Abstract
​
The studio Shipyard worked in two tracks: design and construction. On one track each person in the studio worked on a design. But simultaneously, we were also constructing and designing as a group.
Two 35 meter long barges (Captal and Amundsen) were the starting point for the studio Shipyard. Working on these ships and measuring them was a first step in the research on what these barges could mean within architecture education.
Beside Captal and Amundsen, there were two containers available at the architecture school. They had the perfect dimensions to be placed into the barges. Therefore it seemed a good opportunity to rebuilt them and gain on-site experience.
The focus is primarily put on the practical, the hands-on. To see the study of an architect as one of doers and makers. It worked from quick concepts into execution drawings, carpentry and assembly.
​
​
​
​
The second track consisted of a design. A design resulted from research of the Captal, a steel cargoship. A nomadic, floating space is what defines this.
What does an already highly characteristic boat demands?
The answer was something experimental, temporary, but with fixed optimizations. Because of the nomadic character of the ship, this felt as a good starting point.
By measuring the cargoship Captal down to the detail, it was possible to translate these measurements into modular elements. Within the idea of the ‘nomadic’, the modular elements were designed to be easily assembled and dismantled. The measurements of the ship and the steel columns and beams were the main guidance.
The work of Dom Hans van der Laan and his ‘plastic number’ were an important reference. The modular elements were defined within the ‘numbers’ of the ship.
A catalogue shows the different possibilities of assembly.
A one on one coffee table is made to show one of these possibilities.
Catalogue of the Captal Modulars
200 x 180 mm
Catalogue of the Captal Modulars
200 x 180 mm
Captal_01 Chair
scale 1:5
150 x 210 mm
Captal_01 Drawing Table
scale 1:5
150 x 210 mm
Catalogue of the Captal Modulars
200 x 360 mm
Captal_01 Coffee Table
scale 1:5
150 x 210 mm
Captal_01 Lamp
scale 1:5
150 x 210 mm
"It fits right between two steel ribs of the Captal.
When you look at it in one direction, the coffee table looks thin and light.
In the other direction, it looks more massive. The same contradiction is seen in the ship: a massive whole held together by an extremely thin steel structure."
Captal_01 Coffee Table
scale 1:1
wood and steel
Study drawings (by hand)
210 x 150 mm
