The origami-inspired building would inflate with help from a giant helium balloon.
From telescopes to heart stents and artificial muscles, origami has inspired all sorts of curiously innovative objects. Now a trio of Polish designers has won a major design competition for their proposal for an origami-inspired skyscraper that could be transported to a building site in folded form and then unfolded to its full height with help from a huge, built-in helium balloon. The proposed tower might sound like something from the distant future, but it’s intended to address a problem of the here and now: providing shelter for people who have been displaced by earthquakes, hurricanes, and other disasters. The designers say the inflatable building, dubbed Skyshelter.zip, could be lowered into place by helicopter, moored to the ground, and then quickly erected. “When it needs to be delivered to remote areas, all it takes is moving a relatively small package that’s already assembled and ready to use…” one of the designers, Piotr Pańczyk, told NBC News MACH in an email. “All that needs to be done is pumping a balloon.” In addition to sheltering up to 1,000 people, the building could house a first-aid station and even a vertical farm that could help feed its residents. And the designers say that with its tiny footprint, the building would mostly eliminate the need to clear debris from large swaths of land — something that often must be done before large numbers of tents can be put up. The building’s walls would be made of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), a flexible plastic that can have built-in electricity-generating solar cells. Lightweight 3D-printed metal slabs attached crosswise to these gossamer sheets would serve as floors. Ramps between floors would allow residents to move about within the building. Skyshelter.zip would extend to a maximum height of 100 meters, but the height and number of stories could be adjusted to fit the need: more helium pumped into the balloon means a taller building and room for more people. There are no plans yet to build Skyshelter.zip, and not everyone is convinced such a structure makes sense. Ostap Rudakevych, a visiting associate professor of architecture at Pratt Institute in New York City, called Skyshelter.zip a “provocative vision” but said technical considerations might render it infeasible. Among these concerns are securing and transporting enough helium to lift the structure and ensuring that the balloon remains fully inflated over time. “Helium is one of the smallest atoms, and to date there isn’t a flexible material that can adequately contain it,” said Rudakevych, who made headlines last year when he floated the idea of suspending a skyscraper from an asteroid. “It will slowly leak out over weeks and would need to be replenished periodically, or the tower would sag and collapse.” Pańczyk acknowledged the challenges of bringing Skyshelter.zip to life but is undeterred. “With current technology, building this structure would most likely prove to be impossible or extremely costly,” he told NBC News MACH in an email. “But we are sure it is only a matter of time as most technologies we use already exist or are being developed.”
-
Archives
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- June 2022
- January 2022
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
-
Meta