A circular floating pathway will allow visitors to walk atop Philadelphia's Schuylkill River

A captivating, one-of-a-kind structure will allow visitors to seemingly walk atop the Schuylkill River, right along the southern shoreline of Philadelphia’s Bartram’s Garden. Set to arrive in 2022, FloatLab is a large, walkable art installation and learning lab. It is a new project from Mural Arts Philadelphia with support from the William Penn Foundation and is being designed by Boston-based firm Höweler + Yoon Architecture. The lime green, ring-shaped pathway will change in elevation as visitors walk through it, creating points where one is walking above the water and others where one is eye level with the river. Approaches in architectural design, marine engineering, and naval architecture inform a system of eight ballast chambers below the structure’s surface, which allow FloatLab to remain consistently level and stable as the tide moves in and out.  Image: Höweler & Yoon Architecture and Brick VisualFloatLab was designed as a means to explore the river and reconnect visitors to...

A circular floating pathway will allow visitors to walk atop Philadelphia's Schuylkill River

A captivating, one-of-a-kind structure will allow visitors to seemingly walk atop the Schuylkill River, right along the southern shoreline of Philadelphia’s Bartram’s Garden. Set to arrive in 2022, FloatLab is a large, walkable art installation and learning lab. It is a new project from Mural Arts Philadelphia with support from the William Penn Foundation and is being designed by Boston-based firm Höweler + Yoon Architecture.

The lime green, ring-shaped pathway will change in elevation as visitors walk through it, creating points where one is walking above the water and others where one is eye level with the river. Approaches in architectural design, marine engineering, and naval architecture inform a system of eight ballast chambers below the structure’s surface, which allow FloatLab to remain consistently level and stable as the tide moves in and out. 

Image: Höweler & Yoon Architecture and Brick Visual

FloatLab was designed as a means to explore the river and reconnect visitors to...