XTU architects presents ‘x_lands’, the concept looking at life after oil, and what to do with all the offshore platforms that have been built in the last century to drill for the earth’s natural resources. 

A historical appetite for these fossil fuels has had a remarkable impact on the natural environment. As the hunger for oil comes to an end and countries look toward utilising renewable and greener sources, XTU Architects proposes to challenge the representations of the oil companies, known as the offshore platform.

With their vast scale, oil rigs have an interesting potential for variation. This project imagines the industrial monoliths transformed into expressive, liveable and exotic projects, or in other words ‘x_lands’. 

Imagined as bubbles or containers of housing, each proposal adds lush greenery to the industrial structures, bringing a much-needed human and natural touch to the rigs. 

“Envisioned as a ‘sustainable path for tomorrow’, the project by XTU architects aims to mark a change of paradigms,” according to designboom.