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Sony Floating Habitat 2050 Paints a Self-Sufficient, Terrifying Picture of the Future

Rising sea levels, climate change and massive population displacement are serious issues that threaten the world as we know it today. Over the next three decades, they could give rise to new, multi-cultural and completely mobile communities.
Floating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesome 11 photos
Photo: Sony Design
Floating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesomeFloating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesomeFloating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesomeFloating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesomeFloating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesomeFloating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesomeFloating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesomeFloating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesomeFloating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesomeFloating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self-sufficient, quite awesome
These communities will be based exclusively at sea, either in fixed locations or sailing across the world’s oceans in search of new food opportunities. This is the future, as imagined by Sony Design and popular sci-fi authors, under the One Day, 2050 project unveiled to the public last month.

At the core of the project is a Sony floating habitat, the kind that has grown increasingly popular with today’s designers in both renders and actual builds. At least as far as coastal communities are concerned, given the alarming rate of rising sea levels, the best option right now seems to move communities out of the water, in those places where moving inland is not available.

One Day, 2050 imagines Tokyo in the not too distant future: the year is 2050 (duh) and cities on the coast have been replaced by floating communities. “Climate refugees” no longer have a place to live on land, and have relocated on water. The prospect is both terrifying and awesome at the same time, assuming man will be able to adapt to this new, nomadic and completely marine lifestyle with help from this floating habitation pod.

Floating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self\-sufficient, quite awesome
Photo: Sony Design
Sony calls the process sci-fi prototyping, which it was able to conduct thanks to the contribution of writers Taiyo Fujiui, Haruka Mugihara, Itsuki Tsukui and Miyuki Ono. “When people from a wide range of cultural spheres are living on the ocean, how do people coexist with other people or with the environment?” Sony asks. “This design prototyping examines people’s life at sea in 2050 and the ecosystem they create from the perspective of housing.”

The floating habitat has a double structure, which offers it stability even in rough weather. The outer structure breaks the waves for minimal tilting and shaking, while the inner structure is the residence itself.

It provides three levels for living both above the waterline and under it, which is more than enough space to house a large family. The project doesn’t detail the interior, but renders show stairs connecting the three levels so we’re assuming this is a fairly large structure and, as such, capable of accommodating a variety of layouts and amenities. Since this is a rather dire future imagined, the unit is probably not luxurious in the way we’d think of today.

The units are self-propelled by water jets and have porous filters in the pumps to clear the water as they move, thus delivering an added bonus to traveling in search of new food sources. They also have solar panels on the roof and a battery at the base of the house, and autonomous energy tanks that can move from unit to unit for a more efficient energy distribution. In other words, if two such pods meet, one can lend the other as many energy tanks as needed, and the transfer would be quick and effortless.

“Fueling” at nighttime would also be possible by means of these autonomous tanks, as a bunch of them would float around in bay areas, and instantly connect to units in short supply. The units can gather together in a hive-like structure, which would form a more stable power system at sea.

Floating habitat 2050 by Sony Design is completely self\-sufficient, quite awesome
Photo: Sony Design
More importantly, a honeycomb structure like this one, a “sea city,” if you will, would offer resistance in storms by enlarging the contact surface with the water and thus preventing the units from overturning. To that same end, each would have a collapsible roof, with sections folding up and then the whole roof sliding down for a lower volume up above and a lower center of gravity.

The Sony floating habitat is an elegant solution to a terrifying problem that we will most likely be facing soon.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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