behavior of The Creature is being and working as a cluster. This cluster cultivates the fresh water, food, and energy as a group to bring them to the city Hull.

Hull spread(behavior)

The

cluster of The Creature spreads along the Humber riverbank in Hull.

Hull plan

Schematic plan

‘Twelve-thousand-year structure, structure that seems so real we call it nature.’ - Timothy Morton

References

Timothy Morton - Dark ecology

Donna Haraway – Stay with the Trouble

Rene Boer - Smooth city

Pierre Belanger - Landscape as Infrastructure

Je rey S Nesbit and Charles Waldheim - Technical Lands

Ernst Haeckel - Art Forms in Nature

James Attlee - North Sea: A Visual Anthology

Master’s degree in Architecture

Academy of Architecture Amsterdam

Mentor

Jeroen van Mechelen

Committee member

Jandirk Hoekstra †

Committee member

Marten Kuijpers

Extra graduation committee

Geurt Holdijk

Extra graduation committee

Susana Constantino

Colophon

Text

Minnari Lee

Proofread (Chapter: The North Sea)

Kobe De Keere

Editing

Minnari Lee

Publication Design

Hyeonjeong Joo

Acknowledgements

Many people have contributed invaluable things to this project. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my mentor, Jeroen van Mechelen, for his sincere guidance and patience throughout this journey. Without his consistent advice regarding ecological aspects of the project, the result would not have been completed in a satisfactory manner. I also extend my deepest gratitude to my committee member, Jandirk Hoekstra. His powerful presence at every meeting was such a gift to me over the last two years. His sharing of invaluable knowledge in landscape architecture will forever be my foundation for upcoming projects. And, I am grateful to my last committee member, Marten Kuijpers for his extensive remarks beyond the scope of architecture. His curiosity and accurate perception were invaluable in the process. Furthermore, a heartfelt thank you goes out to my dear Kobe De Keere for his unconditional supports and intellectual generosity, particularly from a theoretical and sociological aspects. The simple fact that having him by side significantly boosted my perseverance and dedication throughout this endeavor. I also wish to express my gratitude to Christoph Seyferth for his encouragement and life-long unfailing support. Additionally, a big thanks to Hyeonjeong Joo for her contributions to this publication and her availability for the very last request. And thank you to De Architekten Cie. for their flexibility in planning and materialistic supports. Lastly, thanks to my cat, Namu, who sat always by me while I was struggling with the texts and the drawings. I would like to thank the many friends, collaborators, and collogues with whom I discussed the project in last two years. This project would not have been completed without all your support.

© 2024 by Minnari Lee

T: +31 (0)6 24 35 96 14

W: http://minnarilee.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in a context of reviews. Several reference images in the book were sourced from Google search engine. This can be adjusted if there are any issues. Any errors or omissions will be rectified in future editions.