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Construction Supervision: Frederik De Smedt in collaboration with Enise Burcu Karacizmeli & Beppe Lanfranchi
Client: Easa
Elefsina Float’d | workshop for the European Architecture Students Assembly.
“We have much less poetic versions of such structures everywhere today. They are called pop-ups. Often containers, they are sometimes just bits of canvas and scaffolding, and house stores or restaurants during a festival, or wherever and whenever a lot of people gather. They are utilitarian, but full of life and often ingenious in their designs. Few architects ever design them.” Architecture Matters, Aaron Betsky.
The float’d team constructed 5 floating platforms, which were anchored near the waterfront of Elefsina, creating interaction between the beach, the local community and the participants of the workshop. The platforms had different functions: a cocktail bar, a dancefloor, a chill-out area, and the lovebox on the “open sea”. The platforms were connected by small bridges.
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We constructed the spaces on the platforms from a scaffolding structure with wooden and canvas facades, which we painted ourselves. These platforms were borne on secondhand forklift-pallets attached to secondhand barrels.
The end-result was a main platform (four out of five platforms tied together) which was to be used as the bar, dance floor and lounge. A separate love box platform could be detached from the main part for maximum privacy. The whole unit floated, with ambient lighting and projections on the canvas cubes.
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The challenge for this workshop was firstly to make these platforms float; and secondly to choose certain materials and put them together in such a way that the majority of the construction would be recyclable/re-usable after the European Architecture Student Assembly had finished.