ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR POD: A visit to the Waterpod on SI

We took a trip out to our Isle of Staaten to visit the Waterpod, a project in self-sufficiency which is currently moored at Lafayette St & Richmond Terrace on Staten Island.

Here are some images:



On first arriving at the docking area (note to COASHI and Waterpod: improve signage) one is struck by the quirkiness of this maritime experiment. It looks like something out of Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits as it would make a great hat for some submariner giant.

Kudos to the designers of this project which tries to create a self-contained self-sufficient micro-biosphere. However, after 5 minutes aboard we felt amazingly underwhelmed by the project. More conventional places to sit oneself down would be a step in the right direction. The black rubber lounge area is fun at first glance but retains far too much heat to be comfortable on a warm muggy New York evening. The domed entertainment area made out of old vinyl advertisement posters has a fun kitschy feel to it. However, there is a general lack of design that makes the whole an amusing floating hodgepodge: a nice to place visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

Interesting and worth a visit!