Floating Cabin / Atelier Wen'Arch

The Floating Cabin, an exhibit at the 2025 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season (SUSAS), is located on the high-pile dock of the Fuxing Island Shipyard Park in Yangpu District, Shanghai. It serves as a supplementary public space for citizens and tourists to relax by the river and for events. The concept originates from the site; the high-pile dock, shipbuilding cranes, pump house, and flood control wall all evoke memories of the industrial history of the Zhonghua Shipyard. The super-scale shipyard machinery and infrastructure on the site presents a state of being static yet potentially dynamic. We hoped to extend this site character into the design of the Floating Cabin, transforming it into a contemporary architectural space that transcends conventional types. "Cabin" refers to the mechanical aesthetics of the shipyard industry, and also to a functional space that accommodates variable content; while "floating" represents a suspended structural state.