Behold! A floating movie theater

With a city skyline as a backdrop, it's easy to see why rooftops have became a hot new movie venue. But one architect has figured out how to take the cinematic experience to whole other level by giving moviegoers a one-time opportunity to take in a movie premier amidst one of Thailand's most picturesque lagoons.

For the final night of the Film on the Rocks Yao Noi Festival, German architect Ole Scheeren created an acutual floating movie theater that was installed in the Phuket province last month. To give the movie audience the most breathtakingly scenic view possible, he placed the theater near a local island, slightly offshore, with the giant projection screen situated between a pair of rock outcroppings. Attendees were transported in via speedboat to be seated on separate platform that resembled a massive raft, which faced out toward the calm, blue sea.

On his website, Scheeren describes how he came up with the idea, which was inspired by the locals use of floating lobster farms.

The thought of watching films here seemed surprising: A screen, nestled somewhere between the rocks. And the audience... floating. Hovering above the sea, somewhere in the middle of this incredible space of the lagoon, focused on the moving images across the water. A landscape of pieces playfully joined together. A sense of temporality, randomness. Almost like drift wood. Or maybe something more architectural. Modular pieces, loosely assembled, like a group of little islands. A congregation of rafts as an auditorium. Archipelago Cinema.

Hmmm... Archipelago Cinema. So the name can use a little more work. But the end result was still nothing short of impressive, especially when you take into account that the entire structure was made entirely out of recycled materials. In fact, after the screening, the theater was towed away, disassembled and donated to the Yao Noi community.

Although the theater was built to as a temporary exhibition, the locals can now choose to re-purpose it as a floating playground or a stage for events.

(via Digital Trends)

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This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com