A Deflatable Architecture // AADRL

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i.1 air as cast

PRECEDENTS

i.2 air as constituent

i.3 air as formative agent Air pressure is used in the scientific, industrial, artistic and architectural fields to cast, create and configure material form. Contact with air brings about changes in material properties and structure, and can be a direct or indirect method of form-finding and of fabrication. A membrane filled with air, such as a balloon, becomes rigid and behaves like a solid object. Air bubbles or inflated membranes have thus been used as low-energy, lightweight formwork to be cast upon are various scales. Air can also become a constituent in a material and alter its inherent properties at the molecular or structural level. The addition of air bubbles to different materials produces varying results. The blowing of compressed air into or over the surface of a material moulds it into unpredictable forms that maybe planned or intuitive, tailored or unique.

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1 Bubblewrap being used as a reconfigurable mould for vacuum-forming 2 Inflatable ball houses built by Heinz Isler in the 60s 3 Process of casting over an inflatable scaffold 4 Structure of metal foam containing air pockets 5 Injection of an air balloon into materials with varying viscocities

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2 5 6 Glass-blowing by blowing of air over the surface of molten glass, in which no two results can be identical 7 Compressed air is blown into tailored and welded steel sheets to create lightweight furniture

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