| Description: | Tomas Saraceno's work belongs at once to the world of science and art. His ongoing project, Air-Port-City imagines a network of 'biospheres' (or habitable cells) floating in the sky, like clouds constantly moving, changing shape, and merging with one another. This flying architecture builds on the tradition of Utopian architects such as Buckminster Fuller and Archigram to propose a new mode of living that transcends national, geographic and political boundaries. Since 2002 Saraceno has continued, in sculptures, installations and experimental flights, to make a series of incremental steps towards his ultimate goal of cities built in the air.
His 'biospheres' are ethereal structures, in which clusters of transparent pillows are gathered together in arched nets to form larger spheres. Visually they invoke the structures of nature viewed through the lens of science, reminiscent of scientific models of atoms, or a collection of transparent eggs enlarged under the microscope. In his drawings, the interior of Air-Port-City appears like the palaces of the Moors {early pioneers in mathematics and astronomy), a progression of light airy halls framed by geometric forms endlessly receding into the distance.
Saraceno draws on the latest technological developments in materials and processes to realise his models. He has patented a particular application of the material Aerogel for use in the construction of lighter-than-air vehicles; while the transparent pillows used in his latest modules are made from TUP (Thermoplastic Polyurethane), a considerably lighter, more transparent and elastic material than PVC. But his work also looks to more familiar materials, natural and man-made. The plant Tillandsia, first used by Saraceno in Flying Gardens (2006), frequently appears in his work, its green tendrils growing from a cluster of transparent pillows floating in the air. Deriving all its nutrition from air and rainwater, Tillandsia, like the inhabitants of Air-Port-City, has no need of earthbound roots. Museo Aerosolar (2007) is a giant solar balloon entirely constructed out of the common plastic bag. For this nomadic and constantly expanding project, Saraceno invites communities around the world (Italy, United Arab Emirates, Colombia, France, Switzerland, Albania, and soon the US) to donate plastic bags, which are fixed together to create a structure that remains airborne through the heat of sun alone. The project symbolically enacts Saraceno's vision for the trans-national Air-Port-City, uniting communities in a structure that transforms the detritus of human existence into a miraculous act of flight.
Saraceno's architectural project has a particular resonance in relation to growing concern about climate change, and increasing demands placed on the earth's resources by an expanding population. His 'biospheres' offer a solution, both practical and inspirational, to man's problems. Yet Saraceno is not concerned with developing an emergency architecture, an architecture of 'flight' that offers escape or refuge from a ravaged earth. As he himself has said, "Fortunately, we don't have problems, only opportunities." Saraceno pursues the architecture of the possible. His structures imagine what might be, and seek to realize the future in the present. SC [MORE][LESS]Tomas Saraceno's work belongs at once to the world of science and art. His ongoing project, Air-Port-City imagines a network of 'biospheres' (or habitable cells) floating in the sky, like clouds constantly moving, changing shape, and merging with one another. This flying architecture builds on the tradition of Utopian architects such as Buckminster Fuller and Archigram to propose a new mode of living that transcends national, geographic and political boundaries. Since 2002 Saraceno has continued, in sculptures, installations and experimental flights, to make a series of incremental steps towards his ultimate goal of cities built in the air.
His 'biospheres' are ethereal structures, in which clusters of transparent pillows are gathered together in arched nets to form larger spheres. Visually they invoke the structures of nature viewed through the lens of science, reminiscent of scientific models of atoms, or a collection of transparent eggs enlarged under the microscope. In his drawings, the interior of Air-Port-City appears like the palaces of the Moors {early pioneers in mathematics and astronomy), a progression of light airy halls framed by geometric forms endlessly receding into the distance.
Saraceno draws on the latest technological developments in materials and processes to realise his models. He has patented a particular application of the material Aerogel for use in the construction of lighter-than-air vehicles; while the transparent pillows used in his latest modules are made from TUP (Thermoplastic Polyurethane), a considerably lighter, more transparent and elastic material than PVC. But his work also looks to more familiar materials, natural and man-made. The plant Tillandsia, first used by Saraceno in Flying Gardens (2006), frequently appears in his work, its green tendrils growing from a cluster of transparent pillows floating in the air. Deriving all its nutrition from air and rainwater, Tillandsia, like the inhabitants of Air-Port-City, has no need of earthbound roots. Museo Aerosolar (2007) is a giant solar balloon entirely constructed out of the common plastic bag. For this nomadic and constantly expanding project, Saraceno invites communities around the world (Italy, United Arab Emirates, Colombia, France, Switzerland, Albania, and soon the US) to donate plastic bags, which are fixed together to create a structure that remains airborne through the heat of sun alone. The project symbolically enacts Saraceno's vision for the trans-national Air-Port-City, uniting communities in a structure that transforms the detritus of human existence into a miraculous act of flight.
Saraceno's architectural project has a particular resonance in relation to growing concern about climate change, and increasing demands placed on the earth's resources by an expanding population. His 'biospheres' offer a solution, both practical and inspirational, to man's problems. Yet Saraceno is not concerned with developing an emergency architecture, an architecture of 'flight' that offers escape or refuge from a ravaged earth. As he himself has said, "Fortunately, we don't have problems, only opportunities." Saraceno pursues the architecture of the possible. His structures imagine what might be, and seek to realize the future in the present. SC |
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