COLUMBUS, Ind. — One of the planned Exhibit Columbus exhibition installations will encourage people to put their head in the clouds.
Or at least to put themselves right amid a cloud-like structure with a sky-high sense of interactive technology.
That’s part of the idea behind Ecosistema Urbano’s Miller Prize-winning work called Cloudroom to be located at Fifth and Chestnut streets on part of the grounds of Columbus’ Central Middle School. Architects Belinda Tato and Jose Luis Vallejo, based in Miami and also Madrid, Spain, are designing an inflatable “cloud” that floats over a wooden structure.
According to plans, the cloud will create an environment with a comfortable microclimate to carry out a variety of activities between the school and the public space, encouraging learning through a direct experience. It was inspired by the duo discovering that Indiana hosted one of the first hot-air balloon races in 1909.
“We like the idea of re-activating the (school) lawn,” Tato said. ” … The goal was to program space for the students for playing, learning and interacting.”
That was just one of a number of Zoom presentations Friday before 450 registrants highlighting plans for some of the 13 installations to be a part of the exhibition running from Aug. 21 until Nov. 28. Other planned designs were presented in two sessions online March 19.
The five Miller Prize installations are the centerpiece of the exhibition with the theme “New Middles.”
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
