On all continents, women and men are fighting to preserve the environment. This week, Match embarked with a spiritual son of Jules Verne who wants to make the oceans our future home.
Paris Match. Tell us about “SeaOrbiter”, this crazy idea?
Jacques Rougerie. “SeaOrbiter” is the culmination of all my research and the concentrate of all my passions. It is a platform that is both scientific and technological, a mobile underwater base that will serve as an education and communication tool for everything related to ocean, biodiversity and climate issues. I designed it as the first international ocean station, like the ISS in space. I have always been fascinated by the parallels between space exploration and underwater. For me, these two great human adventures are intimately linked. They generate a proliferation of new knowledge, which give birth to other perspectives on earth with an impact on our lifestyles: communication, mobility, town planning, architecture, thus shaping the future of our societies. It is no coincidence that Cousteau developed his first underwater home the year man first went into space. The similarities of confined life in these two extreme environments constitute an exciting subject of study and can teach us a lot. This is why, today, it is essential to have a permanent base at the international level which allows researchers to come together to develop a benevolent policy of exploration and innovation.
How can an architect-oceanographer participate in the beginnings of underwater exploration?
By making underwater houses like “Galathée” or boats with transparent hulls allowing you to observe and discover underwater biodiversity, by also winning this world record for sixty-nine days under the sea, during which I the idea of “SeaOrbiter” which will allow researchers to observe, in situ, the underwater world 24 hours a day over long periods of time. The researcher-divers will be able to leave this base directly under water; 80% of the observations will be made while drifting, in order to better understand how biodiversity evolves or to listen to life continuously in the major ocean currents.
It is also a machine that makes you dream. When you see it, you think of a science fiction ship!
I am very sensitive to beauty, harmony and symbols. To inspire, so that everyone can identify with this project, you need strong images. For me, Leonardo da Vinci then Jules Verne were these sources of inspiration. They inspired me to embark on the extraordinary adventure of science and the exploration of new worlds. We must pass on our knowledge and our passions by raising awareness and educating the younger generation on the major issues of space and the oceans. I hope, for her, that “SeaOrbiter” has a strong international impact.
The work of a pioneer: for forty years, he has been building under water
This project is old. When do you expect to see it completed?
In fact, he is already 10 years old. At the time, it was too innovative, but today it has all its legitimacy. It is therefore necessary to adapt it to new technologies. And that’s why Rodolphe Saadé, the boss of CMA CGM, decided to accompany us. Between studies, construction and sea trials, the cost of the project is estimated at 72 million euros. We are looking for new partners committed to the ecological transition to take part in this extraordinary adventure. “SeaOrbiter” now has its place in the “blue economy” that is taking shape for the future. And it caught the attention of President Macron during the One Ocean Summit, in Brest, last February.
Rising sea levels are of great concern. What solutions can we consider to adapt to this phenomenon?
Today, we are 7 billion human beings, half of whom live near the coast. Tomorrow, we will be 11 billion and 75% will live near the coast. It’s paradoxical, but despite the risks linked to the rising waters, the pressure on the coast will become increasingly strong. The OECD has just published a staggering figure: the rise in sea levels will affect nearly a billion people in the world. The acceleration is considerable. Nevertheless, it will extend over fifty or a hundred years, which leaves us a little time in particular to test solutions. As the other says, “let’s go slowly because we are in a hurry”. Our responses must be adapted to geographical, cultural and economic areas and respect people’s lifestyles. Bangladesh or the Maldives will not have to deal with the same problems as the Camargue or the Netherlands. With our architecture agency Rougerie+Tangram and our Lab, we are working on coastal development. In particular, we imagined a project for an atoll located in French Polynesia, made up of floating structures so that the inhabitants could continue to live on their ancestral lands. I created the Jacques Rougerie Foundation, housed at the Institut de France, to reward and promote the extraordinary imagination of young architects and engineers around the world. Our international architecture competition allows them to propose very concrete solutions. You have to believe in human genius and its ability to adapt! I always wanted to build the future by linking architecture, oceanography and biomimicry.
You have another project, more utopian: the creation of a civilization of “Mériens”. Who are they ?
Aquanauts, beings from the underwater world that I affectionately call the Merians because they live in harmony with the aquatic element, which determines a philosophy, a look and a specific behavior. I have stayed, on several occasions, in underwater houses for long periods. You can’t imagine the happiness it gave me. Jules Verne said: “Whatever one man is capable of imagining, other men will be able to achieve.” It is in this spirit that I designed the Cité des Mériens: its architecture is inspired by the ray. It will be able to accommodate 25,000 Mériens, researchers, scientists, students…
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“Sea Orbiter” is the project of my life. It will be the ISS of the sea
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This “blue economy”, this “blue gold” is a dream or a reality?
Barely ten years ago, few of us had a sensitive approach to the ecological question linked to the oceans and when we went to see industrial players to propose bold initiatives, research projects, they listened to us with a smile. polite, and that’s it. Today, the economic world has realized that this is a key issue. The blue economy is the growth sector of tomorrow. I see with happiness that a whole generation naturally possesses this sensitivity which was sorely lacking. Among them, the economic and political decision-makers of tomorrow.
But won’t the exploitation of underwater resources, even with good intentions, lead to repeating mistakes?
The ocean is a gigantic reservoir from which the renewable energies, food, pharmacology and biotechnologies of the future will flow. You have to explore it, but use specific operating methods because it is also an extremely fragile environment. When we talk, for example, of building cities on water, some imagine that we are going to pour concrete on coral. Of course it’s not about that! Villages or towns on the water will have to meet environmental requirements. These modes of reflection, of exploitation have been assimilated by the youngest. In a hundred years, the word “ecology” will be such an integrated notion that it won’t even be worth mentioning.
How do you see the world in fifty years: do you believe in a humanity that will live in harmony with nature?
I am a dreamer, but a pragmatic dreamer, who goes after his dreams. I understand the alarmist discourse but I am convinced that we are still at the dawn of humanity. It is the new technologies that will allow us to live a resilient future, in harmony with nature, because it is essential to rediscover the sacred bond that unites us. 3D printers will make it possible to build bio-inspired habitats, better adapted to climatic phenomena and living environments. Architects are already relying on these new technologies. For example, there are electrochromic materials for glass surfaces, which darken naturally in the sun and repel heat. Or very effective airgel insulators. Or low-carbon concrete that stores and releases heat. All these solutions, coupled with connected homes, will help regulate our energy consumption. I dream of seeing the development of this new biomimetic architecture, inspired by nature because it takes up major environmental and societal challenges. Some of the childish utopias of the 1970s, which were made fun of, are shaping up to be the solutions of the future.
Jacques Rougerie: “Thanks to technology, we will once again live in harmony with nature”