2009 Beam Project: Float With The Flowers

Each summer Beam commissions a Project Master to design a unique large-scale collaborative endeavor that campers produce and enjoy. For summer 2009 we selected a proposal entitled "Float With The Flowers" by architects Christine Baumgartner and Manuel Kretzer.Sixty-five campers and the Beam staff worked for four weeks to construct two extraordinary structures, comprised of wooden balls and dowels, that stand closed on land and blossom open on water. Part puzzle and sculpture, Beam campers explored how simple elements combine to form complex systems; how even a "toy" is a product of intense design, precision engineering and fabrication; how balls, sticks and tubes, wood and plastic, can combine to represent and reflect natural contours and forces. Their patience and craft led them to a better understanding of our world and the things we use and enjoy.We are very proud of the spectacular work that Manuel, Christine, our campers and staff did and the exquisite structures they created.Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoz77NkrvS8