joanna borek clement: tafoni floating home

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