Waterpod
Sculpture | 2009 | New York City Waterfronts
Waterpod was a floating habitat and mobile public space built atop a repurposed barge. Conceived as a speculative model for future urban living, it addressed rising sea levels, overpopulation, and the need for alternative infrastructures. The project operated as a self-sustaining ecosystem with rainwater catchment, vegetable gardens, renewable energy, and live/work spaces—constructed entirely from New York City’s waste stream.
The Waterpod traveled to all five boroughs over five months in 2009, mooring at public docks and transforming into a site for civic exchange. It hosted hundreds of public programs including artist residencies, workshops, performances, and community dinners. The project invited people aboard to share in systems of collective care and to imagine floating neighborhoods that adapt to changing environments.
Built collaboratively, Waterpod emphasized barter economies and mutual support, reflecting both the precarity and potential of urban interdependence. In its wake, the project helped catalyze civic dialogue around climate futures and directly influenced subsequent works like Swale and WetLand.
Project Details
Year: 2009
Locations: Public docks throughout NYC’s five boroughs
Collaborators: Mira and Derek Hunter, Eve K. Tremblay, Leslie Bocskor, Alison Ward, Cory Mervis, Lonny Grafman, Ian Daniel, Mayra Ciment, Carissa Carman, Logan Smith, Tressie Word, Veronica Flores, James Halverson, Gabe Krause, Ernest Martin, John McGarvey, Stephanie Dedes, Doug Cohen, Jim Mattingly, Meg Glasser, R. David Gibbs, Rand Weeks, Steel Neal, Nicole Pilar Fell, Rik Van Hemmen, Tim Corrigan, and many others
Support: NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Mayor’s Office of Special Projects, Blank Rome LLP, Percent for Art, and pro bono legal and engineering firms
Materials: Repurposed barge, salvaged wood and steel, solar panels, wind turbine, rainwater catchment, edible plants, greywater filtration
Website: www.thewaterpod.org
“I built Waterpod with a community of artists and engineers as a response to climate precarity and to try to figure out a way to live in the city with less economic stress. We wanted to create a place where resilience was reimagined and practiced daily. Living on the Waterpod, we became attuned to the rhythms of water and weather, to shared labor and improvisation. It was a kind of living sculpture: fragile, porous, and always evolving. In a way just like the systems it mirrored.” - Mattingly
Description
Waterpod reflects Mattingly’s early exploration of mobile architecture and closed-loop systems. As a floating public living system, it asked what future housing might look like in an era of climate migration. Drawing inspiration from architects like Buckminster Fuller, the project combined art, science, engineering, and ecology to augment civic space with closed-loop systems. Over its five-month journey, Waterpod welcomed over 200,000 visitors and illustrated that public art could also be a functioning prototype for resilient living.
Documentation
Mayra climbing the dome in the Waterpod, 2009
Waterpod Visitor at Worlds Fair Marina in Queens, 2009
Workshop with Bob Hyland on the Waterpod, 2009
Waterpod at Concrete Plant Park, 2009. Photo. Ian Daniel
Continued Relevance
- Early precedent for floating, climate-resilient public art
- Combined architecture and performance
- Influential in shaping city-wide conversations on water access and ecological design
- Supported interdisciplinary collaboration between artists, scientists, and engineers
A Journey
A cohesive support network was crucial to gain the necessary backing for this undertaking in New York City. The project represented barter and in-kind support led by many talented people, including Mira and Derek Hunter, Eve K. Tremblay, Leslie Bocskor, and Cory Mervis.
Several key individuals reached out at critical points to move the project forward, such as Allison Jaffin at NYC Deputy Mayor Patti Harris’s office, Jamie Bennett at the Department of Cultural Affairs, and Maxeme Tuchman from the Mayor’s Office of Special Projects. Blank Rome, LLC also provided invaluable support by taking on the project as a pro bono assignment.
As the project gained momentum and a solid base of support, other talented individuals joined the team, including John McGarvey, Alison Ward, Carissa Carman, Lonny Grafman, Dockmaster Frank J. Carnesi, Rik van Hemmen at Martin Ottaway, Evan Korn, Jessica Rosenfield, U.S. Coast Guard Commander Brian S. Gilda, Sara Reisman at Percent for Art, Ken Hollenbeck, Richard Massey, and many others. In the final stages of planning, co-curator Ian Daniel, Mayra Ciment, Nicole Pilar, Kristen Parker, Janet Persia, and numerous volunteers joined the effort, contributing to the Waterpod.