Archinect - News

Christo comes to London

2018-04-11T15:57:00-04:00

And now he’s going to float a 150-tonne sculpture on a lake on London. Is it an allegory of the west’s oil dependency, an indictment of how we’re polluting the planet, or both? Christo shakes his locks and smiles. “I have no reason to justify myself as an artist. I cannot explain my art. Everything I do professionally is irrational and useless.” This, he thinks, is exactly as it should be. “I make things that have no function – except maybe to make pleasure.”

Artist Christo chats about his new Mastaba sculpture coming to London this summer: a giant trapezoidal prism of 7,506 stacked steel barrels to float on the Serpentine Lake. It will be his first large artwork in Britain.

Christo, The Mastaba (Project for London, Hyde Park, Serpentine Lake), Collage 2017 Pencil, wax crayon, enamel paint, color photograph by Wolfgang Volz, technical data and tape on brown board, 21.5 x 28 cm, Private collection, Switzerland. Photo: André Grossmann © 2017 Christo

Plans for a much bigger Mastaba with 410,000 barrels outside of Abu Dhabi first appeared several years ago but were never realized.

The accompanying exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Barrels and The Mastaba (1958–2018) will be on view from June 19 through September 9 at the nearby Serpentine Gallery.

Carlo Ratti Associati designs a floating plaza at West Palm Beach letting visitors walk on (and beneath) water

2016-11-03T14:25:00-04:00

Using some of the same design techniques used for responsive air chambers in submarines, Carlo Ratti Associati has designed a floating plaza/mixed retail center that will float on and adapt to the water level depending on how many people are currently walking on it. The plaza, which is linked to land via a comprehensive masterplan on the coast of Lake Worth Lagoon, will also include housing (whose property values will hopefully never be underwater). The plaza will also feature "an organic restaurant with its own hydroponic cultivations," making it a potentially self-sustaining enterprise.

The inventive use of underwater vessel technology is, to director of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and founding partner Carlo Ratti, an entirely new way of conceiving architecture. Ratti describes his project as "carving" into the water. He goes on to say that “with this project, we aim to reclaim West Palm Beach’s connection to the natural elements that surroun...

Introducing Bjarke Ingels' floating student housing, "Urban Rigger"

2016-09-22T12:48:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels has found the elusive silver lining in global sea level rise and the European affordable housing crisis in the form of "Urban Rigger," a series of inexpensive student housing complexes that are designed to float in the sea, especially in those cities which have dense urban cores next to the waterfront. The idea here is to provide students with affordable digs that are close to class while simultaneously making the most out of changing climate conditions and post-industrial port repurposing. The first complete Urban Rigger has already been assembled in Copenhagen.

According to an article in FastCompany, "Each unit, which can house 12 students at once, is composed of modular shipping containers. These modules are powered by a photovoltaic array and use a heat-exchange system that draws upon the thermal mass of water to warm and cool the interiors. Meanwhile, an aerogel developed by NASA insulates the interiors."

For the latest on Bjarke Ingels:

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A Bobbing Forest will soon float in Rotterdam's harbor basin

2015-12-23T14:20:00-05:00

We all want our cities to be greener, but it is often quite hard to grow trees in a concrete environment. So, why not turn to waterfronts or lakes to place trees? Rotterdam will get its first ‘bobbing forest’ in 2016: a collection of twenty trees that are floating in the Rijnhaven, a downtown harbor basin. [...] After experimenting with a sample tree last year, an entire floating forest of twenty trees is scheduled to be ‘planted’ on March 16, 2016.

Related Archinect news:

Izmir's charming DIY floating docks

2015-02-13T14:15:00-05:00

For months, three architects would meet at the waterfront of Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city. [...] Eventually it came to them – if you really wanted to bring people in Izmir together, transform the waterfront. But the very idea was daunting: Turkey’s bureaucracy is infamous, and a large-scale project to redevelop the waterfront seemed impossible. So the friends [...] built eight floating docks out of plywood.

Think of sunnier days ahead with this floating "Walk-On" balcony

2015-02-11T15:07:00-05:00

On a regular office workday when the weather is fair, it can be hard to resist stepping outside to take a quick breather. The designers of Zalewski Architecture Group from Gliwice, Poland found themselves in a similar mindset as they looked out onto the dreary courtyard outside from their third-floor office. Then came the idea for the "Walk-on" balcony.

At only 80 cm wide, the narrow grassy pathway whirls and intertwines with itself while suspended in the air, latching itself to the walls of the surrounding buildings. It also features a polished metal palate underneath that mirrors its surroundings. Unless you're afraid of heights or are seeking a little adventure, the pathway "allows for a relaxing walk 'from office to office'" and adds some whimsical fun to the courtyard, as described by the designers.

With spring and summer outdoor events around the corner, the Zalewski Group's idea of the "Walk-on" balcony has potential to be fully realized into an interactive installation. From t...

Has Floating Architecture’s Moment Finally Arrived?

2014-10-01T20:23:00-04:00

In a quiet, shady street in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, Koen Olthuis and the design team at Waterstudio are changing the world. From this deceptively nondescript headquarters, Waterstudio is designing the cities of the future. If Olthuis has his way, they will be safer, more flexible and more resilient than current cities. How will he do this? Olthuis is designing floating cities.

The Badboot Lido Opens in Antwerp

2012-08-16T14:18:00-04:00

If you happen to be in Antwerp, Belgium this summer, make sure to check out "Badboot" [...], the world's largest floating open-air swimming pool, which opened this week. At an overall length of 120 meters (394 feet), the lido is capable of receiving up to 600 people at two event halls, a swimming pool and a restaurant with a lounge terrace, which are all open to the public.

Badboot Lido Coming to Antwerp this Summer

2012-05-01T18:15:00-04:00

One of the world’s biggest floating openair swimming pools will open on the Eilandje in Antwerp, Belgium at the Kattendijkdok in mid-August. The pool, with a total length of 120 meters (394 feet), can accommodate 600 people and consists of a swim basin, two event venues, several floors and a restaurant with a lounge terrace.

'Badboot' was designed by architect Pieter Peerlings and Silvia Mertens of Sculp(IT) Architecten, known for the narrowest house in Antwerp (remember this incredibly popular Archinect Showcase Feature?).

Winners of the 2011 DawnTown Miami Floating Stage Competition

2011-05-04T13:25:00-04:00

Five winners have just been announced at the 2011 edition of DawnTown Miami. The annual architecture ideas competition seeks to bring creative, innovative, and inspiring new solutions to Downtown Miami and to the City of Miami at large.

Now in its fourth year, DawnTown partnered with a local historic preservation group to help bring prominence to an early piece of Miami's modern architecture period. The competition invited designers to envision a complimenting structure to the Miami Marine Stadium, aiming to make it a great event space once again -- paired with a new Floating Stage.

Future Olympics: A Reusable, Floating Venue

2011-04-19T11:06:31-04:00

Inspired by artificial structures for marine environments, Burt developed a conceptual array of Olympic facilities, including a stadium, that could be transported along waterways and moored in major port cities.

Michael Burt, professor emeritus of architecture at Technion Israel Institute of Technology, has developed a proposal for a re-usable, floating venue to host Olympics events.