The New Babel envisions a future shaped by Arctic collapse—where sea levels rise by 67 meters, glaciers vanish, and polar bears, seals, seabirds, and algae lose their ground. As the Earth warms, we are reminded of the Tower of Babel: a myth about human ambition and the desire to reach beyond natural limits. Like the tower, our pursuit of power—through fossil fuel consumption, extraction, and unchecked expansion—leads not to unity, but to collapse. The melting of the Arctic is the consequence of that ambition.
But what if we reimagined Babel not as a monument to dominance, but as a system of survival? The New Babel becomes a floating archipelago of artificial ice shelters, each inspired by ARCSTAR’s technology that grows crystalline ice from ocean water. While each shelter is designed primarily for a single species—polar bears, seals, algae—it is porous and adaptable, allowing for the coexistence of other lifeforms. Together, these drifting units form a horizontal, modular, and resilient network.
This new Babel does not ascend in arrogance—it drifts in empathy. It does not divide life—it holds it. Where land ends, life continues. The New Babel is a shared architecture of repair, refuge, and planetary shelter.
