In future homes, life is a solar coaster

New project is aimed at climate-vulnerable families

- BY HAYLEY CHAMBERLAIN

A STRIKING new architectural concept designed to generate electricity, harvest rainwater and cool homes could offer a lifeline to some of the world's most climate-vulnerable island communities.

Dubbed Fiji Solar Crown, the project has been unveiled as the world's first solar-integrated living system designed specifically for that island - one of the most climate-vulnerable nations on earth.

The concept combines futuristic architecture with cutting-edge solar engineering to create self-sustaining homes, resorts and community spaces powered entirely by the sun and rain.

The system has been designed by MASK Architects, working in technological and engineering partnership with Italian firm TesserianTech, and is aimed at remote island communities that currently rely on unstable power grids, expensive diesel generators and fragile water supplies.

With Fiji's geography spread across hundreds of islands, many villages are left without consistent electricity for lighting, healthcare, communications or refrigeration, while seasonal droughts and saltwater intrusion are putting freshwater sources under severe pressure.