British artist Richart “Reishee” Sowa started building his ambitious artificial Island in 1998. Which was located in a lagoon near Puerto Aventuras, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico south of Cancún. He used plastic bottles along with plywood and bamboo for support. He poured sand on the plastic bottles and started growing plants and mangroves.

Sowa with his artificial island- Joyxee Island

Image Source: photoshelter.com

The island sported a two-story house, which had a solar oven and self-composting toilet. Sadly the island was destroyed by hurricane Emily in 2005.

Sowa couldn’t give up, he built another island in late 2007 and 2008, in the waters of Isla Mujeres near Cancun. The island was opened to the public in August, 2008.

Image Source: lifebuzz.com

Sowa has made weight lifts out of water bottles, and sources reveal that he likes to work out every day.

The new island has three beaches, a house, two ponds, a solar-powered waterfall and river, a wave-powered washing machine and solar panels. Volunteers helped with the project. Sowa will continue to make improvements to the Island, so it will always be a work of art in progress.

Sowa explaining the functioning of ‘self-composting’ toilet.

His house on the artificial island has a fully functional faucet, and guess what?

Yeah! A shower too. Though Sowa is conscious of being eco-friendly he has shown that you can be aesthetically pleasing as well.

The residence has an Air-conditioning that functions from solar power.

If you had a close encounter with this guy or take a look at the multiple videos of him on YouTube, you’d think him to be cuckoo. Which reminds us, “… the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Let’s take a visual tour of the island.

Curated by a Building Expert from Wienerberger India

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