A Bubble For The Rainy Days

Here at The Pop-up City we really like inflatables. In the past we’ve discussed multiple examples of bubble-like architecture (bridges, rooms, water promenades, festival spaces, playgrounds) and it’s really exciting to see new original uses of this concept in the urban realm.

In one of their past projects, the international network City Mine(d), proposed an urban intervention tool of multiple purpose. ‘Bubble’ is an inflatable, transparent, plastic structure which can be set up in public space in order to function as a meeting and presentation space, despite bad weather conditions.

It has already been successfully used in Brussels, London and Barcelona to host events and festivals in the public realm. Bubble provides quite an original and artistic solution to the problem of lack of space for organizing events. The makers explain:

“The bubble is a large translucent bag the size of a basketball (50 by 20 feet) made of polyethylene greenhouse film and is inflated with a small fan. It takes less than an hour to put it up, and can stay up as long as there is electricity supply.”

Apart from its functional purpose, Bubble aims to attract public and media interest and attention to the space that it is established. This ‘Unidentified Inflated Object’ not only allows the use of an open space during rainy days, but it also prompts people to rethink the way they were using (or not using at all) public spaces. Bubble can play the role of a landmark for an area and thus boost public realm revitalization.