“Floating is the suspension between states”
Floating can be described as an object that hovers above water, yet it is also a state of being that pushes the threshold between ground and water. Houses on stilts, boat homes, overwater bungalows - we are inspired by colloquial approaches to the “floating room”. This project - “Stateless” - pushes the notion of floating as a series of objects on the lake. Here, floating is understood as a suspension between simultaneous states: interior and exterior, ground and water, building and boat, etc. Rather than floating a room as a boat, our project straddles the idea of flotation as an building that appears to hover above the surface of the lake, yet is firmly grounded in the lake’s bed. Our design is situated on Lago Maggiore, floating just beyond the city’s reach. Visitors might glimpse the object from afar, but may only reach it by boat. It is an adventure or ritual designed to paint a small, mysterious character into the mountain scene. Sea-borne visitors approach the object, a series of scale-less arches, a translucent fiberglass surface, backed by warm wooden panels - it glows slightly, reflecting on the water. They notice the gap below the arches, the building seems to levitate, just above the water.
We enter through the arches. The room is enclosed, yet completely open to the water. Almost a building, and nearly a boat. The floor is offset from the primary structure, creating a space with water on all sides. The slats of the floor are spaced for resting visitors to hear the water below. The front of the building is open, pointing to the mountains, allowing air and water in. The foyer changes to a pebble slope, inviting visitors to descend into the middle of the lake, to float in the picturesque scenery.
The Board:
