See more objects with the tag art, water, transportation, curvilinear, rivers, ships, continuous, tourism, vessel, ribbon, Europe, mulitpurpose.

See more objects with the color darkslategrey lightblue lavender dimgrey darkgrey or see all the colors for this object.

Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2011

  • Work on this object began.

2015

2025

  • You found it!

Boat (not Yet Realized)

This is a Boat (not yet realized). It was designed by Heatherwick Studio and Thomas Heatherwick and made for (as the client) Le Voyage à Nantes. It is dated 2011.

Can a whole boat be made from its hull?
Nantes’ mayor commissioned a large riverboat to travel the Loire River to strengthen connections between Nantes and Saint-Nazaire and enable viewing of art projects along the way. The studio designed the complete vessel from a single hull element to relate its upper part to its lower underwater part. The continuous strip is a closed loop, which, having formed both hulls, crosses over itself to create decks and cabin space. When the design was presented, the mayor exclaimed, "Ooh la la!" The vessel will be constructed from aluminum in Saint-Nazaire’s shipyards.

It is credited Courtesy of Heatherwick Studio.

  • Paternoster Vents
  • cut, glass-bead-blasted stainless steel.
  • Courtesy of Heatherwick Studio.
  • HSP.10
  •

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/85006465/ |title=Boat (not Yet Realized) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=11 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>