Floating Forest

HAMBURG, GERMANY, 1997

A proposal for a piece of public art commissioned by the city of Hamburg. Located on the Biennen Alster, a lake-sized body of water in the middle of the city, these floating green islands - “life boats” - were meant to move lazily in the wind and currents, sometimes lashed together to form larger surfaces for use. A number of these islands were to be “living machines”, bio-remediation devices that would clean the water to a swimmable standard.

Credits: Michael Sorkin, Andrei Vovk