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Louis Kahn's floating music barge is saved, finds home in Philadelphia

2020-12-07T12:27:00-05:00

The Point Counterpoint II, a boat designed by Louis Kahn for musical conductor and longtime friend Robert Boudreau, will dock permanently in Philadelphia after it was recently saved from the scrapyard. Yo-Yo Ma, the renowned cellist, made a plea in 2017 to save the vessel from destruction that resulted in a ripple of interest to preserve Kahn and Boudreau's creation.

Previously on Archinect: Louis Kahn's floating concert hall, Point Counterpoint II, is facing demolition, and Yo-Yo Ma wants it saved. Point Counterpoint II, Photo by josepha on Flickr

According to Architectural Record, a group including architect Lee Skolnick launched a successful effort late 2019 to salvage the ship. Due to open in 2022, the ship's interior will be refurbished before it serves as "the key musical component" of a new arts and culture hub in development at the abandoned Delaware Power Station in Philadelphia.

Philip Kennicott's plea for Washington D.C. to save Louis Kahn's floating concert hall

2017-08-24T14:25:00-04:00

The boat belongs in Washington, a city both blessed and socially determined by its rivers....Many of the most dramatic and some of the most exciting changes in Washington today are clustered along its rivers. The most visible transformation is the District Wharf development,...but projects like the 11th Street Bridge Park....transcend mere commercial development, and underscore the myriad possibilities of using the river as a means of connection, social equity and public discourse.

The saga to save the Louis Kahn-designed floating concert hall, Point Counterpoint II, continues. It all began back in mid-July when Yo-Yo Ma made a plea in The New York Review of Books to salvage the barge facing demolition on account of the fact that the owners—Robert Boudreau, whom doubles as the orchestra's conductor, and wife Kathleen—are ready to retire their duties as the boat's caretakers.

Both city officials and activists in the Hudson River town of Kingston, New York have expressed interest in acquiring the ship; they were expected to meet with Boudreau on August 4th to discuss the possibility. While the Mayor, Steve Noble, has agreed to offer his support, raising the funds for the purchasing and transport of the $2 million dollar vessel, that might now be going for as much as $4 mill, poses a problem for the city. Further, the competition is apparently stiff as there has been interest expressed in Buffalo, France, and Italy among others.

One of those places vying for th...

After Yo-Yo Ma's plea, Point Counterpoint II, Louis Kahn floating concert hall, may be saved after all

2017-07-19T14:14:00-04:00

Officials and activists in the Hudson River town of Kingston, N.Y., plan to meet with the boat's owner Aug. 4 to discuss the possibility of transporting the vessel there from its current berth on the Illinois River in Ottawa, Ill. Late last month, musicians performed aboard the boat in the town, some 80 miles southwest of Chicago.

Last week Archinect reported that Yo-Yo Ma sent a letter out through the New York Review of Books in an attempt to save the floating concert hall, designed by Louis Kahn, from demolition. The famed cellist pleaded: "At a time when our national conversation is so often focused on division, we can ill afford to condemn to the scrap heap such a vibrant ambassador for our national unity, so I humbly ask that your readers join Robert and me in finding a new home for Point Counterpoint II." After five decades of running the barge, the owners, Robert Boudreau and wife Kathleen, have decided to retire their duties as caretakers and have been struggling to find a new proprietor for the ship. However, with a little help from Yo-Yo Ma, they may have found the vessel a new home in Kingston, NY.

Reportedly, Hutton Brickyards is being considered as the floating venue's new home. The former industrial site that supplied bricks to New York City up until the 80s was acquired by California-based deve...

Louis Kahn's floating concert hall, Point Counterpoint II, is facing demolition, and Yo-Yo Ma wants it saved

2017-07-13T16:02:00-04:00

Anchoring in large cities and small towns, in busy shipping lanes and at public parks, the barge opens like a clamshell to reveal a glittering concert stage. Audiences on shore delight in the music, much of it specially composed for Maestro Boudreau and his American Wind Symphony Orchestra

Louis Kahn was commissioned to design Point Counterpoint II, a unique floating concert hall, by conductor Robert Austin Boudreau in the mid 1960s. Launched in 1976, the 195-foot structure carried an orchestra up and down America's waterways for five decades. Robert Boudreau and his wife, Kathleen, have recently decided that they cannot keep running the barge. At the conclusion of the Orchestra's 2017 tour, it will be broken down to scrap in a Louisiana shipyard—despite the owner's best efforts to find a new guardian for the unique, mobile cultural institution.

Drawing of Point Counterpoint II, by Louis Kahn

Point Counterpoint II, Photo courtesy of American Wind Symphony Orchestra

Point Counterpoint II, Photo by josepha on Flickr

Point Counterpoint II, Photo courtesy of American Wind Symphony Orchestra

Yo-Yo Ma, a French-born Chinese American cellist, recently wrote about his admiration for Point Counterpoint II, i...