Dec 12, 2025
WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND
the intention of a different experience for the launch of Google Glass
2013
mobile, west coast + east coast
25,000 SF
Sara Valente, Marcelo Ertorteguy, project lead / Tippin Mar + Silman, structure / WSPKF, MEFP / Gensler, interiors / Foss, naval / Turner, construction
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