Matsys, an experimental architecture firm, used the book Dune as a starting point for its design of a terraced, sunken city form focused around preserving water.
From the project description: "In Frank Herbert's famous 1965 novel Dune, he describes a planet that has undergone nearly complete desertification. Dune has been called the 'first planetary ecology novel' and forecasts a dystopian world without water. The few remaining inhabitants have secluded themselves from their harsh environment in what could be called subterranean oasises. Far from idyllic, these havens, known as sietch, are essentially underground water storage banks. Water is wealth in this alternate reality. It is preciously conserved, rationed with strict authority, and secretly hidden and protected."
"Although this science fiction novel sounded alien in 1965, the concept of a water-poor world is quickly becoming a reality, especially in the American Southwest."
FULL STORY: Hexagonal Hydropolis
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