Mando Xie imagines humanity moving into ship-like floating cities covered with trees to escape rising sea levels in this proposal, which is a finalist in Dezeen's Redesign the World competition powered by Twinmotion.

Xie imagines converting aircraft carriers to create the floating cities in his proposal, which is called Titan Art 2100.

Almost half of the surface of each city would be covered with trees to provide food and a pleasant, shaded park-like environment for citizens. A freshwater lake at the centre of the park would supply people with clean water.

A fleet of fishing vessels would accompany the Titan Ark to provide a protein-rich source of food, with LED lights along the hull designed to attract more plentiful fish.

Read more about the proposal below.

Titan Ark 2100
Mando Xie
Changsha, China
Finalist

"For the Redesign the World competition, I propose a future marine life for humanity.

"According to research, rising sea levels may lead to the displacement of up to 4.2 million Americans in the next 100 years.  A floating city could help people to continue to live safely at sea.

"The name of my proposal is Titan Ark. The idea for the design comes from large oil drilling platforms. I envision a moving platform that can sail to continue human civilization.

"The design is composed of two abandoned aircraft carriers. All infrastructure and homes are composed of light, prefabricated structures, with separate living areas and leisure areas. I think this is the best solution to deal with future disasters.

"Each Titan Ark is accompanied by more than ten fishing boats, which provide a source of staple food. The hull is equipped with LED lights, which can simulate moonlight at night to gather fish close by.

"Forty-five per cent of the deck area is dedicated to greenery. In the future, there will be good soilless cultivation methods. Trees will be able to grow larger, with thicker leaves, and can produce fruits in different seasons. Titan Ark is also equipped with small farms for agriculture.

"A large lake in the park can be used as a freshwater reservoir to meet people's needs for clean water."

Redesign the World

Redesign the World is the ultimate design competition, which called for new ideas to rethink planet Earth to ensure that it remains habitable long into the future.

Launched in partnership with Epic Games, the contest asked entrants to visualise their concepts using architectural visualisation software Twinmotion.

The contest received over 100 entries from more than 30 different countries around the world.

These were assessed by a judging panel comprising White Arkitekter CEO Alexandra Hagen, structural engineer Hanif Kara, speculative architect Liam Young, Twinmotion product marketing manager Belinda Ercan and Dezeen founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs, which selected 15 proposals as finalists to be published on Dezeen.

We are unveiling one finalist a day throughout our Dezeen 15 festival, culminating in the winner being announced on 19 November.

The winner will receive the top prize of £5,000. There are also prizes of £2,500 for second place, £1,000 for third place and £500 each for the remaining finalists.

Find out more about Redesign the World ›
See all the finalists revealed so far ›