Nick Crosbie – Air Structures
Inflate
Thursday 14th November, 6.30pm, Room M421
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment
University of Westminster
35 Marylebone Road
London NW1 5LS
“People’s perceptions of inflatable’s are weird – it’s all common sense and simple physics yet inflatable technology is seen as a black art, a kind of magic. In the future, I think we’ll use inflatables more – not to entirely replace traditional buildings, but in combination with them. Inflatables don’t solve every problem, but they are a stimulus to changing people’s ideas about how to solve problems.”
Nick Crosbie’s designs for Inflate have changed the way that we look at domestic objects, with his playful reworking of everyday household items, such as his inflatable fruit bowl, chairs, clothing and Inflate’s iconic inflatable eggcup. Since setting up Inflate in 1995 Crosbie has designed and manufactured a whole family of pneumatic structures from permanent classrooms, inflatable changing rooms and huge domes and enclosures for temporary events, corporate launches and festivals. Crosbie has also developed a number of unique pneumatic structural systems, which include SuperCube, ExtremeDome and GrandeTurtle. Recently Inflate has even gone a step further, designing a ‘semi-permanent’ inflatable architecture system called AirClad. It reflects his ambition “to prove that inflatables can be used in regular architecture – to challenge the idea that they’re only good for bouncy castles.” With its light, framed construction, AirClad has a lifespan of up to 60 years and is reusable.
Crosbie sees it as a way of modifying permanent structures. “The big thing is it can be built onsite with regular builders,” he says. “People’s perceptions of inflatables are weird – it’s all common sense and simple physics yet inflatable technology is seen as a black art, a kind of magic. In the future, I think we’ll use inflatables more – not to entirely replace traditional buildings, but in combination with them. Inflatables don’t solve every problem, but they are a stimulus to changing people’s ideas about how to solve problems.”
http://inflate.co.uk
For Lecture details
Will McLean / Pete Silver
w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk
http://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/