New Collective Ground: Fiberglass, Concrete, Water
advised by Sarah Whiting & Luis Callejas
Spring 2025

Maritime intelligence is tacit knowledge—materials, techniques, and practices passed on by sailors, fishermen, and coastal dwellers. For decades, the maritime community has used decommissioned military observation towers along the coast as visual waypoints for navigation. This project reactivates the towers as event anchors. By organizing discarded sailboats around them, a new datum above the flood plane is established as a hostel for transient populations. Fiberglass sailboat hulls embody centuries of marine engineering standardization, while their cabins express local design and craftsmanship. By setting the new ground at deck height, the project imagines engineering serving culture rather than dominating it.