Isle of Lunar-Sea

Amidst proposals for the construction of a 1,700ha artificial island within Hong Kong’s archipelago, Isle of Lunar-Sea offers alternatives to the city’s longstanding reclamation methods. The project proposes construction of a floating city for marginalised locals, including dwindling indigenous Tanka boat-dwellers, the 200,000+ invisible residents of subdivided flats and the sole inhabitant of Sunshine Island at the reclamation plan’s centre.

The city’s model masterplan establishes reconnections to HK’s broader marine surroundings and its role as a traditional refuge. Linkages to lunisolar dates, tidal change, and maritime geography form the basis of the city’s comprising architectures, both floating and stilted. Enabled by the sea’s flexibility, inhabitation of the city remains ever-changing around the dominant spatial organizations, suiting seasonal and future climates. The founding settlement begins in elevated intertidal residences on Sunshine Island, later expanding over shallow marine terrace depths with an artificial typhoon shelter composed of anchored sediment nets. Tide-operated residences straddle this whilst productive cultural rafts inhabit the interior. Over deeper waters, rows of floating housing modules and productive community centres border a canal-like waterway. Outside these, tidal markets dot the site as guiding waypoints, whilst grids of floating walkways expand from residences, supporting a productive landscape of free-roaming cultural modules.