Rachely Rotem Studio and Phu Hoang Office together have won theSHIFTboston BARGE 2011 competition to design an interactive architectural environment on a barge in Boston’s Fort Point Channel. The project, entitled “Lighter than Air,” will temporarily transform the barge into a “pop-up” public space, as well as give the floating vessel a new visual presence in the channel. The installation uses principles of camouflage to create a novel atmospheric phenomenonand to make the familiar appear strange—or the unfamiliar seem familiar.“Lighter than Air is comprised of a 3-D camouflage net held up by helium-filled weather balloons, forming what the designer and architect call a “camovapor” climate system that floats above thebarge. The “camovapor”’s shape and orientation change constantly in response both to the wind and to public activity. Visitors are invited to use an outdoor gym of bicycles to generate “pedal power” that inflates additional weather balloons and transforms liquid water into water vapor—either as mist or steam. As the water vapor condenses on the cool surfaces of the camouflage nets, the 3-D perforation of the camouflage net will temporarily retain this water. When combined with the harborbreeze, cool micro-climate zones will be created. “Lighter than Air” uses the principles of atmospheric micro-climates to create a new form of interactive public space. The resulting microclimatic spaces will cause the public to interact with weather as an ephemeral form of architecturalspace.
