Picture:^ “Project Umbrella”, winner of the 2013 eVolo
competition, by Derek Pirozzi. The Polar Umbrella’s
buoyant superstructure houses de-salinisation and power
facilities, enabling a relatively comfortable all-year round
research life for scientists working in the Arctic. They
would live on a floating metropolis equipped with research
laboratories, solar power stations, dormitory-style housing
units, and ecological pods for wildlife study. A series of
these structures would be strategically located around the
Arctic. They would offer the ability for scientists to: try to
understand what is really happening in that region;
determine what the mineral and resource potentials really
are; help protect against national territorial expansion in
the Arctic; and possibly also in time these giant “ice-
scrapers” could also become some sort of eco-tourist
attractions.
Salt water is used to produce a renewable source of
energy through an osmotic ("salinity gradient power")
power facility housed within the core. The umbrella’s
thermal skin has a polyethylene piping system that pumps
brackish water. In addition, the structure’s immense
canopy allows for the reduction of heat gain on the Arctic
surface while also harvesting solar energy.