The project originates from a cartographic exploration of wrecks in the Brest harbor. These submerged objects, remnants of past activities, have proven to be genuine catalysts for biodiversity, acting as artificial reefs. Based on this observation, we oriented our reflection toward an architecture not intended for humans, but designed for marine organisms. The challenge was to conceive a structure responding simultaneously to biodiversity, territorial, and military logics.
Our intervention materializes as a new submerged territory, an artificial island 500 meters long acting as a breakwater to protect the military port of Lanvéoc. It develops along a grid aligned with existing landmarks and inscribes itself within the continuity of the site's naval dynamics. The island is neither accessible nor habitable by humans: it is designed as an active reserve, a refuge for marine species, promoting their settlement through its materiality and porosity.
The structure relies on the mineral accretion technique, inspired by Wolf Hilbertz's research. Using metallic fragments from decommissioned frigates, it progressively mineralizes through a low electrical current, creating a substrate conducive to organism attachment. This process, initiated artificially, then continues naturally.
The Lanvéoc shipyard becomes the operational center for research and production. It is expanded to accommodate a manufacturing hall, a place for module assembly and material research. Through its territorial dimension, the project engages Lanvéoc in a new temporality of naval reconversion that can go beyond the breakwater object produced for the navy, extending throughout the entire Brest harbor.
