Pneu
design & fabrication
2017
Commissioned by DesignTO for thier 2017 Opening Night Launch Party.
Emily worked with a team of collaborators at Toronto Metropolitan University to design and fabricate Pneu, an inflatable installation commissioned by DesignTO for their 2017 Opening Night Launch Party. This project was her first collaborative venture in inflatable design, and the informal beginnings of her current practice.
Pneu was developed through experimental form-finding and DIY fabrication methods that echo inflatable theory and ideals. Our naivete and novel appreciation for inflatable architecture motivated an creative approach that was completely self-taught.
Playing with iridescence and transparency, the contrasting polyethylene and mylar materiality creates a surreal spatial experience. Partygoers loop through a breathing threshold that is blanketed in variations of colour, light, and opacity. Pneu’s central focal point - a reflective mylar column - strategically conceals the fan powering the inflatable whilst cascading light throughout the space with the ebb and flow of air.
This project was run through Toronto Metropolitan University’s Design Fabrication Zone with the mentorship of Jonathan Anderson and Vincent Hui. Designed and fabricated by Emily Allan, Dominique Di Libero, Kelly Walcroft, Garbo Zhu, Gloria Zhou, Rutuja Atre
Emily worked with a team of collaborators at Toronto Metropolitan University to design and fabricate Pneu, an inflatable installation commissioned by DesignTO for their 2017 Opening Night Launch Party. This project was her first collaborative venture in inflatable design, and the informal beginnings of her current practice.
Pneu was developed through experimental form-finding and DIY fabrication methods that echo inflatable theory and ideals. Our naivete and novel appreciation for inflatable architecture motivated an creative approach that was completely self-taught.
Playing with iridescence and transparency, the contrasting polyethylene and mylar materiality creates a surreal spatial experience. Partygoers loop through a breathing threshold that is blanketed in variations of colour, light, and opacity. Pneu’s central focal point - a reflective mylar column - strategically conceals the fan powering the inflatable whilst cascading light throughout the space with the ebb and flow of air.
This project was run through Toronto Metropolitan University’s Design Fabrication Zone with the mentorship of Jonathan Anderson and Vincent Hui. Designed and fabricated by Emily Allan, Dominique Di Libero, Kelly Walcroft, Garbo Zhu, Gloria Zhou, Rutuja Atre
