An inflatable concert hall by Anish Kapoor for the Lucerne Festival. Anish Kapoor developed the concept of the structureless shell in collaboration with the British company Aerotrope, with whom he has worked with on previous projects. The office of Isozaki, Aoki & Associates from Tokyo was responsible for realizing the FESTIVAL ARK NOVA on location in Matsushima. The main focus in the design of a mobile hall was to be able, through musical and cultural events, to reach as many of the people affected by the disaster as possible. With its flexible seating, the mobile concert hall can accommodate up to 500 people. It was being put into operation for the first time from 27 September to 13 October 2013. Because an inflatable hall naturally has no load-bearing structure or insulation, air is constantly pumped in to generate positive pressure to maintain the construction’s shape. To precondition this additional air thermally would be highly energy-inefficient, which is why this procedure is not used for the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ARK NOVA. Instead, thermal laws are used for ventilation. The heat generated from the sun and the occupants is discharged at the highest point of the hall over an air outlet. Thus the amount of discharged air corresponds to that of incoming fresh air. This not only stabilizes the building but at the same time provides for a necessary exchange of air.
Images by Lucerne Festival and Anish Kapoor.