Nissan Y150 Dream Front pavilionby Torafu Architects

Tokyo practice Torafu Architects have created a pavilion filled with inflated, plastic balls inside a warehouse on the Shinko Pier in Yokohama, Japan.

The project was conceived for automotive company Nissan to display their PIVO 2 electric car.

The sixteen bubbles measuring between 4.5 and 10 metres in diameter have images projected onto their surfaces and contain pieces of paper with messages from visitors written on them.

The car is displayed in a central enclosure that is furnished with seating made of concertinaed paper.

Photographs are by Daici Ano except where stated otherwise.

Here’s some more information from Torafu Architects:

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Y150 NISSAN PAVILION

Using Air as a Material

The NISSAN Y150 Dream Front pavilion was designed as part of the EXPO Y150 initiative commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Opening of the Port of Yokohama.

Located in a warehouse on the Shinko Pier, the Nissan Motors PR project spanned two areas focusing on the theme of children and the environment; “Word Park” and “Pivo Labo”.

“Word Park” is a large exhibition space that houses 16 giant bubbles ranging from 4.5m to 10m in diameter where 1 million messages are expected to fill them; whirling and dancing around as blue leaves.

These bubbles give the surrounding space its physicality, inviting visitors to playfully navigate through it.

Incidentally, the spheres touch at certain points, supporting each other and creating a feeling of tension.

Virtual images projected on the 0.5mm thin membranes come to life on the round surfaces giving them the aspect of solidity.

Natural light coming down from skylights passes through layers of transparent and opaque membranes; casting and distorting shadows of visitors moving between the spheres and giving the whole space its tone and atmosphere in a hazy mix of projected shapes and shapeless forms.

We sought to give the pavilion an ever-changing enchanted atmosphere with its many reflected images and to eliminate the tributary relationship between ground and figure represented here by the open space and spheres respectively.

“Pivo Labo” features the Nissan PIVO 2 electric car and a video showcase of the company’s environmental practices. (Above image by Alessio Guarino)

Kids’ seats in “Pivo Labo” are made of recycled paper honeycombs echoing the concept used in “Word Park” where a compact object filled with air populates a larger area. (Above image by Torafu Architects.)

Stemming from Nissan’s vision for a future with clean air, our concept aimed to create a generous form of expression by allowing light and signs of presence to permeate the surroundings and by using air as a material itself.