Page 32 - Designing Ways 262

HELLO
SUMMER

Fàngsōng on the water

Solar + Design =
"Boat office"
Tiny Home on the Water

Berlin, Germany

ith the world seemingly a network of commodities that can be
turned upside down due to moved to different places.
Wpandemic travel restrictions, As Archigram already put it in 1964
the effects of global warming, conflicts, with The Walking City: “One of the great
an energy crisis, and more, the time has attractions of urban living is the notion of
never seemed more urgent for a refuge being able to easily access all the services
with a high level of self-sufficient energy and goods you need. But what if those
and the ability to remain mobile despite services came to you?”
mounting challenges.
Crossboundaries has re-designed a fully A House that floats: Compact and
solar-powered motorboat with high-end, transformable
tiny-home characteristics that enable it to This compact space is a perfect match
function as a slow-motion traveling nest. for Crossboundaries because it allows
The exterior’s resemblance to a bus on for testing flexibility in micro-dwellings
the water sparked the interest of the new where each room assumes multiple
owner, and with enough space to invite programmatic roles. The appeal of water
family and friends aboard for a getaway, in this project is to explore the possibility
she named the personal re-energizing of adapting, while challenging assumed
retreat “Fàng Sōng”, which translates from and conventional norms.
Chinese into “Relax”. With an overall length of about 15m,
and a maximum width of a bit over 4m,
A transient space the boat includes a set of interlinked and
Itinerant forms of architecture were multi-purpose areas.
first performed out of necessity and, The boat's colour palette celebrates
more recently, out of willingness - the creativity, and it is highly customisable
current architectural agenda debates our and extremely practical. Functionality
notions of public-private and temporary- improvements include a fully hidden bed
permanent. A home that was once linked with a function to close the “helmstand”,
to real estate ownership now shifts to which hides the more technical equipment of

32 Issue 262 • dw