Aquatic Research

So I've kind of taken the route of trying to boil down aquatic plant life and derive my buliding concepts for this quarter from the various methods they've used to survive for the past thousands of years.

The most interesting picture for me was the ribbed underside of the giant water lily which in affect trapped air in multiple crevaces and organized small subcompartments in between rigit walls. I thought it was an ingenious system that can be transformed into an architectural language.

My reserach has driven me to some general facts about aquatic plant life that id like to organize here:

1. aquatic plants dont require the thick waxy outer flim (cuticle) that plants require since they are in constant contact with water, losing water isnt that much of an issue, therefore thier skins are more fluid and they are usually less rigid plants in general

2. water plants in general can afford to have a more permiable leaf system with more and more stomata since (again) they dont have to worry about dehydration constantly.

3. the purpose for large flat leaves is to distribute the weight of the plant for floatation. (I'm starting to think of a system or network of units that come together as a whole.)

4. the plants usually stay afloat by having air embedded into thier leaves or by actual pockets of air that they grow called aerenchyma


here an example of the ribbed underside of a water lily that traps air and spreads the weight:
























i think that this language can be reduced to verticle elements and a skin above that they hold in place. i think theres quite a bit of potential.