Jason deCaires Taylor is a British sculptor who put a coral greenhouse underwater on the seafloor bed off Australia's coast to rehabilitate the Great Barrier Reef and serve as a habitat and shelter by various marine life. It was to be part of the Museum of Underwater Art.
This Coral Greenhouse is located at Great Barrier Reef Marine Park on John Brewer Reef, 50 miles away from the coastal city of Townsville in Queensland. It has been placed in the natural reef's inlet and is made of steel and concrete, containing various sculptures of people and trees. It is not made of glass as typical greenhouses are. Instead, water takes up the entire space. It has ribs and spires connected to zinc anodes at the roof apex.
DeCaires Taylor made sculptures of gardening tools with workbenches within the sunken pavilion. Each of them was designed to serve as a refuge and hiding place for various wildlife species. There, small fishes can elude predators within the gaps in between the gridded elements. There are also hiding places designed for sea urchins and octopi. Above the greenhouse beams, DeCaires Taylor designed the area for fishes to feed and congregate in the shoals.
The entire structure weighs 165 tons, with its skeletal frame anchored firmly to the sand at the sea bottom by the heavy base with integrated tethers. This will protect the greenhouse from being disturbed and dislodged by storms. The greenhouse's triangular design is intended to give it a low center of gravity.
According to DeCaires Taylor, the greenhouse was designed to be biomorphic. Nature's forces have determined the form it took. He adds that once it is gradually colonized by the denizens of the sea and added upon by the reef itself, it will slowly be absorbed by the natural environment.
The materials that DeCaires Taylor used include pH-neutral concrete, zinc, and stainless steel because these will encourage the growth of the coral within and all over its structure. There have been planters placed with actual corals that were propagated and which surrounds the greenhouse.
Snorkelers and divers can go to the artistic sculpture by swimming to it and gaining access to the three points of entrance to its sunken pavilion. Each end is featured with gaps two meters wide, featuring an arched entranceway situated at its center. It is also possible for visitors to rest within the greenhouse to observe its various artworks as well as the wildlife swimming within and around it.
The tree sculptures were modeled by DeCaires Taylor on Australian species of trees and plants, such as umbrella palm and eucalyptus. There are also sculptures made of children variously engaged in conversation and scientific activities. They were modeled from real children in schools all over the world.
The sculptor explains that the children are studying and tending to the planted cuttings of coral, and are thus tending their own future by creating a new relationship with marine life, one that sees it as a fragile and precious world that needs protection. This Coral Greenhouse intends to provide education regarding the importance of the Great Barrier Reef. This is the largest organic structure now under threat from climate change.
With it, DeCaires Taylor hopes to inspire conservation action, improve education, and provide an opportunity for action-based research and learning.
DeCaires Taylor also made a four-meter illuminated girl sculpture with a shell Townsville's waterfront. It is known as the Ocean Siren, modeled from indigenous Wilgirikaba girl Takoda Johnson.
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