Blow-Up: Inflatable Art, Architecture and Design (Art & Design S.) [Hardcover]

Sean Topham (Author)

Book Description

Series: Art & Design S. | Publication Date: May 2002

This work explores the technological and philosophical history of inflatable art, architecture and design up to the present day, examining its presence in all aspects of life, from children's toys to military craft. The author illustrates the countless uses of air-filled forms, revealing how inflatable objects still evoke the sense of optimism and escape that inspired the first designers in this field, the 18th-century inventors of the hot-air balloon. The author argues that, although inflatable forms have been around for centuries, scientists, architects, artists and manufacturers keep rediscovering this deceptively simple technology. He explains how some of its first applications were extreme environments, where it appealed to scientists and the military. But in the 1960s, artists such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, and design collectives such as Utopie and Archigram, used pneumatic forms to challenge conventional assumptions about the role of materials in art and architecture. Contemporary designers such as Verner Panton and Issey Miyake have incorporated blow-ups into their work, and today inflatables have entered the mainstream market in such diverse structures as toys, furniture and walk-through environments. The artists featured in the book include: Victor Lundy; Hans-Walter Mueller; Otto Frei; Yayoi Kusama; Christo; Claes Oldenburg; Jeffrey Shaw; Lygia Clark; Takashi Murakami; Takahiro Fujiwara; Philippe Parreno; Andy Warhol; Issey Miyake; Archigram; Walter Bird; AJS Aerolande; Francisco de Goya; Haus Rucker; Quasar Khan; Nicholas Grimshaw; and Verner Panton.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Inflatable forms have been around for centuries, but scientists, architects, artists, and manufacturers keep rediscovering this deceptively simple technology. Some of its first applications were extreme environments, where it appealed to scientists and the military. But in the 1960s artists such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, and design collectives such as Utopia and Archigram, used pneumatic forms to challenge conventional assumptions about the role of materials in art and architecture. Contemporary designers such as Verner Panton and Issey Miyake have incorporated blow-ups into their work, and today inflatables have entered the mainstream market in such diverse structures as toys, furniture, and walk-through environments. This unique work brings the technological and philosophical history of pneumatics into the present, beautifully illustrating its countless uses as it reveals how inflatable objects still evoke the sense of optimism and escape that inspired the first designers in this field.

About the Author

Sean Topham studied design and currently works as a writer and journalist. His interest in plastics began while writing a documentary on Action Man. He lives in London, England.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Prestel Publishing (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3791326872
• ISBN-13: 978-3791326870
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #638,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating book. A great gift., April 29, 2003

By 

vw - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blow-Up: Inflatable Art, Architecture and Design (Art & Design S.) (Hardcover)

Start dreaming. Let yourself be carried away into an amazing world of Art, Architecture and Design. And order another book for your best friend.

This is what blowup will do to you.
My wife is the design author Ingrid Wenz-Gahler, and when I gave her this book her first words were: How much work to get all this information, to collect all those pictures. She knows what she is talking about.

blowup by Sean Topham is a richely illustrated history of inflatable design and pneumatic technology which encompasses us in all aspests of life. This book takes you through two hundred years of engineering inflatables from the first start of a Montgolfière in France in 1783 to pneumatic dummy Sherman tanks used in World War II by the British and to architectural challenges like the Eden project of 2001 in the American West.

What I like most about this book is the use of inflatables in modern art, the film industry and even fashion. Sean Topham has looked into every corner of this world and came up in this book with pictures of Woody Allen in an inflabable body-suit for the film Sleeper, with fashion created by Jean-Paul Gaultier and many others, and with countless pieces of art like Andy Warhol's Silver Clouds and Hans Haakes Sky Line. - Just to name a few.

What Sean Topham is showing us that inflatable art, architecture and design is adding beauty to our lives. WELL EARNED FIVE STARS.