Colombian architect designs islands made of recycled materials for Bering Strait

An international ideas competition, open to architects and architecture students worldwide, was launched in February by the Foundation for Peace and Unification. This competition was for the conception of a peace park linking the two Diomede islands, situated in the middle of the Bering Strait, to unite the Eurasian and American continents through a pertinent architectural symbol. The Bering Strait is a seaway between Cape Prince of Wales of the United States and Cape Dezhnev of Russia and a gate between Pacific Ocean and Arctic Ocean.

Projects were also required to propose an idea for the method and technique to be employed to connect the two continents in this particularly sensitive environment. The competition offered a total prize fund of 200 000€. 135 projects (71 from professionals and 64 from students) were submitted to the international jury. Chaired by Sungjung Chough, architect (Republic of Korea) the jury was composed of Moongyu Choi, architect (Republic of Korea), Joel Sanders, architect (USA), Luciano Lazzari, architect, Italy, representing UIA and Andrei Kaftanov, architect (Russian Federation).

Two alternative responses to the ecological and technological dilemmas posed in the competition: visionary infrastructures and ephemeral structures were identified by the jury. Both of these, the jury identified, were present in the winning design.

Colombian architect Julian Restrepo carried off the first prize. The team, comprised of Julian Restrepo, Pablo Forero, Manuela Mosquera, Tomas Jaramillo (Colombia) and Susana Somoza (Venezuela), was unanimously voted first prize by the jury for the project entitled “Diomede Archipelago“. It proposes the creation of a naturalistic series of islands made of recycled material dredged from the sea that form twin archipelagos extending the two continents. At their intersection, a tunnel links the two Diomede islands and pedestrians, other vehicles and high speed trains can pass through. The jury applauded the scheme for 'blurring the boundaries between the natural and man-made' and for extending the profile of the two continents.