Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/08/30/apple-just-built-a-floating-re.html
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First floating store is not exactly accurate. People have been selling things out of boats for a millennia.
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It only counts as a “first” when white people do it.
/s
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In 30 years it’ll be found tied up to some pier in an industrial park, forgotten, abandoned, covered in rust and graffiti.
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Makes plumbing the bathrooms a lot easier.
In reality, it probably has grey and black water tanks, and emptying those is probably a logistic nightmare.
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to add some context this is what the space looked like before apple rebuilt it into a sphere
https://www.safdiearchitects.com/projects/marina-bay-sands-crystal-pavilions
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No problem! It has no user serviceable parts. When the tanks get full, you upgrade to a newer model.
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Oh, it has an underground tunnel, so the plumbing and electric are easier, but then it is not really floating is it.
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Appparently the founding architect of that firm is the uncle(?) of the Safdie brothers of Uncut Gems fame. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re in for a treat. Here’s a wonderful short they did with Adam Sandler around the same time.
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I would guess that either it has flexible connections to shore water and sewer (like the floating houses in The Netherlands), or there aren’t bathrooms inside. It doesn’t look that big, and it’s just as easy to put a bathroom on the pier near the entrance.
There’s a big difference between a floating building and a ship. The former barely moves and doesn’t need to be self-sufficient. It’s a way to avoid driving pilings to the sea floor, is all.
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From @argos post it is not floating, but rather built on pilings and connected by an underwater tunnel. With an escalator thrown in for good measure.
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Probably some Seasteader tax dodge. Because Singapore isn’t libertarian enough.
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Please direct all complaints to YouTuber SG Yap re “first floating store.”
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@Robertor, @anon47741163, it’s not even the first floating store in Marina Bay Sands (Where the Apple store will be), Louis Vuitton has had a floating store there for years:
It is not balloon? Should have been Balloon!
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Your Tax Dollars Market Capitalization At Work!
Nice, so it’s a ‘floating’ retail store that absolutely, 100% does not float in any way at all… 
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