‘collapse’ by martillo neumático is a temporary art installation, designed to be exhibited within the historic center of tortosa, spain, as part of the 2020 ‘cel obert’ local festival. formed by 120 dunnage airbags, the structure plays with natural tendencies and fragile equilibrium to poetically represent the moment that a wall caves in, and breaks down. 

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all images by antonio bouzas

 

 

the site chosen by the festival is the old church of dolors, in the historic center of tortosa. destroyed during the spanish civil war, its monumental arcades, the six side-chapels, and the main entrance in ruins coexist in a unique public space. martillo neumático‘s ‘collapse’ refers to this very condition of ruins, representing a material gesture that seeks to freeze a specific instant: the breaking down of a wall.

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‘collapse’ is a peculiar moment in matter transformation. the structural efforts, invisible to the naked eye, show their natural tendencies, falling to the ground. through a subtle interplay of forces, the installation presented as a fragile equilibrium freezes that precise instant. an inclined plane where heavy becomes light and transitory turns stable. a moment suspended in time that means to reveal the poetics of balance.

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the wall is made from dunnage airbags usually used to secure loads in transport containers. the production starts from an overlay of ten rows sewn in the workshop formed by an irregular bonding. the design dismisses the traditional form of building masonry walls by adding pieces, to propose a rise propelled by air, inflated from below, up to seven meters. the installation was forced to collapse in a public event that announced the festival coming to an end. the tensions accumulated are released in an action that breaks the frozen image of the wall. 

 

 

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project info:

 

name: collapse
designer: martillo neumático
carried out by: roman sost, mon cano, jerome lorente and iñigo barrón together with javier gutierrez and ines miño, cesar fuentes, ana moure, javier bilbao, jorge aguirrezabal, mikel quintana, jesús escudero, blanca arcos, matteo caro and alvaro regatero

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom