TwistedSifter: Located in Singapore, the Float at Marina Bay is the largest floating stage in the world. Made entirely of steel, the floating platform measures 120 meters (393.7 ft) long and 83 meters (272.3 ft) wide. The platform can bear 1,070 tonnes and is fixed to the seabed by six pylons. The gallery at the stadium has a seating capacity of 30,000 people.
19 comments:
This is actually really impressive. The act of getting the shear size of field floating is not my real concern, im curious what their plans are for handling shock loads during harsh weather. I also cant help but feel bad for the amounts of soccer balls they will innevitably lose.
Not going to lie, that pretty darn amazing. Sometimes I wonder how people come up with these ideas. or even more so, how they convince people to back them. That aside, this stage would create some curious problems. how do you load in lights equipment with out worrying about the water affecting it. Also is there some sort of netting system around the stadium so that things that go over the edge are not completely lost? Not to mention all the issues with having an outdoor stadium and inclement weather.
I have seen this stage before. It is very impressive but also kind of scary. I wonder what happens when the tide changes. If the stage is connected to land for support, how would the stage move with the tide? I don't quite understand the way that this works. I would definitely worry about it being affected by water, and having the electricity so close to a body of water. I love that Sean said "I also cant help but feel bad for the amounts of soccer balls they will innevitably lose." Thats brilliantly true. What happens to all those balls?
Holy cow, this is incredible. I love that it can be reconfigured to fit different needs and uses, but I also wonder... Why? What's the point of a floating platform like this when there are definitely going to be some lost athletic equipment and there are so many more possibilities on land. The audience is seated awkwardly on one side and is probably blinded by the sun half the time, and what happens when there's an unusually large wave? Is the field just out of commission for the rest of the day until all the water can be bailed out? Or what if there's an exceptionally powerful hurricane that shifts it to run into the shore?
I was actually surprised that the largest floating stage was in Singapore. I always thought it was the opera stage in Bregenz, Austria. It's good to get that cleared up. It is amazing how steel is manipulated so it seems as if it is floating on water. It's very surrealist. The water gives the stage a lightness as well as a softness. Usually, because stages are on solid surfaces, they look hard and man made. However, the water looks like a soft blanket and is very calming to the eye. I think it would be really interesting to take this idea further. Now, we only see actual stages. What if we made a set/image that would only make sense in the reflection of the water? What if Salvador Dali's "Reflecting Elephants" was real? It would be really cool to play with this mirror image concept.
This type of venue is interesting. I wonder how it would work to do theater in. The space seems to be too big for that because its too big of a space to fill and with potentially having 30,000 patrons would be hard/expensive to give everyone a good experience; however, its perfect for concerts or sporing events. I wonder if there was a stage like this in the US if equity would make the producing company pay hazard pay?
The thing I like more is how it's constructed like a jigsaw so it can be changed into multiple configurations. That leaves so much more opportunity to do creative things with such a unique space. I also like how the seating banks are on land, though I wonder what it would be like if you were able to move the seating banks around as well. It's also interesting to see photos of it with a soccer field on it. Was it originally intended for sporting events? I'd live to see pictures of other events and different configurations.
I agree with other people that this is cool, and the engineering behind it is really interesting, but I'm still not quite sold on the idea of it as a whole. Looking at the pictures, it seems like an incredibly awkward vantage point to watch, and as someone else mentioned, the sun may be directly in the audience's eyes for a vast majority of the day, with nothing for shade or shielding. If this was meant for big sporting events (as the pictures suggest), it doesn't seem to be very practical, what with losing sports equipment in the lake, the spectators watching from so far away, and the fact that spectators are only on one side of the field. As a concept, I understand why it's cool, but not so sure about the functionality of it.
This is absolutely a stunning and revolutionary thing. It's in really beautiful and shocking to see a stage on a water. I am all for outside theater and this taking place outside on a lake is just fascinating. The sets in these pictures are also stunning. I can see this creating many exciting challenges for the construction and electrics and lighting. Also the dangers that come along with natural things that are u. Control able. But I think this is brilliant and I would love to design or see a show here.
The stage in Singapore is cool and the whole idea behind outdoor stages as well. Outdoor stages offer a different environment to have performances in and usually offer a visually interesting background opposite to an indoor theater where the theater is usually designed to blend in to the background leaving the creation of the environment solely to the designer.
This is pretty cool, and very well designed to be convenient ... for sports. Happening right next to the grandprix and clearly meant to be a soccer field or something similar, I bet they can fill those 30,000 seats. This is still really cool but I don't see it being used for theater anytime soon. The seating also screams sports. its way to big for any sort of theatrical performance and I couldn't figure what is up with all those colors. However this would be a great venue for a rock concert. A lot of bands could easily fill those seats, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers just had to move a concert cause they realized they probably could not fit the 50,000 people they sold tickets to in the parking lot they had for the performance. I hope this stage is getting good use.
Also as a side note what is up with that swimming pool the article links to? That thing is 3000 ft long and next to a beach? I am so confused.
That is a really cool facility. I saw a video about a stadium that the field floated in and out and was exchangeable via a river with other things like a dance floor or a football field. That kind of engineering is really cool, but also important; it makes better use of space and is more efficient than other large venues. It's also customizable, which I'm sure will come in use at some point.
That is so fascinating! I don't know if anyone is familiar with Riverbend in Chattanooga but the stage is also on the water and is floated down each year. The one thing that I question is safety. I am sure they have a lot of waterproofing involved but I wonder how safeguarded it really is. The other thing regarding the sporting event I wonder what type of calibration system they have in place to make sure it is level. In something like a soccer match if the playing field was uneven one team would get a clear advantage.
I am curious to see if FIFA or any other soccer governing body has created any regulations in the case that a tide change or rogue wave could alter the Play Of Game. Possibly the designers of the field took this into consideration when they were building it and installed stabilizers underneath? I know I would be very angry if the opposing team managed to score a goal near the corner post only because the field dipped up at the exact golden time.
That is one of the nicest looking city skylines I have ever seen. The "stage" seems more like a sports field to me. I suppose they can get rid of the grass and use the stage for concerts. I do find it hard to imagine any sort of theatre happening on the stage though. The lighting would be very limited. Another concern I have is that the balls for the sports would fall in to the water a lot. Maybe they put up fences though. In any case This is one of the wonders of the modern age. I hope that unconventional performances continue to be built around the world. The prefab/re configurable design should also be copied in other new buildings.
The platform is really pretty cool and I am amazed. So I was really interested in the ability to rearrange the floating platform to other designs. But I could not find any pictures of anything of them actually doing that. I wonder if they were like this is a really good idea in the design phase and then in practicality it is not a good idea. So pretty cool that it is floating. I guess that when you run out of real estate on land you must go somewhere. I do wonder about the movement and the feel of the ground. The platform can support over 1000 tons, so I imagine the platform is pretty stable then.
This is definitely one of te most stunning thing I saw recently. I never have heard of or seen any of floating stage. I think this adds one more reason that I want to visit Singapore. Besides the Opera house in Songapore, I think that people in Singapore really look for creativity and originality, which end up such an innovative art exhibition. This stage not only serves as a huge stage, but also serves as a wonderful artwork that makes a beautiful scenery of the city. I really hope that one day, I have an opportunity that I can see a production on one of the seats in that floating stage because that outdoor stage is so awesome and I believe that watching a show in that innovative stage will feel totally different.
This seems so fascinating! The fact that a stage was made and able to float on water is astounding. The rigging and configuration of this must've taken awhile to develop. Also, by looking at this configuration, it's amazing to think just what a theatre company can do with their shows if they have access to water and the materials to do something like this. If automation was also involved, it could really create a great addition of entertainment for the audience, if done correctly and safely.
The concept of a floating stage is not a new one to me, as the fantastic sets of the Bregenz Opera always come to mind. However fantastic the spectacle may be with a stage on the water, I do think that it is rather impractical for a sporting event. As most other people have noted in their comments, any balls or equipment that tends to fly in the air must definitely end up in the water at one point or another. The system that actually lets them reconfigure the platform to fit the needs of the event really intrigues me, and I'd love to learn more about it.
Post a Comment