Waterpod™ is a floating sculptural living structure designed as a new habitat for the global warming epoch. It is currently scheduled to launch in New York in June, 2009, navigate down the East River, explore the waters of New York Harbor, and stopping at each of the five boroughs it will dock at several Manhattan piers on the Hudson River.
As a sustainable, navigable living space, Waterpod™ showcases the critical importance of the environment and serves as a model for new living technologies. It illustrates positive interactions between communities: private and public; artistic and social; aquatic and terrestrial. Built from recycled and reused materials, Waterpod™ is structured as a double-domed island for: (i) community and artistic activity; (ii) eco-initiatives including food grown with purified water from the Hudson River; and (iii) living space.
Waterpod™ is currently being built of repurposed wood, metal, plastic, fabric, and other materials on top of and adjacent to an industrial barge. Waterpod™ is structured as a double-domed island. Construction materials will include salvaged pieces of sunken vessels raised from the rivers bottom in the Rockaway and other areas. The main space is an amorphous shape dedicated to community and artistic activity including fine arts, performing arts, lectures, and workshops. Passengers will engage in navigation, mapping, recording, performing, art making, researching, and learning. The second spherical space includes space for hydroponic and vertical agriculture, greywater recycling, and alternative power sources. The third area includes a kitchen and shower room, and the fourth contains four separate bedrooms including a guest bedroom.
The composting toilet will be in a dedicated free standing building. Waterpod™ will rely solely on it's own power sources including a vertical wind turbine, solar PV panels, bicycle power, and a picohydro system.
Waterpod™ will showcase artworks, performances, tutorials, discussions, and other creative projects. Open to the public for guided tours, Waterpod™’s course will be logged, blogged, charted, and reported online. Through its dilatory, watery peregrinations, Waterpod™ intends to prepare, inform, inspire, provoke, and fortify humanity for tomorrow’s exterior explorations.