LOT-EK
GOOGLE floating studios

the intention of a different experience for the launch of Google Glass

completed

2013

location

mobile, west coast + east coast

size:

25,000 SF

collaborators

Sara Valente, Marcelo Ertorteguy, project lead / Tippin Mar + Silman, structure / WSPKF, MEFP / Gensler, interiors / Foss, naval / Turner, construction

awards

concept & vision

a barge is transformed to house a traveling retail experience to launch a new technology gadget

design & architecture

we think of a dandelion, where a soft and light layer envelops a hard core. The building—white, mysterious, on water, moving, moveable—is made of eighty shipping containers. The containers are stacked and permanently welded to the barge, with one entire side of the volume rotated to become a long accessible entrance ramp—repeated at all levels

program & use

inside, the volume is carved to create a sequence and a variety of experiences, intimate and/or collective, calibrated by double and triple-height spaces. The building’s roof houses an outdoor deck for events

impact & significance

the folly - an incredible team and ambition, and the full built of two barges, one east one west. Both never sailed as the product never sailed

Dec 12, 2025

WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND

WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND