Lightweight materials are an important class of construction materials, as can be seen here and as we often hear from manufacturers and designers.

Increasingly, lightweights are combined with air cushions for added effect. We’ve reported recently that inflatable structures are more than hot air. Several projects take air to the next level, as we see here.

French studio Lacaton & Vassal involves air in the ‘re-imagination’ of a building. Asked to add a modernized space to a disused building in northern France, the architects replicated the existing structure using new materials. Their craftsmanship is evident. The new structure forms a light, efficient and effective structure to act as a catalyst for the area. The key is a lightweight, inflated and spare membrane façade, using ETFE cushions for weather resistance and transparency. This leaves the interior free for the occupants to use in a variety of flexible ways.

In contrast, the world’s largest air-supported single-chamber membrane air cushion was recently unveiled in the Swiss town of Aarau. It is the roof of the new bus station, designed by the Zurich architectural firm Vehovar & Jauslin together with the engineers of lightweight structures from formTL.

The air-supported membrane is a cushion made of the synthetic polymer ETFE. Such membrane roofs are not only easily designed in various forms, but are also extremely light, durable, resistant to ultraviolet light and self-cleaning.

Another interesting idea is the ‘Luminarium’. This inflated structure adds colour, light and windy pathways to create an interactive walk-through maze of tubes, halls and tunnels. The design is one in a series that travels the world. They are all by Architects of Air, a company that started building pneumatic sculptures in the 1980s. Interestingly, just four different shades of polymer are used, but together they produce a fascinating spread of lit spaces, reminiscent of the works of James Turrell.

Images and info via the designers. For more information, see VJA, Lacaton & Vassal, and Architects of Air.

For anyone in Germany, there’s a special exhibition on Building With Air at the Air Museum in Amberg until July 27^th.