#01 on Floatation / Floater Magazine suggests an inventory of floatation mechanisms within architecture; Without Stability, Without Foundation / Flip is an ocean research platform that capsizes in order to maintain its stability. Yannikos Vassiloulis presents the mechanism of this paradoxical stability / Armin Linke’s images of astronauts and divers project the realities of a utopian body equipped with prosthetics that provide the ability to exist in conditions of No Gravitation / Wave Garden by Yusuke Obuchi and Meduseabloo by b. are performative, highly intelligent environments capable of collecting and administrating data / In 1968, Takis invented Oscillation of the Sea; a device that translates the motion of the sea surface into kinetic energy / Dimitris Antonakakis describes the chronicle of an unusual project commissioned to Atelier66; redesigning the cruiser Libra Y the parameters of instability and non foundation demarcate a new territory for the architect / Louisa Adam explores architectural strategies and practices within contemporary cultural concerns, commenting on OMA’s Harbour of Ideas / Nikos Navridis cooperated with floater magazine for the production of a digital representation of his recent show Tomorrow will be a Wonderful Day... / Evi Sougara's interactive animation is based on J. Swift's Laputa; a mythical island from the novel Gulliver's Travels / Takis Zenetos’ Electronic Urban Planning Utopia is negotiated in juxtaposition with Maurizio Cattelan’s installation Mise-en-Scene. Nikos Tsimas declares floatation experiences as parameters that can provoke feelings of Pleasure and Awe / Micro-organisations, by Elysa Lozano, reflects the socio-political realities of Sealand's micronation, where the artist explores the potential of registering and developing a not for profit organization / in Floating and Sinking in Psychoanalysis Nikos Sideris analyses the mechanisms of floating and sinking in relation to both psychic structure and spatiality / Giorgos Lagoudakis suggests legal aspects of Floating Territories presenting specific archival cases along with the relative legal texts.

Floater #01 edited by Yannis Arvanitis, Elina Axioti, Yannis Papayannakis, Evi Sougara, Eleni Spiridaki, Yannikos Vassiloulis / Fall 2008.
Libra Y
Atelier66
Text: Dimitris Antonakakis


According to the yacht designer Bill Dixon 'in order to design a yacht for someone, you have to understand his needs; his character; you have to lunch together and even to meet his wife. Yacht owners spend two or three hours a day on board, they have lunch, or perhaps spend some weeks of their vacations on board. The yacht means to them, escape from their businesses. It´s their freedom, their personal moment'

Judging from my experience regarding the yacht Libra Y, Dixon is more or less right. My personal relation to the first owner of the yacht, Yiannis Maurakakis and his family, consists the foundation of this co-operation. I had realised, how perfectionist he was, and I discovered soon enough, that his intention was to re-design in a big extent the boat he had purchased. I knew he was interested in every mechanical function of the vessel, although he didn't really delve into details he sought to understand its rationale. He wanted all the devices to be organised in a simple way, so as to occupy the minimum possible space and leave some valuable space for the necessary daily needs. He checked the necessity of the navigation and communication equipment and then he chose the most advanced and of limited size one. Then he cleared the vessel from unnecessary hefty equipment, deleting the usual mess at the vessel's silhouette.

The intervention at the ready to be delivered yacht arouse by the request for lengthening it. Scientific research had proved that vessel's lengthening for 3m would strongly increase its buoyancy. The lengthening was achieved, thanks to a 3m zone that was adjusted at the yacht's poop; all this, without really affecting the function of the boat propeller. This transformation gave more space to the common areas of the deck and refined its overall image. My intervention at the yacht's re-design process came as a result of the owner's confidence in our tenacious care of every subtle detail- we had just finished his residence with the same outmost care- and of course the faith he showed to us. At first, Yannis Maurakakis tried, in cooperation with naval architects, to solve the problems that he had spotted after the yacht's lengthening and the extension of the two successive levels of the deck and the corresponding saloons. As it was difficult to adapt himself to the unreasonable, according to him, obsessions of the naval architects that concerned space organisation issues, he asked me to help him with the design of the inner ladder that would connect the two levels of the vessel's common areas. This is how our collaboration started; a collaboration that for me was a really interesting and educational experience. Firstly because, it led to a profound friendship with Yannis Maurakakis, and secondly because it revealed to me a set of important yacht space organisation parameters that I couldn't even imagine. These parameters activated my creative spirit and offered me some original ideas beyond every established naval architectural standard. With the encouragement of Yannis Maurakakis I was able to meet these standards in a rather unusual way.

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Translation: Theoharis Tsigaras
Architectural drawings: Courtesy Atelier66, www.a66architects.com
Photos and video by by Floater Magazine, 2008