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The Seasteading Institute (TSI) is a non-profit organization looking for creative and talented designers to construct a seastead using 3-D modeling software. A seastead is a floating platform that allows people to permanently settle the ocean as they do land.

Professional naval engineers have already designed a bare platform -- a structure about 400x400 feet, roughly the size of a city block.  What you build on the platform is up to you.  It may be a hospital, a casino, a residential community, a cricket stadium, or something entirely different.  Be creative!

With inspiring seastead designs, we can capture peoples' imaginations and encourage others to get involved. Winning designs will be featured on the TSI website, in our press materials (we’ve already been featured in Wired, on Slashdot and CNN), and on our merchandise.     

A picture says a thousand words. As the major architectural blog BLDGBLOG points out, this is an opportunity for deeply meaningful design work with profound implications! With this in mind, think big and create a seastead that draws attention through its beauty and energy. Make people look twice and draw them in to the world of seasteading.

Prizes

The following prizes will be awarded:

• $1,000 Grand Prize to the best overall design.
• $250 Prize for Aesthetic Design to the model that is the most visually appealing and enticing.
• $250 Prize for Personality to the design that creates the best sense of human influence or presence (people walking, smoke coming out of a chimney, a colorful sign in front of a business, etc.)
• $250 Prize for Best Picture to the best-looking still image of a seastead model.
• $250 Prize for Community Choice will go to the design that garners the most votes in a public poll.

In addition, all five winners will: 

• Receive free admission to the Seasteading '09 conference in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Get a free Seahorse membership for TSI's membership program.
• Get a piece of merchandise of the winner's choosing with his/her own seastead on it!

Five runners-up will also be rewarded for their valuable contribution with a free Seahorse membership for TSI's membership program and a TSI t-shirt.

How to Participate

Enter the contest in five easy steps!

1. Obtain 3-D modeling software of your choice. We recommend Google SketchUp. It is free, easy to learn, and available for both Windows and OS X.
2. Download the model of the bare platform structure TSI is providing: SketchUp format / 3DS format / Blender format / AutoCAD format
3. Build your own seastead on top of the provided platform model.
4. Create 3-5 still images of your design.
5. Send the 3-5 images together with the 3-D source file (a ".skp" file if you're using SketchUp) to contests@seasteading.org. Include a statement saying that you agree that your submitted content is under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

The submission deadline is May 1st, 2009.

Official Rules

Design 

The design of the base platform creates some constraints on the type of structures that can be built on it.  The only constraints relevant to this contest are listed here.  Entries which do not conform to these constraints will not be accepted.

• Designs must constrain all load-bearing parts of any buildings to be on top of the elevated trusses. It is acceptable for some pieces of the structure to extend over the edges of the trusses, as long as all of their weight is distributed to the trusses. The trusses are very obvious, and are in the shape of a large "#" symbol on the platform surface.  
• The structure must be no higher than approximately 130 feet above the square platform in order to keep the center of gravity low enough to ensure stability.
• For an example of a structure that meets these requirements, see the sample design from the engineering firm who designed the platform.
• Minor alterations to the platform are acceptable if they are cosmetic in nature and do not change the platform's structural characteristics.  An example of a change like this in the sample design is how the suspension cables connect to convex, vertical beams which in turn attach to the four support pillars, rather than having the suspension cables attach directly to the four support pillars themselves.
• For more technical information on the base platform, see the Clubstead page. Clubstead is based on the platform used for this contest.

Submissions

• Submissions must be received by contests@seasteading.org by 11:59pm Pacific Time on May 1st, 2009.
• Submissions must include a 3-D source file of the seastead design, and 3-5 still images of the seastead design from varying angles.
• You may participate in the contest with more than one seastead model only if the models are completely different.  Mere variations on the same model will be considered a single entry to the contest.

Judging Criteria

• The winners of the Grand Prize, Aesthetic Design, and Personality categories will be determined by the judges' evaluation of the 3-D model alone.  Still images will not be considered.
• The winner of the Best Picture category will be determined by the judges' evaluation of the still images alone.  The 3-D model will not be considered.
• The winner of the Community Choice category will be determined by the results of a public poll showcasing both the 3-D models and still images.
• The winner of the Grand Prize category is ineligible to win any other category.
• The winners of the Aesthetic Design, Personality, and Best Picture categories are ineligible to win any other category except Community Choice. 
• Winners will be chosen for categories in the following order:  Grand Prize, Best Picture, Aesthetic Design, Personality, and Community Choice.

Software

• We recommend the use of Google SketchUp for modeling the seastead, as this will make it easiest for future community members to build on your work.  However, you are welcome to use other applications such as Blender, Maya, or 3D Studio. If possible, please submit your source file in a common format that SketchUp or Blender can read, such as .skp or .3ds.
• TSI's platform design is provided in SketchUp, 3DS, Blender, and AutoCAD format. If you wish to use an application which does not support these formats, you must rebuild the platform yourself in your application based on the provided design.
• The still images may be generated using SketchUp.  However, you may also use another rendering system (such as Kerkythea) or edit the image with any image manipulation software (such as Photoshop). 

Licensing

• You may use others' models as part of your seastead as long as their licenses permit doing so. For instance, all content in the Google 3D Warehouse can be downloaded and used.
• All entries must be submitted under the Creative Commons Attribution license. Among other things, this means that TSI (or others) may use or modify your model, but they must give you credit for your work.
  

We look forward to seeing how you envision the most exciting floating structures on the planet. Happy modeling!

Contest FAQ

This section will be expanded continuously as we receive questions at contests@seasteading.org. To be notified of updates, join the mailing list.

The prizes are way too small. I want more money!
We are a non-profit organization working on a thin budget, trying to make the world a better place. We know that the prizes are not a lot compared to the amount of work involved. Our goal with the prize amounts is to provide an incentive (which we can afford) for people to contribute their time and talent to a good cause. Plus, you get the chance to design something quite unusual along the way. If we could afford to offer $10,000, we absolutely would!

Why do you require the source file to be submitted?
We expect to use the source model for various purposes. Examples could be for virtual tours and in larger city models consisting of multiple platforms.

If you have any further questions, please contact contests@seasteading.org.