Ideas behind the design for Cousteau's lab

JACQUES-YVES COUSTEAU:
"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free."

The design for the lab was inspired by this quote. 'Gravity' and 'weight' were the 2 words which dictated the whole design. It can be seen from the images that the top portion of the lab has 3 canti-levered rooms which hang, as if in mid-air. Heavier structures are placed on top and the lower portion has thin wall-like slabs of concrete which support the greater weight on top, in contrast to common practice. This was inspired by the words "man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders" from the quote. Within the interior of the lab, there is a gap left in the middle intentionally to break space. Enough space is left around it for walking safely but if somebody is not careful and moves too close towards the surface then that person will fall and sink below, becoming free of the built environment around him. This idea tries to demonstrate the notion that "man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free".