The Sydney Opera House site is currently featuring another interesting structure - a giant inflatable sculpture of light and colour.

Photo by Petra Glorie EuroPhotoGraphics

In the forecourt is Mirazozo by Architects of Air, a luminarium installation described as a ‘participative sculpture’ made of translucent vinyl.

Visitors walk through an airlock into a space where daylight is transmitted by coloured vinyl.

Architects of Air explain: “Through labyrinthine tunnels and cavernous domes, visitors move in a medium of saturated and subtle hues. Vivid reflections of liquid colour spill across the curved walls creating a world apart from the normal and everyday.”

The luminaria are inspired by pure forms of geometry and nature, Islamic architecture and modern architectural innovators such as Buckminster Fuller and Frei Otto.

Photo by Jason Nakrani

In the design process the inflatable structures smooth surfaces are broken down into cones, spheres and cylinders and their infinite combinations.

The starting point for a design is its footprint - the layout that will afford maximum mystery and discovery when travelling through the structure. Once a satisfactory ground plan is achieved a complete engineering analysis of the forms and template design is undertaken.

Photo by Petra Glorie EuroPhotoGraphics

Functionality is a major part of the design process; integral anchorage and forms conceived to ensure stability in windy conditions; walkways kept in contact with the ground to permit passage of wheelchairs; modularity to enable the structures to be adapted to different sites.

Mirazozo was completed early in 2010. Like earlier structures, the Islamic graphic influence is visible ,albeit in quite an obtuse way.

Photo by Suzie Tremmel

The pattern of seam lines helps to promote a meditative frame of mind where perception can shift between different organisations of the same view.

It features several ‘dodecadomes’ (domes based on the adaptations of the dodecahedron) and a large central dome — the largest open space structure that Architects of Air have built.

Follow this link to WATCH a video and meet one of the exhibition managers of Mirazozo, Shanti Freed, and ind out how the Architects of Air created this sculpture.

Mirazozo is in the forecourt until January 27, and costs $10. Visit the Opera House website for more information.

Architecture & Design Team

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