Aquario Ceará: Unveiling a Revolutionary Concept in Aquarium Design
A potential Architectural Marvel
This aquarium proposal was a monumental project that was going to redefine the design of public spaces of this type at the time. “Aquario Ceará” to be built in Fortaleza, was set to be the Southern Hemisphere’s largest and the world’s third-largest aquarium, emerging as an architectural marvel. The grandeur design with over 21,500m2 of floor area, provides space for 38 aquarium display tanks totaling 15 million liters of water and housing over 5,000 animals representing 500 different species.
This ambitious endeavor transcended traditional exhibits, promising an immersive experience blending education and entertainment.
The visionary concept is evident in its distinctive crustacean-inspired structure. Crafted to resemble an exoskeleton, the facade captures the imagination, signaling a departure from conventional designs.
“Aquario Ceará” was about to play when completed a pivotal role in Fortaleza’s strategic plan for international tourism. Traditionally catering to national tourists, Fortaleza was aiming to evolve into a global tourist hub, with the aquarium as a linchpin in this transformative journey, that is why the authorities engaged with a public aquarium architecture specialist as ICM Corp.
Anticipation and Beyond
The design for “Aquario Ceará” developed by International Concept Management (ICM), was greatly welcomed by authorities and our role was the cornerstone to the project’s success, ensuring every aspect aligned with the unique design and vision we offered to this design. Unfortunately, the project was stopped at the beginning of the construction phases and Brazil won’t be able to see any more this magical place which was one of its kind.
Back at this time, ICM was already starting the process of building all our BIM model projects in 3D to be able to properly design from all perspectives the aquatic wonders imagined by the design team. Such complicated and intricate packages as interior design, dry theming decorations, Aquatic Filtration Systems, or FRP items together with all the wet theming decorations were already being tested to develop further for our clients. Back then software was still quite basic but currently, we are still pioneering in the industry providing all our projects fully BIM 3D thanks to all these past tests and designed large-scale projects.
There will be more opportunities in the future, even if this chance was missed, there were a lot of learnings behind and some of these creative ideas and challenging problems resolved will help our team to confront with better tools the next client’s challenges and opportunities as we are always executing designs once deemed impossible.