tafoni floating home by joanna borek clement

american designer joanna borek clement has developed 'tafoni floating home'.
her aim for the project was to change people's attitude of living on a houseboat.
it was specifically designed for the houseboat district of sausalito, california.

the basic spatial concept is simple and minimal; in plan view the sculptural tafoni-inspired
exterior and interior feature walls divide the space into three major parts: kitchen, living area
and bedroom/ bathroom/closet area.

the middle part consists of a fully glazed sunroom that contains the kitchen, dining area
and the main entrance to the boat.

the front part of the houseboat is occupied by a living room and the back part contains
a bedroom. both of these areas feature views of the bay framed by tafoni-shaped windows.

the framing of the houseboat consists of the modular repetitive ellipsoidal wooden trusses
that can be mass-produced to conserve resources and energy. the ellipsoidal shape of these
structural elements allows for a large spanning capacity, thus eliminating the need for
additional walls and columns that would cram the space inside affecting the quality of
the interior space.









project info:
name: tafoni floating home
designer: joanna borek clement
project type: conceptual
location: houseboat district in sausalito, california, USA
use: residential/ recreational
stories above ground: one level
structure: house - wood, pontoon - concrete
height: building 5.2 meters
floor to ceiling: 4.0 meters
area: 89 square meters