How One Woman Pulled Anchor and Set Sail in a Solar-Powered Tiny Home

Marianne loved life on the water, so she had design firm Crossboundaries turn a houseboat into a roaming residence.

Nov 23, 2022 - 20:34
How One Woman Pulled Anchor and Set Sail in a Solar-Powered Tiny Home

Marianne loved life on the water, so she had design firm Crossboundaries turn a houseboat into a roaming residence.

Client, Marianne, and architect, Binke Lendhardt, one of the founders of Crossboundaries, met in Beijing 15 years ago through mutual friends. When she bought the boat, Marianne wanted to bridge Eastern and Western concepts of design and so approached Crossboundaries. In keeping with this approach, the boat is named Fàng Sōng 放松—which translates from Chinese into

To the say the least, the pandemic shook up our notions of home, and some took the opportunity to float some new ideas. After being approached by a client in Berlin to refurbish a houseboat into a tiny home, Beijing-based architecture studio Crossboundaries set out to explore the limitations of life on the go.

"Envisioning people living in a nomadic fashion is no longer an abstract image—it is achievable," says Binke Lenhardt, one of the firm’s cofounders. "Simultaneously, we are debating our notions of public versus private and temporary versus permanent."

Client, Marianne, and architect, Binke Lendhardt, one of the founders of Crossboundaries, met in Beijing 15 years ago through mutual friends. When she bought the boat, Marianne wanted to bridge Eastern and Western concepts of design and so approached Crossboundaries. In keeping with this approach, the boat is named Fàng Sōng 放松—which translates from Chinese into

After buying a boat, Marianne, who split her time between Beijing and Berlin, wanted to create a floating home that bridged Eastern and Western concepts of design. So she approached long-time friend Binke Lendhart, an architect and cofounder of design firm Crossboundaries. In keeping with this approach, the boat is named Fàng Sōng—which means "Relax!"—representing a link to Marianne’s life and experiences in China.

Photo by Johanna Link

The firm’s client, Marianne, is German born, but has led a relatively unmoored lifestyle, particularly over the past decade while living and working between Beijing and Berlin. More recently she spent a short period living aboard a boat before joining a rowing club in the latter city. These experiences gave her a strong desire to spend more time near and on the water, culminating with the purchase of the houseboat in 2020.

The boat is moored in Stößensee on the western outskirts of Berlin, some distance from Marianne’s permanent home in the eastern part of the city. It enables her to explore nature at a slow pace. While it’s unable to take on oceans, the houseboat is able to travel through inland waterways, lakes, and rivers, where weather conditions are less extreme.

The boat is moored in Stößensee on the western outskirts of Berlin, some distance from Marianne’s permanent home in the eastern part of the city. It enables her to explore nature at a slow pace. While it’s unable to take on oceans, the houseboat is able to travel through inland waterways, lakes, and rivers, where weather conditions are less extreme.

Photo by Johanna Link

Crossboundaries treated the project as an opportunity to explore historic examples of mobile residences. In particular, they were fascinated by the more experimental work of avant-garde architectural group Archigram, which was known for creating concepts of lightweight, movable structures and modular technology.

Crossboundaries treated the project as an opportunity to explore historic examples of mobile residences. In particular, they were fascinated by the more experimental work of avant-garde architectural group Archigram, which was known for creating concepts of lightweight, movable structures and modular technology.

Photo by Johanna Link

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