What if Greenland was Africa's Water Fountain?

Due to global warming, Greenland is melting.

In 2004, the Danish Architecture Center organized an exhibition on future visions for how designers could help transform the country. As part of the Too Perfect: Seven New Denmarks exhibition, Greenland, a self-governing province of Denmark, was envisioned as a water fountain for Africa.

The Greenland vision, part of the Too Perfect exhibition, opened at the PowerPlant in Toronto in 2004 and traveled to Denmark and Venice.

This is the vision for the Greenland ‘pragmatic utopia’...

1. Stop the Flood

Greenland is melting as its ice cap retreats inland, driven by global warming. Tons of fresh water are pouring into the North Atlantic, displacing the dense salt water that drives ocean circulation. The fresher the ocean gets, the more threatened are the currents that keep Europe warm. Stop the flood and make the melt water an economic enabler of Greenland’s independence. Stop the flood and turn it into a solution for water-stressed Africa.

Cascading moulins.

2. Turn Meltwater Into Money

Others are making profits while Greenland melts. Every spring, icebergs from Greenland parade south, past the coast of Newfoundland. The same people who used to fish now harvest icebergs from a floating barge, using a grapple crane to break off chunks of ice. The iceberg water is used for free by the Canadian Iceberg Vodka Corporation to produce Iceberg Vodka (right).

3. Expand the Economy

Greenland’s economy is dependent, in equal measure, on financial support from the Danish Government and exports of fish. Mostly shrimp (above). But with billions of litres of water flowing into the sea, opportunity knocks (below). Harvest only 34% of Greenland’s icebergs to match the total worldwide bottled water production of 89 billion litres a year. Try controlling 1% of the bottled water market. Selling each bottle of iceberg water at 2 euros produces an additional income of 62,000 euros per capita.

4. Become a New Greenland

The flag of Greenland is white and red (above). White symbolizes the ice and snow, red the sun. The proposed New Greenland flag (below) symbolizes water, the new source of wealth and the economic enabler of political independence. Bottling water presents Greenland with a strategy to become a wealthy new nation.

5. Distribute the Wealth

The world is divided into water rich and water poor. With 20% of the world’s fresh water (left)and only 57,000 citizens, Greenland is one of the water richest. With 11% of the world’s fresh water and 700,000,000 people, Africa (right) is the water poorest. Show the world responsible stewardship of water wealth. Every year 189.3 billion litres of melt water flow into the sea. Harvest the melt water. Send it to Africa.

(G) left;(H) right.

6. Develop the Big Ideas

Using the ocean to transport bulk water is an industry in its infancy, but evidence of experiments and new technologies abound. The Medusa Bag is a giant bag designed in 1988 by James Cran of Calgary, Alberta to meet the anticipated requirement for large scale water imports to California as well as to Israel, Jordan and Palestine. It can carry 100,000 m³ of bulk water. The Norwegian Shipping Company used a similar bag to transport water in Scandinavia.

7. Relieve the Water Stress

Millions are dying every year in Africa from water related diseases. Just above the equator, on the west coast of Africa, Porto Novo is a gateway to nine African countries. The New Greenland Bag Water Plan envisions a train of five Medusa bags embarking daily to deliver 189.3 billion litres of water per year to those countries. That would mean four litres of water per day, every day of the year, for 129 million people.

8. Piggyback

Transport water with local know-how and existing distribution methods. Piggyback on common forms of transportation and humanitarian efforts such as the Peace Corps to build infrastructure. Carry the water where it’s needed with human motivation plus the latest liberating inventions, such as the hand-held relative of the steamroller, the Hippo Roller. Hitch a ride with Coca-Cola, the biggest distribution network on the African continent—it’s a powerful and pragmatic possibility.

What if Greenland was Africa's Water Fountain?

In 2004, the Danish Architecture Center organized an exhibition on future visions for how designers could help transform the country. As part of the Too Perfect: Seven New Denmarks exhibition, Greenland, a self-governing province of Denmark, was envisioned as a water fountain for Africa.

This is the vision for the Greenland ‘pragmatic utopia’...

1. Stop the Flood

2. Turn Meltwater Into Money

3. Expand the Economy

4. Become a New Greenland

5. Distribute the Wealth

6. Develop the Big Ideas

7. Relieve the Water Stress

8. Piggyback

The project was developed by Bruce Mau Design and Work Worth Doing

To learn more, please visit:
http://www.dac.dk
http://www.brucemaudesign.com
http://www.workworthdoing.com

What if Greenland was Africa's Water Fountain?

In 2004, the Danish Architecture Center organized an exhibition on future visions for how designers could help transform the country. As part of the Too Perfect: Seven New Denmarks exhibition, Greenland, a self-governing province of Denmark, was envisioned as a water fountain for Africa.

This is the vision for the Greenland ‘pragmatic utopia’...

1. Stop the Flood

2. Turn Meltwater Into Money

3. Expand the Economy

4. Become a New Greenland

5. Distribute the Wealth

6. Develop the Big Ideas

7. Relieve the Water Stress

8. Piggyback

The project was developed by Bruce Mau Design and Work Worth Doing

To learn more, please visit:http://www.dac.dkhttp://www.brucemaudesign.comhttp://www.workworthdoing.com

To learn more, please visit:
http://www.dac.dk
http://www.brucemaudesign.com
http://www.workworthdoing.com