tomás saraceno: aerocene inflatable ‘museo aero solar’ is built of plastic bags at venice biennale

the 2021 venice biennale celebrates inflatable architecture and material reuse with the exhibition of the museo aero solar. since 2007, a collection of community-built, inflatable ‘museo aero solar’ structures has grown across the world. the initiative has seen hundreds of thousands of plastic bags reused, cut, pasted, and joined to create canvases for drawing and writing personal stories, encouraging visitors and creators to reuse and recycle. the notoriously harmful materials of the anthropocene are thus transformed into a mind-expanding material for the newly envisioned aerocene era.

installation by the aerocene foundation in collaboration with studio tomás saraceno
image © designboom

aerocene flies without fossil fuels, batteries, lithium, solar panels, helium, hydrogen …

currently on view at the 2021 venice biennale, this museo aero solar was realized in buenos aires argentina and traveled to italy by sail boat. the installation was collectively created by nearly 200 ‘aerocene’ community members and is made up of a collection of messages written by the bella flor recycling service as well as the incarcerated students of the educational space within the buenos aires penitentiary service. to build a museo aero solar, creators can use the instructions available on the project’s website and the ‘do-it-together’ ethos fostered by the aerocene community.

image © designboom

to date, museo aero solar has repurposed hundreds of thousands of plastic bags that would have otherwise filled landfills or the ocean. the worldwide community has salvaged and reused plastic waste from over fifty areas across more than thirty countries in an act that embodies an ethos of care and responsibility. the project continues to build a more inclusive, regenerative world that imagines a fossil fuel-free future.

image © designboom

the balloon taking flight | image courtesy of aerocene

inside the structure | image courtesy of aerocene

the balloon is made from recycled plastic bags | image courtesy of aerocene

the bags were collected and joined together | image courtesy of aerocene