Throwing architecture to the sea : discipline out of context

Architecture as a discipline has the ability to absorb and become other disciplines, often blurring its own boundary. Architecture as a practice is a response to dynamic forces of our world and is embedded in everyday entanglements. Yachts present a unique opportunity to explore these characteristics of architecture. As a floating vessel meant to travel and spend a significant amount of time out at sea, the project is site-less and out of context to our physical built environment, allowing for opportunities to explore autonomy in the discipline. At the same time, it is entangled in human activity, engaging discourse of politics, economy, social status, climate change, and the future of our cities. Being able to work between autonomy and embedded-ness is a unique opportunity of building on the sea. The line between architect and naval architect is the shore line. This is clearly manifested in maps, where the water is often drawn as a flat plane. However, the tide and waters fluctuate constantly and in reality that line is not clear cut at all. This can also describe the line between architecture and naval architecture and that it fluctuates in a similar manner to the shore line in reality. I have focused my thesis on the exploration of this fluctuating and blurry line