emily conrad

Maybe it’s because this is the summer that isn’t in NYC, but I’ve had vacationing in serenity on my mind since April. And I finally found what the perfect vacation looks like- Floating Camping. Could it get any better? Off Almere Beach (near Amsterdam), this floating island is from the University of Amsterdam, apparently built by students participating in the course ‘Social Engineering in the Amsterdam Metropolis’. And it’s brilliant. Another project is the ‘floating market‘, an outdoor market built on foam blocks covered in sod where organic and local produce is sold. These structures have proven to be very stable and word is the creators want to take it commercial. To this idea Pop-Up City says it best-’I wonder if they will succeed, as it doesn’t look to be their style.’

Whatever the case, I wish them all the luck and hope they bring this whimsical but practical idea to the island of Manhattan.

Floating Camping

Floating Market

The other day on the NYTimes website I noticed an interesting article about the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo. What struck me about this was the gap between theory and practice being embodied in a building. The theory was to allow for modularity among the capsules, they could be added or removed based on need. Thing is, perhaps that need came about, but how would that really happen? A tenant would call the landlord who would hire a crew to add on a second floor to his capsule? What protocol was in place for the capsules to be added or removed? Theories without methodologies to carry them out prove to often be fruitless. Unfortunately, the tower is likely to be demolished despite earlier pleas by architect Kisho Kurokawa. The tenants hope to rebuild a more modern tower.

nano-cabin.com says:
The Nakagin Capsule Tower was the first capsule architecture design with the capsule as a room inserted into a mega-structure. This realized the ideas of metabolism, exchangeability, and recycleablity as a prototype of sustainable architecture. Located in the Ginza area of Tokyo, the Nagakin Capsule Tower, was originally designed as a Capsule Hotel to provide economical housing for businessmen working late in central Tokyo during the week.

The 14-story high Tower has 140 capsules stacked at angles around a central core. Kurokawa developed the technology to install the capsule units into the concrete core with only 4 high-tension bolts, as well as making the units detachable and replaceable. The one-man-room capsule, a modified (4 x 2.5 meter) shipping container, has a circular window, a built-in bed and bathroom unit, and is complete with TV, radio and alarm clock. The capsule interior was pre-assembled in a factory then hoisted by crane and fastened to the concrete core shaft.