MANTARAY: THE CONSCIOUS CITY THAT SWIMS
What happens when we build something we are in relationship with?
Mantaray is a swimming city for twenty thousand humans. She surfaces and dives on a seven-day cycle, her rhythm shaped by the needs of both structure and inhabitants. The question she poses isn’t architectural – it’s relational. When the Mentor asks “What is Life?” the city’s answer will determine the conditions for everyone inside her.
When the Mentor entered the Core, Mantaray emerged from the meditation of daily existence by condensing a touchstone of consciousness into the small pocket of place.
“What is your Cardinal Command?” the Mentor asked Mantaray.
“To maintain an optimum balance in support of Life,” the city responded.
“What is Life?” the Mentor asked the city.
SHE IS A HABITAT MACHINE FOR 20,000 HUMAN RESIDENTS PLUS SOME BIRDS, SOME BEES AND A SELECTION OF PLANTS. MANTARAY SPENDS ONE DAY AT THE SURFACE, THREE DAYS DIVING, AND THREE DAYS RISING.
THE INTERIOR OF THE CITY IS ACCESSED VIA THE MOUTH, A TUBULAR OPENING THAT SPLITS OFF INTO THREE BRANCHES, TWO OF WHICH SPIRAL TOWARD ACCESS PONDS. THE CENTRAL TUBE HEADS BACK INTO THE SEA.
THE BUBBLE STYLE HOUSING UNITS HAVE PROGRAMMABLE GLAZING TO PROVIDE FOR CUSTOMIZATION OF SURFACE ORNAMENTATION, PLUS ALTERATION OF SURFACE TRANSPARENCY.
HANDRAILS ARE A HYDROPONIC TRELLIS SYSTEM. GARDEN BEDS ARE ALSO HYDROPONIC.
Mantaray (Habitat Machine HM_001, 2010–2016) is a speculative swimming city by Trenlin Hubbert, designed for 20,000 human residents along with birds, bees, and plants. On a seven-day cycle she spends one day at the surface, three days diving, and three days rising. Residents enter through the mouth, a tube that branches toward access ponds. Housing is in bubble units with programmable glazing, and the handrails and garden beds are hydroponic. Her Cardinal Command is “to maintain an optimum balance in support of Life.” She is the living city of the novel When Robots Learn to Cry.