This article was taken from the January 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
When is a balloon not a balloon? When it's a concert hall.
Designed by Anish Kapoor, Ark Nova's inflatable structure created several challenges -- not least of which was that the interior of a balloon is acoustically poor. So, Kapoor and his architects added a tube. "By using a tube, the structure was deformed, so that the sound being reflected inside would be diffused," explains Ryo Makino, an architect at Isozaki, Aoki & Associates, which realised the project.
The sound was still below par, so Makino used acoustic modelling software to determine the best position for the acoustic reflectors - which was right above the stage. In typical concert halls, these hang from the ceiling, but that was impossible here. "So we created a balloon that floats by itself." This "acoustic cloud" also bears a lighting rig. Inflated with helium, it is tethered above the stage.
Ark Nova takes about five hours to inflate, although in theory, it could be done in 20 minutes. "We need to take care not to damage it," Makino says. "It's not a normal building, it's also a sculpture."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
