SUPERFLEX: Super Reef a New Kind of Urbanism

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Sometimes, the best way to care for other species is to collaborate with them on new projects. In that spirit, SUPERFLEX is working on a master plan to build at least 55 km2 of reef along the coast of Denmark. Super Reef is a large-scale collective undertaking involving scientists, fish, marine biologists, policy makers, local communities, and seagrasses. Together we can increase biodiversity, clean the air, boost the fish population, make art, and imagine forms of symbiotic living.

Over the last century, Denmark has lost huge areas of stone reef. Humans have extracted tons of stone for construction and coastal protection, decreasing biodiversity and leaving parts of the seabed as empty as a desert. Reefs are crucial partners in a flourishing world: not only do coastal ecosystems help prevent erosion, they have the potential to remove carbon dioxide from the air even more efficiently than terrestrial forests.

Because underwater creatures like variety, just as humans do, Super Reef will be constructed from a range of materials, from repurposed stones to specially-designed fish-friendly pink bricks. Acknowledging the importance of an interspecies perspective, SUPERFLEX is including marine life in both scientific and aesthetic decisions. Perhaps algae can tell us what they want, if only we learned to listen.

Humans built our cities with material taken from the ocean, and now we are developing a sculptural infrastructure to build cities for fish. Super Reef is a new kind of urbanism, premised on an expanded notion of collaboration and knowledge-sharing: between humans as well as between species. 

Super Reef is a project derived from the Deep Sea Minding research which was originally supported by TBA21-Academy.