ARQUITETURA FLUTUANTE

O panorama mundial vem se modificando de acordo com o desenvolvimento da sociedade. O grande crescimento populacional e a procura por novos locais para moradia levaram o homem a elaborar alternativas adaptativas em ambientes não antes considerados, como rios, lagos e mares.

Os problemas ambientais – aquecimento global, por exemplo – se agravaram devido ao aumento da agressão humana ao meio ambiente. Para isso, a tecnologia tem sido desenvolvida e utilizada a fim de criar alternativas de ocupação no meio aquático. Já são muitos os exemplos de projetos construtivos flutuantes, como hotéis, restaurantes, residências, estacionamentos, portos e até mesmo cidades.

Source:  Curso de Arquitetura e Urbanismo Disciplina: Professor Anderson Claro

WHY yacht

 WHY goal : a better yacht

Revolutionary concept of the moving island is developed with latest and most advanced sustainable technologies, recycling thermal energy, as well as any organic and inorganic waste. The architecture of the whole project fits perfectly into the environment – there are no excesses, nothing is suiperficious, the impact on the sea is minimum.

A new unique way of living.

Source:  http://www.why-yachts.com/

Floating Gardens / Studio Noach + Holtrop

In five days, a new type of spa exhibition will be on display during the “Architecture of Consequence” in the Netherlands.   Studio Noach, along with  Anne Holtrop, developed a floating spa that seems to be a “construction of a landscape”, an extension of the land into the water to create a serene environment.   Using recycled polystyrene and Patrick Blanc’s “living wall” ideas, the architecture of the spa makes the walls and ceilings the outer for hills and valleys while the interior follows the counter form of the landscape.

The composite GreenRexwall ™, developed in collaboration with the German constructor Aquahouse GmbH, is  a strong and constructive material such that cement, steel and bricks are no longer needed.  The vegetated walls and roof become a breeding ground for birds, butterflies and insects plus the innovative technical installations provide big energy savings. The surrounding water acts as a heat exchanger and cooling source, making the spa up to 70% more efficient than using conventional energy systems.

Source:  Karen Cilento (Archdaily)

Floating Dinning Room / Goodweather Design & Loki Ocean

This temporary floating dining room was designed for a summer fundraiser by The School of Fish Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to promoting sustainable seafood. The semi-enclosed space floats on over 1700 recycled plastic bottles. The project intends to bring attention to the abundance of plastic litter floating in the oceans, but also suggests a possible use for such waste. Due to budget and time constraints the design of the structure remains a conventional post and beam assembly allowing the framing to serve as finish.

exploded axo

The structure is built from donated lumber and local cedar products, all of which are renewable and will be recycled once the fundraiser is over. The floor is inset with a 4′x8′ plexiglass panel to reveal the plastic bottles directly below the dining table. The dining room was built in the Granville Island boatyard before it was lifted, lowered into the water, towed across False Creek and finally craned into its final position. The structure was built in ten days and will host 12 guests per night for 60 nights.

Source:  Nico Saieh (Archdaily)

The James Adams Floating Theatre

The JAMES ADAMS FLOATING THEATRE plied the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries from 1914 to 1941, bringing theatre to ports of call in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.

As a part of the American repertory theatre movement of the early 20th century, the Floating Theatre was an important cultural resource for people in metropolitan, rural areas and small coastal towns.

James Adams himself drew up the plans for and oversaw the building of the theatre superstructure on the boat. Adams’ theatre boat was launched on Tuesday afternoon, January 27, 1914.

At the time of it’s launching the theatre was called Playhouse, a barge of 436 tons, 128.3 feet long, 34 feet wide, 4.5 feet from deck to keel with beams that ran the length of the boat without scarfs, “heavy thirty two foot planks across the bottom, a skin four inches thick, and drift bolted every two feet with twenty seven inch bolts.

Soon after the playhouse started on its tidewater treks, Jim was informed by the Coast Guard that a barge such as the Playhouse had to have identification painted on the sides of its superstructure. Jim painted “James Adams Floating Theater” and that is what the theatre was called by its customers for the next eighteen years.

The original James Adams as reported by the Washington, North Carolina Daily News.

“Playhouse” First Floating Theatre Is Now Practically All Complete

To the rear of the stage is situated eight comfortable and convenient living rooms for the performers; underneath the stage is located a spacious and sunny dining room, also the cook room which is sanitary and airy. In this section of the boat is to be found the electric plant for the entire boat. Mr. Adams has on board his own water plant.

At the front end of the “Playhouse” is seen two offices, one being a ticket office and the other the private office of the owner. Between the two rooms is the main entrance to the theatre proper which is eight feet wide. Above the main entrance Mr. and Mrs. Adams have their living quarters, which are convenient and attractive, being Bungalow in style and finish. There are three large rooms, besides closets, bathroom, etc. These quarters are finished in Beaver board. The boat is provided with a telephone system running all over the boat.

The main attraction to the visitor, of course, is the main auditorium. This room is 30 by 80 feet, with a balcony running all the way around the room. The first floor is provided with steel folding self righting opera chairs and has a seating capacity of 500 people. To the left and right of the stage is installed two boxes, having accommodations for five persons each. The balcony is reserved for colored people exclusively and will seat 350 persons. Two boxes are also on this floor. The main auditorium is attractively finished with steel ceiling and the color scheme is surely one of good taste, being white, trimmed in blue and gold. In the center of the auditorium has been placed an electric chandelier and also on the walls chandeliers of a similar design. When all these lights are turned on a person will be enabled to pick [up] a pin on the floor.

The stage has an opening of 19 feet and is equipped with scenery manufactured by John Herfurth & Co, of Cincinnati. An orchestra pit is located just in front of the stage. The “Playhouse” will carry a company of 25 people. The show will consist of first class vaudeville and drama. Mr. Adams has provided a ten piece concert band and a six piece orchestra.

All over the boat hot and cold water is provided, making the “Playhouse” not only the latest word in theatres but also in living quarters.

Source:  http://www.floatingtheatre.org/

Floating Architecture for a Changing Climate

Koen Olthuis is one of the young architects leading Holland, and the world, toward an amphibious future. From floating houses to a floating cruise ship terminal, Olthuis believes the best way to live with water is to live on water.

NPR Video Report: ‘Thinking Outside the Dikes’

Source:  John Poole (www.npr.org)

Floating Architecture Docks in Shanghai

SPARCH Architects adds a floating pod city to its giant cruise-ship terminal.

SPARCH Architects, in charge of the master plan for Shanghai’s new cruise-ship terminal, has released renderings of its crown jewel: a collection of pod-like restaurants and bars suspended by cables from a 130-foot-high, glass-clad archway. The so-called “Shanghai Chandelier” was designed in part in response to some Shanghai city planners’ desire to open up the notoriously jam-packed city in anticipation of the 2010 Expo, themed around “Better City, Better Life.” Lifting the restaurants off the ground might crowd the skyline, but it offers views through the arch to a new waterfront park.

That park is there because most of the $260 million, 2.8 million-square-foot terminal isn’t there: it’s underground. The terminal master plan involves a network of courtyards carved into the landscape with buildings sunk into them. The first construction phase finished in October, and the entire terminal is set to open in May, in time for the Expo.

With a terminal this enormous, China is betting that the cruise industry booms in Asia. It’s been growing–Royal Caribbean started to operate out of Dubai in January with cruises around the Middle East and Shanghai saw more than 100 ships dock in 2007, up from only 10 in 2004–but the new terminal might be overly ambitious. About 150,000 cruise tourists came through the port in 2008. The new terminal is built to handle a yearly load of 1.5 million. Will it have to? It’s designed around 88,000-ton ships–huge, but not as big as behemoths like Royal Caribbean’s 220,000-ton Oasis of the Seas. (That ship needed a new terminal at Port Everglades, Florida designed just for it.) That’s because the Shanghai terminal’s site on the Huangpu River isn’t that great a port for these giant new ships. The biggest of the big can’t even get to the terminal because the river is too narrow and the Yangpu Bridge over it is too low for them to fit under. Most big ships, then, go to Hong Kong, or another port on the mouth of the Yangtze, outside of Shanghai. Royal Caribbean says it’ll use smaller, “intimate cruise ships” in the new port–a fitting oxymoron for a city bent on balancing smart urbanism with boomtown extravagance.

Source:  Fact Company (by   William Bostwick )

Dutch Architects Plan for a Floating Future

Architects in Holland are showing the rest of the world a way of turning adversity into opportunity.

The inevitable rise in sea level that comes with climate change is going to make it increasingly difficult to control flooding in low-lying Holland. But instead of cursing their fate, architects are designing a new Holland that will float on water, and the Dutch government seems willing to try out the scheme. Holland has made other countries begin to question, too. Who says you have to live on dry land?

With the exception of the major highways, it feels like you can’t drive more than a mile or so in the Netherlands without running into water. It could be the sea; it could be a river; it could be a canal.

Source: Joe Palca ( www.npr.org )

The Last Resort: A Solar Powered Floating Home

Living on the water is a dream for many — fortunately, this design for a solar-powered floating home may soon see open water! Brought to you by the same designers who came up with the futuristic bicycle sharing system for Copenhagen, RAFAA Architecture & Designs have conceived of a mobile floating home called The Last Resort. The design recently won a competition, and with funding underway the team expects to begin fabrication on these sleek water homes by the end of the year.

The floating home is about 5 meters wide and 15 meters long with two levels. Sleeping bunks, mechanical equipment and hatches are on the lower level and the upper level contains living space, a kitchen, a bathroom and two bedrooms. In total there are six beds and a sliding panel helps close off the rooms for more privacy. Vertical blinds on the facade act as shading devices for the interior as well as a privacy system. Stairs lead up to the roof, which serves as an extra deck, and roof-integrated solar panels generate electricity for the two electric engines that propel the home.

RAFAA entered their design for mobile floating architecture in a design competition organized by the Internationale Bauausstellung in Germany. They recently brought home first prize, and construction on several of these houses is expected to begin by the end of the year. The homes were designed for Lusatian Lakeland and the form of the homes was actually inspired by the waterfront. We’re looking forward seeing these efficient floating comes come to life.

Source: Inhabitat, Rafaa

Floating Church of the Redeemer

Moored off Dock Street from 1847-1851.
This mobile house of worship was built in Bordentown NJ in 1847, and towed to Philadelphia’s bustling Dock Street wharf. Believed to be the first floating church on the East Coast (predating a similar church in New York by three years), The Floating Church of the Redeemer was a project of the Churchman’s Missionary Association for Seamen, an arm of the Episcopal Church, and was devoted to serving sailors.

The church left Philadelphia in 1851, when its pier was leased for more worldly purposes. Towed to Camden, it was hauled ashore and dragged on rollers to the corner of Broadway and Rayden Streets where it served a small congregation under the name St. John’s. The land-locked river-church was consumed by fire on Christmas morning several years later.

Sources: PlanPhilly ( Jackson, Joseph. The Encyclopedia of Philadelphia, 1931
Smith, Phillip Chadwick Foster. Philadelphia on the River, 1986)