As much as the elite love watching movies in the comfort of their private home theaters, they equally seem to love flowing down to French Riviera for film festivals and even watching movies relaxing in the pool on their luxury outdoor theater set-up. We have earlier seen many of the luxurious outdoor screen concepts, including the Porsche Design Studio’s world’s largest LED TV, the custom made amphitheater, and the outdoor home theater in a Belzberg’s abode. But, nothing could beat this floating movie-theater set in the private island of Yao Noi in Andaman Sea, Thailand, delivering unique cinematic experience like never before! The floating movie theater is actually a temporary auditorium-raft designed by architect Ole Scheeren in collaboration with the Film on the Rocks Yao Noi Foundation.

The auditorium is a congregation of rafts, dubbed as Archipelago Cinema in which screen was nestled in front of the limestone protrusions of the Andaman. And the audience floating, hovering above the sea, and focused on the moving images across the water displayed on the giant screen.

The floating screening room, Archipelago Cinema was originally designed to ensure that Film on the Rocks Yao Noi fest practically existed on a different planet. A bevy of avid film-goers experienced a unique cinematic moment amidst the Yao Noi's rocky and private shoreline.

All this was the part of the new Thai film festival called Film on the Rocks Yao Noi, a brainchild of Chomwan Weeraworawit, owner of Six Senses Yao Noi and its principal organizer, that brought actors, writers, designers and artists together. For four days, the event space was the resort for outdoor film screenings, insanely scenic dinners and film discussions. Other highlights of the event includes a 101 workshop hosted by Tom Sachs, a New York artist who not only lectured on the importance of ‘things to do’ list, but also played his cult studio films, followed by a batik dying lesson by renowned designer Waris Ahluwalia, and much more.

The architect adopted local techniques to develop this floating cinema; he used rafts used by local fishermen to farm lobsters, and he tied the wooden frames by rubber straps to create blocks that were wrapped in mosquito nets.

Further, all recycled woods and materials were used, and the rafts have reusable modularity, as everything will be given back to the local community after the screening. The whole event space construction was flexible that can be towed anywhere, and it was something that can appear from time to time to host a movie screening for a few people.

bornrich.com