Mechanical Nautilus Model Kit

The Creature

In the waters off New Caledonia and northeastern Australia lives the bellybutton nautilus. Its shell is left open at the centre, unlike those of its relatives. Through that exposed navel you can follow the inner coils spiralling inward, the animal's whole life of growth laid bare.

The Machine

Reimagined in metal, it becomes the Great Umbilical Nautilus, an autonomous explorer of the deep. It needs no pilot. Guided by its own intelligence and driven by powerful propulsion, it works the seabed for long stretches alone. Its sensitive mechanical arms reach for what a depleted world needs most: manganese nodules, oil and gas, hydrothermal deposits and methane hydrates.

In Your Hands

Built by you, piece by piece, it moves as if it were alive.