Point Counterpoint II, a music performance barge designed by Louis Kahn for Robert Boudreau and his American Wind Symphony Orchestra, was launched in 1976 as a bicentennial project. For over 40 years the 196-foot vessel, designed with references to a flute and sporting a hydraulic steel clamshell that lifted to reveal the performance space, plied coasts and waterways across the country—and abroad—presenting shoreside concerts. The silvery barge had a cameo role in Nathaniel Kahn’s 2003 film, My Architect.

By 2017 it was in need of repairs and set for the maritime scrap heap if a new buyer and permanent dock could not be found. Palm Beach County, FL, outbid Kingston, NY, but after the barge arrived in Florida the project failed to take hold. Late in 2019, plans were afoot to bring Point Counterpoint II to Sag Harbor, NY, but regulatory hurdles proved too much for the town. Project leaders in Sag Harbor made the final lucky pass, reaching out to Dean Adler, CEO of Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds. The firm is developing an arts and culture hub in Philadelphia’s 1917 Delaware Power Station and had plans for a floating music performance component. All looks very promising. Point Counterpoint II has been towed to North Carolina for repairs before tying up on the Delaware River and inaugurating a new era of riverside concerts in 2022.

“Louis Kahn’s Point Counterpoint II finds permanent home in Philadelphia,” Architect’s Newspaper, December 7, 2020

“Louis Kahn’s Music Barge Finds New Home,” Architectural Record, December 3, 2020.