el laberinto

Laurids Ortner, Günther Zamp Kelp and Klaus Pinter of Haus-Rucker-Co, Oase No. 7 at the Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, 1972 (via spatialagency)

'Taking their cue from the Situationist's ideas of play as a means of engaging citizens, Haus-Rucker-Co created performances where viewers became participants and could influence their own environments, becoming more than just passive onlookers. These installations were usually made from pneumatic structures such as Oase No. 7 (1972), which was created for Documenta 5 in Kassel, Germany. An inflatable structure emerged from the façade of an existing building creating a space for relaxation and play, of which contemporary echoes can be found in the 'urban reserves' of Santiago Cirugeda. Haus-Rucker-Co's installations served as a critique of the confined spaces of bourgeois life creating temporary, disposable architecture, whilst their prosthetic devices were designed to enhance sensory experience and highlight the taken-for-granted nature of our senses, seen also in the contemporaneous work of the Brazilian artist Lygia Clark. Contemporary versions of such work can be found in the pneumatic structures favoured by Raumlabor and Exyzt.'

Kengo Kuma, Teehouse, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany, c. 2007 (via interactivearch)

'In search of flexible buildings – Kengo Kuma uses the term “weak architecture”. His teahouse does not rise up from the ground as a fixed wooden construction, but unfolds as an airborne ephemeral structure. When a ventilation system is activated, the teahouse swells into shape like a white textile blossom. In its interior, comprising a surface of approximately twenty square metres, are nine tatami mats, an electric stove for the water kettle, and a preparation room. Integrated LED technology allows the use of the teahouse at night; the interior can be heated by way of the membrane.'

David H. Geiger, Metrodome Roof Failure, Minneapolis, MN, 2010

José Miguel de Prada Poole, Hielotrón, Sevilla, Spain, 1973 (via arkinet)

"Esta obra construida con un mínimo de recursos y medios (hormigón en cimientos y salas de máquinas, lonas de fibra artificial y cables) pretendía crear un ambiente imaginario alrededor de una pista de hielo que se construyó ¡en Sevilla! en 1973. 

Sobre las cubiertas neumáticas que servían de pantallas, 18 proyectores situados en mástiles componían una imagen única que llenaba todas las cubiertas. De la pista principal partían ondulando dos pasillos de hielo por los que, al adentrarse en ellos, los patinadores podían encontrarse en el centro de un río africano al lado de unas canoas impulsadas por cientos de remeros, o en el centro de una competición de motos o automóviles, o junto a unas cigüeñas emigrando hacia el sur, o en medio de unos fuegos artificiales… Un grupo de esencias básicas podía ser distribuido pos el sistema de tratamiento de aire de modo que añadía el olor correspondiente a la imagen del entorno del momento para contribuir a la realidad del mismo.

Cualquier juego o imagen estaba controlada por el vision – jockey, o director escenográfico, de una arquitectura siempre cambiante, que manejando el mundo en el que estaban inmersos los patinadores contribuía a hacer volar su imaginación. Fue Premio Nacional de Arquitectura en 1975."

Vea también: Archigram's Bubble, the Instant City or the Suitaloon and the projects developed by José Miguel de Prada Poole in Spain, like Instant City.

Jean-Paul Jungmann, Experimental Pneumatic House / Diodon, 1967 (via arqueologiadelfuturo; nytimes)

"A mediados de los 60 tres estudiantes franceses de la Escuela de París, entre los que se encuentra Jean-Paul Jugmann, sorprende con sus proyectos finales de carrera con tres estructuras neumáticas, que atentan contra el racionalismo francés: un podium itinerante para 5000 espectadores de Jean Aubert, un hall itinerante de exposición de Antoine Stinco y Le Diodon de Jean Paul Jugmann, un habitat neumático extensible y transportable de carácter futurista y de gran complejidad formal."

IBEBI Design, Turtle GT, Pneumatic Structure, 2010

Etymology of Pneumatic: '1650s, from L. pneumaticus "of the wind, belonging to the air," from Gk. pneumatikos, from pneuma (gen. pneumatos) "wind," also "breath," from pnein "to blow, to breathe," from PIE base *pneu- "to breathe," of imitative origin.'

'An air-supported (or air-inflated) structure is any structure that derives its structural integrity from the use of internal pressurized air to inflate a pliable material (i.e. structural fabric) envelope, so that air is the main support of the structure. It is usually dome-shaped, since this shape creates the strongest structure for the least amount of material. To maintain structural integrity, the structure must be pressurized such that the internal pressure is equal to or exceeds any external pressure being applied to the structure (i.e wind pressure). The structure does not have to be airtight to retain structural integrity—as long as the pressurization system that supplies internal pressure replaces any air leakage, the structure will remain stable. All access to the structure interior must be equipped with two sets of doors or revolving door (airlock). Air-supported structures are secured by heavy weights on the ground, ground anchors, attached to a foundation, or a combination of these.'

'The “Turtle” family consists of modular pods which can be joined together to create unlimited building sizes. By utilizing shelters and hubs which can be zipped together, you are able to configure the Turtle into anything your imagination can conjure up. Durable, stunning and practical, the Turtle is perfect for any outdoor exhibition of event.'