Tag Archives: floating

Floating lamp illusion brings an air of mystery to your living space

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Lamps come in all shapes and sizes, but the one thing they have in common is that most of them come in a single piece and are anchored to the ceiling, wall, or even the floor. While there’s definitely nothing wrong with that, there’s also room for improvement when it comes to simplifying not only the design but also their installation and maintenance. Many lamps involve complicated wiring or installing fixtures in places that can clutter the space, physically and visually. This intriguing lamp design solves that in a peculiar way that ends up making the lamp look like it’s floating in midair, creating an atmosphere of magic and mystery in any space it’s in.

Designer: Paul Cocksedge

The most critical part of a lamp is, of course, the light source, but many lamps also need a way to direct or diffuse the light to make it less blinding. While most designs have these pieces in a single form, there’s no rule they have to be on a single body. Shade, whose name might not reflect its mesmerizing appearance, deconstructs and separates the design of a lamp into its two most basic parts, creating what is probably the most minimalist lamp design of all.

When lit up, Shade looks like a white conical lampshade eerily floating in the air, almost like a stereotypical ghost. Of course, it’s not literally floating but suspended by “capillary-thin” wires that are practically invisible unless you see them up close. But that’s only half the magic because the lampshade itself doesn’t have a light source. Instead, that comes from a small, can-shaped directional spotlight shining upward into the lampshade, creating the illusion of a floating lamp.

In essence, Shade separates the lamp into the shade and the actual light source, and neither is physically connected to the other. More than just creating this bewildering sight, this design also simplifies the installation of the lamp. No need for complicated wiring since the lamp can be set anywhere on the floor where the shade can be hung. You can also place the lamp anywhere as well, though you might want to put it somewhere safe and hidden, just to heighten the sense of mystery.

The construction of Shade itself is pretty simple, with the lampshade made of soft yet durably Japanese paper. This material not only gives the shade an almost pure white surface but also gently diffuses the light to a soft glow. The crumpled paper also gives it a unique visual texture that creates a subtle play of light and shadows, enhancing the lamp’s distinctive appeal even when the lights are off.

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AI-Generated Floating Glass Museum Is Intended To Be a Symbol Of Environmental Awareness & Sustainability

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Dubbed the Floating Glass Museum, this mesmerizing and jaw-dropping structure by Luca Curci architects in collaboration with Giulia Tassi Design is something to give a nod to. Designers and architects from around the world, as well as AI were also used to design the fantastic building. It is proposed as a unique and innovative symbol of environment awareness and sustainability, “where the history of glass meets the contemporary experimentation”. While designing the structure, the international design team drew inspiration from the fine art of glass-blowing that has been practiced by Venetians for around 1500 years. They harnessed the amazing power of AI to build the floating exhibition, which looks fragile and yet extremely powerful at the same go.

Designer: Luca Curci Architects x Giulia Tassi Design

The setting of the museum is truly beautiful. As you look at it, you will be transported to another world, where the water on which it sits is reimagined as a canvas for artistic expression, while also sending an important message out to the world – the issue of climate change. “Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent,” reads the press release. “It is disrupting national economies, communities, and countries dearly today and even more tomorrow. Weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, weather events are becoming more extreme and greenhouse gas emissions are now at their highest levels in history.”

The AI-generated images and visuals showcase beautiful pastel-colored pieces of various sizes, ranging from hues of yellows, and oranges to pinks, offering viewers with an imagery that is bright, powerful, and almost frenetic. These loud pieces manage to create a space that is tranquil and almost meditative, while other pieces feature bright red and orange glass trees, and rather real-looking pink ones which establish a strong connection to the environment and nature. Other pieces seem to resemble massive chemistry sets!

The Floating Glass Museum is designed to represent a global environmental initiative, and it is created to be a space “where art, nature, and tradition converge: the balanced fusion of contemporary art and sustainable design that will invite contemplation, reflection and discovery” in the context of “cutting-edge design and a dedication to sustainability.”

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Floating Home In Ecuador Is Designed To Preserve The Community Of A Centuries-Old Floating Village

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Dubbed La Balsanera, this floating house is nestled along the Babahoyo River in Ecuador. Designed by architecture studio Natura Futura Arquitectura and architect Juan Carlos Bamba, this home is located inside a centuries-old floating village that suffers from the risk of disappearing for good! La Balsanera is an effort to preserve the community and to serve as a prime specimen of sustainable redevelopment.

Designer: Natura Futura Arquitectura and Juan Carlos Bamba

The river is closed presently as a commercial fluvial route, and hence the number of floating structures has gone down from two hundred to twenty-five. La Balsanera was designed in an effort to bring back “the tradition of living on the river” according to the architects. The home occupies 70 square meters and is built for a family of three. The family sells food to the community and repairs wooden boats, signifying the socio-economic utility of the river.

La Balsanera features a two-meter-wide extension to a platform that function as terraces for the family to utilize as “productive environments” – for example, a cafe seating area, anchor point, or tourist boat. “La Balsanera explores possible floating solutions that recover local artisan techniques while promoting the active and productive participation of the occupants in vulnerable communities,” said Bamba.

The floating home is constructed from wooden porticos that are built every two meters to build a gabled truss structure. This structure is topped by a corrugated roof that provides shelter to the outdoor terraces, as well as a colorful hammock. The home includes a central space that accommodates a shared living room, kitchen, and dining area, as well as two bedrooms. Two external strips at either end of the space provide a shower, toilet, laundry space, and boat workshop. The space is also equipped with “chazas” which are slatted openings that have been made from recycled wood. These “chazas” help ventilate the space and maintain a cool environment indoors. A bridge functions as an efficient walkway between the mainland and the floating home. It is made using bamboo and various planks of wood. Shutter doors have been incorporated throughout the space, connecting the living spaces to the terraces.

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Floating Bamboo House is designed to withstand rising sea levels in Vietnam

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Called the Floating Bamboo House, this architectural prototype by Vietnamese studio H&P Architects is exactly what it sounds like! The floating home is built from bamboo and is designed to withstand rising sea levels. It has been created with the intention to provide locals who are living in and around the Mekong Delta in Vietnam with a suitable model for climate-resilient housing.

Designer: H&P Architects

“Vietnam is one of the hardest-hit countries in the world by climate change,”  said H&P Architects founder Đoàn Thanh Hà. “Floating Bamboo House is believed to provide a useful alternative for millions of poor households to create a stable and safe accommodation themselves, and adapt to the worst scenario of responding to climate change,” he continued.  The Floating Bamboo House is designed to be a three-compartment home equipped with a square ground floor plan that occupies six by six meters. The home also has a first-floor story in its roof eaves.

The exterior of the Floating Bamboo House is inspired by the vernacular Rông House, which is a traditional and rural Vietnamese building typology amped with a tall and steep thatched roof. The house is built using locally sourced solid-cored bamboo pieces, which have a diameter of three to five centimeters and three or six meters long. The external facade is covered with lightweight bamboo screens, woven bamboo sheets, leaves, and corrugated iron. Plastic drums have been fixated to the underside of the house to allow it to float. A septic tank, water tank, and filter tank have also been attached here.

“Floating Bamboo Houses [could be] connected with each other by floating playing grounds, vegetable-growing rafts [and] fish-raising areas,” the studio said. The home was designed for adaptation. It features a door system that can be opened and closed, to offer shelter and protection from adverse and extreme weather situations. Also, the floor panels on the upper storey can be removed, allowing the structure to be used as a library, classroom, or communal meeting space. H&P Architects believe that in the future multiple floating homes can be built, and formed together to create floating villages.

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Meet The World’s Largest Floating Infinity Pool At Lake Como

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Nestled against the foothills of the Alps, Lake Como has been a holiday destination for the rich and famous since ages galore. Although I haven’t been, I’ve been busy manifesting it, so who knows, hopefully, we’ll experience some Lake Como soon! The 19th-century Villa Roccabruna is tucked away in the stunning greenery of a botanical park on the lake’s southeast shores. The beautiful property features bold neoclassical lines and is an absurdly romantic space that was once the home of Italy’s iconic opera singer Giuditta Pasta. Now the property has been transformed into a hotel by the Mandarin Oriental group, and it recently launched a 40m floating infinity pool!

Designer: Herzog & de Meuron 

Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the floating infinity pool is an absolute beauty to look at! And also it is the largest in the world! The hotel was designed by Herzog & de Meuron as well, and it features 21 rooms, 52 suites, two restaurants, an award-winning lower-level spa, and two standalone villas. The pool is a subtle yet beautiful addition that perfectly complements the villa’s architecture, as well as the lower vaulted stone colonnade that supports it.

The infinity pool has been finished in a dark local Cardoso sandstone, and it is designed to seamlessly and harmoniously blend into the lake’s cobalt blue waters. The impressive infinity edge of the cake creates an optical illusion, with a prefabricated steel structure in a glossy deep green that subtly reflects the water’s surface. The pool is designed in Switzerland, constructed in Finland, and assembled in Italy. In fact, the pool is considered an engineering feat and features a catamaran-like form to reduce the impact of the waves. The form is invisibly attached to the lake bed and is connected to the bar and dining area via a ramp.

The NAMI Café is a cool and casual poolside hangout spot that serves pizzas, burgers, and salads along with cocktails and healthy juices. The cafe is framed by the historic and massive stone arches of the building, creating a truly special spot. The largest floating infinity pool in the world is definitely going to be on my vacation list now!

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This tranquil floating pavilion functions as a meditation and yoga retreat

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Marc Thorpe Design created the Crystal Lake Pavilion – a stunning concept for the West Catskills region of New York. It is surrounded by a 497-acre wild forest which is filled with a thirty-two-acre man-made lake, wetland areas, a beaver pond, streams, and seeps. The area holds a plethora of natural beauty, including hundreds of species of flowers, trees, plants, insects, and wildlife. “The lake shore and surrounding moist woodland provide habitats for trilliums, wild leeks, Jack-in-the-pulpits, and Dutchman’s britches,” said Marc Thorpe.

Designer: Marc Thorpe

The beautiful floating pavilion is designed to be utilized for meditation and yoga classes, as well as group therapy. The Crystal Lake Pavilion can be accessed only by boat, in an attempt to honor the remote natural context of the site. The structure has been wrapped in transparent glass skin, to allow the beauty of the surroundings to truly shine through. The pavilion has been constructed using a traditional King Post timber frame.

The structure consists of heavy timber elements that have all been connected together using lap joints, pegged mortise, and tenon joints. The imposing and sloping roof of the pavilion will be formed using light steel connections, and a standing seam steel roof. The focal point of the pavilion is the central post which is held by a single concrete pier nestled in the lake bed. The triangular roof mirrors the lake’s surface intricately, which gives the impression that the pavilion is weightless and floating effortlessly on the lake. It looks as if the pavilion is hovering above the water!

The optical illusion provided by the pavilion makes it look like an ethereal structure floating above the water. In a time, where structures are heavy, hardy, and concrete-ridden, the Crystal Lake Pavilion is a light free-flowing structure that serves as an oasis on the lake. It serves as a cozy and zen-like space to relax, regroup, and calm down our frantic and hectic minds. It is an excellent location to meditate and practice yoga while being surrounded by the best of what nature has to offer. The location of the pavilion is remote, but that is precisely the USP of the structure.

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This wooden floating sauna is designed to drift around the Stockholm archipelago

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There’s something about a floating sauna that just sounds extremely right to me, and the Swedish studio Sandellsandberg designed exactly that! Called, the Big Branzino, this floating sauna is designed to drift around across the Stockholm archipelago. A steel catamaran hull supports a minimal timber structure with a mesmerizing bow-shaped roof, which shades a central sauna room.

Designer: Sandellsandberg

“The client, a creative person from the Stockholm tech scene, had a dream about creating a truly extraordinary floating sauna experience, something elegant and refined, yet unexpected,” said Johan Strandlund, an architect at Sandellsandberg.

The exteriors of the beautiful sauna are finished with pine planks, allowing the floating structure to harmoniously merge with the surrounding forests that it will be continually crossing. It features two major decks amped with fully glazed ends at both the bow and the stern. A shower and a bathroom are positioned on either side of the central sauna space, which includes a two-tiered seating section placed around a stove. There is a ladder at one end, which leads to the roof, wherein another intimate seating area provides stunning views of the landscape. The ladder can be easily folded and stowed away whenever needed.

“The exterior is a rugged pine to blend in with the surrounding nature, (while) the interiors and furniture are made of western red cedar due to its great characteristics for sauna and outdoor use. The design revolves around its distinct shape. The lowest point of the arch creates warmth and closeness to the glow of the fire, and as the arch rises to the sides it allows the stars of the night sky to be admired from the inside,” said Sandellsandberg.

A cedar box at the front of the sauna holds the wheel and the controls, which allows the sauna to drift around the archipelagos at a maximum speed of five miles per hour. “It can travel freely at its captain’s discretion, from a few hours of sauna with a view to adventurous, long trips,” said Johan Standlund. The beautiful sauna is a great option to unwind and relax amidst the exquisite views of the Stockholm archipelago, with a bespoke fireplace to keep you warm for overnight trips, and a rooftop to dance on when the night gets boring!

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Magnetic Levitating UFO Bluetooth Speaker

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This is for sure one of the coolest speakers we’ve seen. It’s literally floating. Or least the top half is. If you can bet the bottom part to float too, call us, we’ve got a proposal for ya, probably not that illegal. This Levitating Bluetooth Speaker uses the magical and mysterious power of magnets (how do they work?) to make the speaker float in mid-air. Meanwhile it can also spin around like an alien carousel full of little aliens riding cows around in a circle. Why do aliens like cows so much anyway?

So the speaker, yeah, the speaker connects to your phone or whatnot (probably your phone though) via bluetooth and pumps out that bassy bass with 5W audio drivers. Feel the earth move under your feet, because this speaker won’t feel the earth at all since it’s floating. There is a rechargeable battery in there since we’ve yet to develop anything better. Perhaps some actual aliens could help us out a bit on that front? Please? We’ll give you more cows.

This speaker looks pretty sleek, and has a modern look with it’s glowing light. It’s an instant party, just like aliens like to do. Party with cows. You can also just use the UFO top part on it’s own with the base, but what fun would that be?

Magnetic Levitating UFO Bluetooth Speaker

This floating structure in Rotterdam is the world’s largest + most sustainable office

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Dutch architects Powerhouse Company has designed the largest floating office building in the world! Located at the Rijnhaven port on the Maas River in Rotterdam, it’s been rightly named the Floating Office Rotterdam. It is a prime example of large-scale ultra-sustainable construction on city waters. Defined as a “climate-resilient office design”, if the sea levels ever rise due to climate change, the office will float instead of sinking!

The energy-positive structure “was a very challenging commission and we approached it in an integrated way,” said Nanne de Ru, founder of Powerhouse Company.

Designer: Powerhouse Company

The circular office features public facilities such as a restaurant and a large outdoor terrace with a floating pool in the Maas river! Massive 6x3m floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies on every floor provide stunning views of the surroundings, as well as easy access to the outdoors, and some fresh air. Employees can even relax, and unwind, or get some work done on the spacious deck located outside while being completely surrounded by water.

The interiors are a calming melange of multiple wooden surfaces, which create an aura of peace and tranquility, thereby reducing workplace stress. The building, itself, is also constructed from wood, creating a minimum carbon footprint. The entire structure is supported by a floating body comprising fifteen concrete barges, that are pre-tensioned with tension cables. The in-situ liquid pipes in the concrete use the water in the port, to cool the office!

The floating office is also solar-powered. The roof features 870 square meters of PV panels, which actually generate more power than the office requires, so the excess power is then supplied to the city! The roof is quite an integral part of the office space since it also serves as a ‘green roof’. It holds sedum vegetation, and also 2000 herb plants, greatly encouraging biodiversity.

“As the world’s climate changes, extreme weather events and rising sea levels present new challenges for architects,” said CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation Patrick Verkooijen. “Embedding resilient features into a design before disaster strikes not only makes economic sense but it can also help us to mitigate against climate change,” he finished.

Besides being a circular, sustainable, and energy-efficient structure, the Floating Office Rotterdam also means to be a source of inspiration for the world of architecture. It hopes to inspire others to “future-proof their infrastructure”!

FOR has received the BREEAM Excellent sustainability certificate and also the ‘Consciously Building’ certificate, and is truly one of the most sustainable offices in the world.

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These floating architectural designs are our best bet to survive the rising sea level crises

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Global warming is no joke, and with climate change becoming a reality, and sea levels steadily rising, there may come a time when floating structures may be the only kind of architecture that can exist. We will have to make the shift from land to water, but hopefully not anytime soon. And architects are taking this task extremely seriously! They’re getting even more creative and inventive with floating architecture! Hotels, cinemas, man-made islands, and even greenhouses can be seen idly floating on water bodies all over the world. And I do believe there is something truly extraordinary about a structure seamlessly floating on water without any real support. It’s a mystery to me, and I’m always trying to dive into the science of it. And, we’ve curated a collection of designs to celebrate these architectural wonders! From the world’s first floating city designed by BIG to floating farm – these floating structures are the sustainable solutions we need to fight rising sea levels in the future!

1. OCEANIX

OCEANIX, an ambitious floating architecture concept envisioned to be built off the South Korean coast by BIG – Bjarke Ingel‘s design group. It was first revealed in 2019 and now has received the green light from UN-Habitat and the Metropolitan City of Busan to begin construction. The futuristic sustainable city can also withstand category 5 hurricanes! The cities are made up of 2-hectare, 300-resident neighborhoods which then connect to form 1,650-person villages including systems like underwater farming and greenhouses to make it as self-sufficient as possible! Inhabitants can easily walk around or take a boat to navigate between the floating communities which will include residences as well as a public square, art installations, marketplaces, sports clubs, schools, and more. It is also designed to be able to withstand natural disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes.

2. The Salmon Eye

The “Salmon Eye” is true to its name in more ways than one. It is a combination of a pontoon and a unique elliptical upper structure that is designed to look like a fish’s eye, particularly a salmon’s. This shape, however, will only really be visible if you’re seeing it from a bird’s eye view. Ironically, the floating exhibit can only be reached by water. On the outside, however, the structure will be covered with 9,500 high-grade stainless steel plates designed to look like scales. They’re also colored like salmon skin to further strengthen the association with its namesake. This material ensures that the exhibit is eye-catching, pun totally intended, no matter which angle you view it from except perhaps from the bottom of the fjord.

3. Turtle Bay

Turtle Bay is an eco-tourist destination in Thailand’s Hua Hin on Khao Tao Reservoir that combines sustainable design with local building material to home in on the hotel’s commitment to preserving the ecosystem that surrounds it. Taking up almost an acre’s worth of land, Turtle Bay is comprised of five floating bungalows that connect to one another via wooden walking ways. In Thai, Khao translates to ‘mountain,’ and Tao translates to ‘turtle.’ Finding inspiration in the reservoir’s namesake, Jansaeng-Aram designed each bungalow to appear like oversized bamboo turtles. Leaning into the shingle-like shell of turtles, Jansaeng-Aram topped each bungalow with shingled roofs to bring out the stone and gravel chipped texture.

4. Carbon Capture Refuge X

Carbon Capture Refuge X is a conceptual habitat that is a dystopian dream but in the best way possible! Yee envisions these to be floating structures that capture carbon from the air and convert it into electricity. It will be a community created for scientists and by scientists that sits within the Earth’s troposphere. Scientists in this habitat are working on environmental research but it will also be a space for refugees. Each habit will feature solar panels and direct-air-capture fans that extract carbon from the atmosphere to be converted into electrical energy. The energy will run through neon strips within the structure’s floors, walls, and roofs. Yee describes these strips as “veins” designed to circulate utilities throughout the structure.

5. Prairie Cord

Placed on a glistening shallow pool, at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin is a 3D printed sculpture called the ‘Prairie Cord’. Designer Brian Peters embarked on an intense journey to explore 3D printed designs – from parts to whole. The result of his exploratory process was an exterior public art installation that seems like it floats on a serene water body while playing with light, shadow, and reflection during the day, as well as the night. The architectural sculpture mimics a lattice-like arc, which is artfully reflected on the surface of the pool, creating a mesmerizing full cylinder! Although it seems as if the sculpture is magically floating on the water body, it is in fact supported by a foundation of concrete blocks. Much like its name, the intricate infill pattern on the structure is inspired by the native prairie cord grasses. The creative pattern allows light to gently filter in and out of the installation.

6.

Adidas and environmental organization Parley for the Oceans teamed up to design a tennis court…that floats within the Great Barrier Reef marine park in Australia! The court was built from recycled plastic and was launched to promote Adidas’ latest apparel collection which is also created from recycled plastic. In fact, the clothing collection was debuted on the tennis court, for the first time. “The new Adidas tennis apparel collection, that will be worn by players during the Australian Open in Melbourne, has been inspired by the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef and consists of products from one of our sustainability innovators, Made with Parley Ocean Plastic,” said Adidas. The tennis court has sparked conflicting opinions. Some believe it’s simply a marketing gimmick. While others believe it could be a real attempt to shed light on the deep-rooted issue of plastic waste. What do you think?

7. Green Ocean

A Japanese start-up has designed this floating marine farm called Green Ocean using agricultural technology that cultivates seawater as a direct nutrient source! The innovative structure combines salt-resistant technology and sea-friendly architecture to the world a potential solution for the climate change-induced rising sea level problem which comes with heavy salt damage. It harvests rainwater, improves the quality of the water around it, helps with food production while saving water, and being a sustainable architectural structure. Once it is out on the water, the marine farm will create two new green areas – one will be a food production space that floats on the surface and uses salty agricultural technology and the second will be a layer of algae that will improve the underwater environment.

8. Sony’s Floating Habitat concept

This design prototyping examines people’s life at sea in 2050 and the ecosystem they create from the perspective of housing. People who live on water inhabit floating mobile houses that can travel freely on the sea, depending on the weather, ebb, flow of tides, and time of the day. They may move in search of food to a place where there is a school of fish, and they may also connect with houses of different “sea cities” to interact with people with different cultures and values. People’s mobile lifestyle will make urban ecosystems more fluid. The two-story structure is divided into a public space above the water and a private space underwater.

9. Ocean Community Vessel

The idea of the Ocean Community vessel is to extend a city’s coastline. By existing not more than 800 meters from the coast of a city, the dwellers of the Ocean Community can easily make their way to the city to access facilities and enjoy a normal city life before heading back to their sea-based home. “The creation of these new structures will serve as fully functional living spaces connected with existing land infrastructure so that new ocean communities become a natural extension of coastal cities,” says Morsztyn, designer of the Ocean Community concept. The vessels will also rely on the abundance of sun, water, and wind to harness the energy, helping them live off the coast but also off the electric grid.

10. Enclaves

Forget waterfront offices, what about an office literally on the water? Think of Enclaves as office meets lazy river (productivity levels not included with the structure). Remote work and flexible lifestyle have seen a boom thanks to the pandemic, which has led to many innovative designs like this floating office pod which is a low-impact concept offering the best of views with maximum privacy for focus. Designer Agnieszka Białek who made this zen office pod, is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, Poland, which explains the picturesque theme. Białek was inspired by her usual pandemic strolls (which were the highlight of all our lives) along the Vistula River and thought of how cool it would be to have floating co-working spaces that would have no footprint on the land.

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