Teeter Dock °*

BCL * Recycled Plastic Robotic 3D Printing

DATE2024-2025

LOCATIONVenice, IT

TYPE
Material Research & Public Installation

PRIMARY INVESTIGATORDavid Costanza

COLLABORATORSLuisel Zayas (Formateria)
Fabiola Guzmán Rivera (Flora Rural)

OVERVIEWTeeter Dock is a speculative proposal developed collaboratively. It envisions a 32-square-meter interactive floating platform made entirely from recycled ocean plastics in a canal. Crafted from 28 robotically 3D-printed, post-tensioned buoys, the platform gently rocks in response to user movement, encouraging collective balance and engagement. Inspired by a boat hull, its geometry features a symmetrical tipping axis that creates an oblique surface to lean on and a folded edge that serves as a seat, fostering gathering, play, and shared experience.
The installation acts as an architectural intervention and a metaphor for ecological interdependence, highlighting the collective intelligence needed to navigate environmental responsibility. As visitors move across the platform, they must physically negotiate balance with one another, producing a dynamic, interactive public space. By uniting material innovation with civic engagement, Teeter Dock demonstrates design's potential to address environmental challenges and cultivate a shared ethic of care.
The project builds on research into plastics in architecture and utilizes fabrication techniques developed at Cornell University's Building Construction Lab. Plastic waste is collected, ground, sorted, and robotically printed, forming a closed-loop process.

BCL

DCS