floating market
Lakes as Venues
From Prototype to Floating Market & Exhibit
For Lakescape partners and collaborators, the spring and summer of 2026 were marked by brainstorming, problem-solving, and hands-on testing—with the aim of establishing the first European floating market on Lake Vänern, the largest of Europe’s lakes.
Whether in Lidköping, Lake Balaton, or Struga, these months brought art, economy and sociology into dialogue with local lake knowledge to imagine new socio-economic realities—advancing sustainable development and new opportunities for creators, citizens and lakeshore communities.
Testing floating exhibition objects
The making-of phase started at the end of June during the Lidköping talent development residency. Raft testing and prototyping were organised with architecture students from across Europe and the United States, who took on the challenge of designing and building floating platforms for the upcoming floating market on Lake Vänern in Lidköping.
The event served both as a practical experiment and a collaborative design workshop, bringing together diverse perspectives. Using existing rafts, students and Lakescape residents explored how a market could operate on water—examining logistics, stability, and the visitor experience.
In parallel, group workshops generated new concepts; sketches, models and prototypes emerged, gradually shaping a shared vision for the floating market. The test day laid foundations for implementation in Lidköping and opened fresh ideas about how architecture and design can respond to Vänern’s unique environment.
Design and construction were organised by the Floating Neighbourhood project with Dals Långeds Utvecklingsråd, in collaboration with HDK-Valand Steneby (University of Gothenburg) and the University of Washington’s landscape architecture programme.
Boats as stores
Floating Lake Promenade (Struga)
Struga—known for its trading heritage, craftsmanship, and vibrant grassroots culture—met the opportunity to test a floating market on Lake Ohrid with curiosity, practical support and strong community stewardship.
Local artisans and five international residents set sail and relocated their shops onto boats, using the lake as a platform to explore symbiotic, sustainable collaboration between people and their environment.
INKA – Initiative for Independent Activism Struga, with logistics partners Europe House Struga and Solaris Sports Club, invited the public to join this unusual experience and support a creative lakeside community. They provided transport by kayak and SUP boards, and ensured a lively atmosphere with music and refreshments.
Participants included Sanja Mikrogreens, Poraka Nova, Duḱan, Bache Handmade Design, Makalo od Dese, Leska Craft, Dijana Handmade, Another Universe Manufacture, Kalin Ceramics, SAVE – Sustainable Fashion Shop, Pleteni Prikazni, and Darovi od Prirodata. Visitors also encountered the boat curated by residency designers Linnéa Ekelöf, Marianne Hellman, Hajnal Gyeviki, and OAZA.
If words are not enough to convey the experience, watch our short recap video from the Struga floating market:
Public Beaches
Places for Sustainable Craft (Balaton)
Floating-market testing continued during the Balaton talent development residency. At one of Lake Balaton’s few free-entry beaches, partners Pro Progressione and Lakescape residents organised a small craft fair. Visitors browsed lake-inspired works made with natural and recycled materials—discovering sustainable gifts, zero-waste alternatives and unique designs in a relaxed shoreline setting.
Elegant finale
floating exhibition and design market on Vänern
What began as drafts, sketches and trials culminated in a shared celebration of dialogue between lake waters and human creation. On 16 August, at Vänermuseet in Lidköping, Transversal project producers, brought the first European Floating Market on Lake Vanern.
All 12 designers awarded Lakescape stipends gathered here to present the collections they had been developing. Their works were exhibited on a floating gallery designed by international landscape-architecture students. The setting invited the surrounding environment onto the rafts: seating arrangements and carefully presented objects created a pleasant ambience where design, landscape and visitors interacted. White tents around the natural pool formed a small village of craft and design. The public could purchase inventive, thoughtful pieces made with clear appreciation for lakes as sources of life and inspiration. Artists brought incredible collections and inventive designs reflecting deep connection with lake bodies.
Throughout the day, a rich programme of workshops engaged visitors of all ages: from organic papermaking to silversmithing, from soldering lake finds to textile-waste souvenirs—even fish-skin tanning, sensing and proposing a Vänern perfume, mycelium floats, and prototyping your own floating store!!! Music and contemporary dance added lift to the gathering.
Framed by the theme—exploring relationships between water, design and people—the event encouraged conversation, interaction, awareness and reflection on how human creativity meets lakes. All in all, this floating fair was a lakescaping milestone: a shared social imagination made tangible, bringing together design, making and lakeshore communities to experiment, prototype and grow—with the lake in mind.
Partners and Associates
For any questions, contact us via email and social media
info@lakescape.eu