Tactical Sedimentation of Architectural Reef System: Designing a hybrid feedback system to create a positive relationship between humans & marine nonhumans

Coral reefs are dying at a rapid pace. Over 50% of the world’s coral reefs have died in the last 30 years and up to 90% are predicted to die within the next century. Warming waters, pollution, and human activities such as snorkeling and trampling are some of the causes of increased deaths within the ecosystem. New approaches to design of synthetic reef systems emerged aiding in the support of coral reef habitat restoration and marine growth. However, despite the success of many artificial reefs, these studies lack a larger scale ecological analysis to understand the dynamics of design frameworks in context of human-reef interaction, and the human-caused threat to this new ecosystem from their continuing anthropogenic activities. This thesis expands on the new analytical modeling methods that allows us to visualize and test eco-spatial phenomena within the dynamic systems and to better identify a design space for intervention. With a goal to mitigate the human-reef relationship this study investigates how we can design hybrid architectures with an artificial reef system for corals and humans. The main focus is on developing a method of modeling and analysis linked to ecological characterization of coral species and simulation sequence that allows us to make contact with and study these diverse underwater landscapes that aren't as easily accessible. The study begins with literature review focused on existing coral reef conditions on the site, Hanauma Bay, and analyzing various flood-able, cave, and land-building architecture precedents. Using methods of depth and texture-mapping, the coral reef topology on site is modeled through image transfer and further analyzed through a series of digital and physical experiments, to develop a workflow that allows reconstruction of underwater coral geometry. Focusing on identifying phenomena of fluid and sediment movements that act upon the site's coral reef, a simulation sequence proposes an overlay of CFD analysis with computational sand dune formation and physical experiment using a simulation sand and water table. Superimposition of these data sets reveals sedimentation patterns. It identifies shadow-like areas created by the coral form, fast- and slow-moving water, and areas of accumulated sediments. Last, using the gathered research and data, a series of potential design integrations of an artificial reef - parameters for an architectural system are being proposed for Hanauma Bay. The goal of this study is to create responsive architectures to a site-specific coral reef typology that could develop new methods of designing for these types of environments using computational ecology and architectural approaches of design and fabrication.