The Petropolis of Tomorrow

Neeraj Bhatia launches a digital platform in which we can follow the progress of his design and research project:

The Petropolis of Tomorrow is a design and research project, which examines new Petropolises — cities formed from resource extraction — associated with offshore oil extraction in South America. To date, infrastructure tied to natural resource extraction has rarely been designed using long-term, holistic planning. Despite the growing logistical landscape dedicated to oil extraction, little design effort has been afforded to engaging and empowering the unique social, cultural, environmental, and economic challenges which face these new communities. The Petropolis of Tomorrow is a multidisciplinary project undertaken in collaboration with The South American Project (SAP), Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Rice University’s School of Architecture, and Cornell University’s Department of Architecture. Its aim is to provide new templates for architecture, urbanism and infrastructural design tied to resource extraction that privileges a systemic symbiosis between economic, political, environmental and social systems.