Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Dangerous Adventure of Designing Bubbles

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
TEMPORARY: Citizenship, Architecture and City (TEMPORARY 2022)

Part of the book series: The City Project ((TCP,volume 4))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 72 Accesses

Abstract

Bubbles are concretisations of temporary spaces. On the one hand, the bubble constitutes a structural, inflatable element characterised by a specific, malleable, transparent materiality; on the other hand, it represents a conceptual spatial device for expressing a specific feature of contemporary anthropological spaces, a place of exposure, in which the boundaries between outside and inside, between soil and sky, seem to disappear. In this essay, I will first reflect on the ephemeralisation of space, focusing on the definition of space as a network. Second, I will elaborate on this theoretical diagnosis by drawing on work by Vilém Flusser, who explicitly proposes the bubble as a space of contemporary living. Third, through discussing specific examples, I will attempt to develop a critique of bubble spaces as a dimension of contemporary design.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    Reference [15].

  2. 2.

    Reference [25].

  3. 3.

    See [22]: “A building is like a soap bubble. This bubble is perfect and harmonious if the breath has been evenly distributed and regulated from the inside. The exterior is the result of an interior”.

  4. 4.

    See [3].

  5. 5.

    See Aerodream pp. 146–169. Reference [20].

  6. 6.

    Lyotard, J-F.: After Six Months of Work… (1984), pp. 29–66. 30 Years after Les Immatériaux: Art, Science, and Theory, ed. By Yuk Hui and Andreas Broeckmann.

  7. 7.

    Lyotard, J-F. with others: Immaterialität und Postmoderne, p. 11. Merve Verlag, Berlin (1985) [author’s translation].

  8. 8.

    See [18].

  9. 9.

    See [23].

  10. 10.

    Reference [14].

  11. 11.

    Ebd., p. 23.

  12. 12.

    Ebd.

  13. 13.

    Ebd., pp. 23–24.

  14. 14.

    Reference [7]. The definition of space as a practised place highlights the impossibility of defining space abstractly and draws on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s distinction between geometric space and anthropological space.

  15. 15.

    Reference [5].

  16. 16.

    Ebd., pp. 442–443.

  17. 17.

    Reference [28].

  18. 18.

    Reference [10].

  19. 19.

    Reference [13]. See also [12].

  20. 20.

    See [19].

  21. 21.

    Flusser, V.: Räume, pp. 277–278 [author’s translation].

  22. 22.

    Reference [11].

  23. 23.

    Flusser, V.: Räume, p. 284 [author’s translation].

  24. 24.

    Flusser, V.: Designing Cities, p. 174.

  25. 25.

    Ebd., p. 177.

  26. 26.

    Flusser, V.: Räume, p. 282 [author’s translation].

  27. 27.

    Flusser, V.: Building Houses, p. 57.

  28. 28.

    Reference [8].

  29. 29.

    Flusser, V.: Building Houses, p. 58.

  30. 30.

    Flusser, V.: Räume, p. 282 [author’s translation].

  31. 31.

    Flusser, V.: Räume, pp. 282–283 [author’s translation].

  32. 32.

    Flusser, V.: Räume, p. 284 [author’s translation].

  33. 33.

    Reference [9].

  34. 34.

    Reference [27].

  35. 35.

    Reference [2].

  36. 36.

    Reference [21].

  37. 37.

    See Arch+ 108 (1991).

  38. 38.

    Flusser, V.: Building Houses, p. 58.

  39. 39.

    See [6].

  40. 40.

    Reference [26].

  41. 41.

    Reference [24]. See in the same book also the essay by Docherty, T.: The Privatization of Human Interests or, How Transparency Breeds Conformity, pp. 283–303.

  42. 42.

    See [17].

  43. 43.

    Reference [9].

  44. 44.

    See [4].

  45. 45.

    De Certeau, M.: The Practice of Everyday Life, p. 118. See also the analysis of tour and map, pp. 120–121.

  46. 46.

    Reference [1].

  47. 47.

    See Reference [16].

  48. 48.

    See also Designboom https://www.designboom.com/design/plastique-fantastique-mobile-pps-personal-protective-space-doctors-covid19-04-20-2020/, last accessed 23/06/2022.

  49. 49.

    Reference [26].

  50. 50.

    This conception could also be compared with an environmental definition of the space of intersection between bubbles, between human and non-human environments, that constitutes the “life space”—according, for instance, to Jakob von Uexküll.See Theoretical Biology, Forgotten Books, London (2018).

References

  1. Bauman, Z.: Liquid Life, p. 1. Polity Press, Cambridge (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Breukelman, A.: Architektur der variablen Häute. Arch+ 104, 55 (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Buckminster Fuller, R.: Intuition, p. 68. Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Canevacci, M.: Interview 11/Plastique Fantastique. In: St Hill, C. (ed.) This is Temporary: How Transient Projects are Redefining Architecture, pp. 167–175. Riba Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Castells, M.: The Rise of the Network Society, p. 441. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Davis, H.: Plastic: accumulation without metabolism. In: Hannah, D., Krajewski, S. (eds.) Placing the Golden Spike. Landscapes of the Anthropocene, pp. 66–73. Publication Studio. Portland (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  7. De Certeau, M.: The Practice of Everyday Life, p. 117. University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Flusser, V.: Building houses. In: Flusser, V. (ed.) The Freedom of the Migrant, p. 58. University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Flusser, V.: Dach- und mauerlose Architektur. Arch+ 104, 68 (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Flusser, V.: Designing cities. In: Ströhl, A. (ed.) Writings. Vilém Flusser, p. 174. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis and London (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Flusser, V.: Kommunikologie. Umbruch der menschlichen Beziehungen? In: Schriften, vol. 4, p. 218. Bollmann Verlag, Mannheim (1996) [author’s translation]

    Google Scholar 

  12. Flusser, V.: On Three Spaces. Artforum. Essays, pp. 205–216. Metaflux Publishing (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Flusser, V.: Räume (1991). In: Dünne, J., Günzel, S. (eds.) Raumtheorie. Grundlagentexte aus Philosophie und Kulturwissenschaften, p. 277. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a.M. (2006)[author’s translation]

    Google Scholar 

  14. Foucault, M.: Of other Spaces. Diacritics 16(1), 22 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Francis, S.: Bubbletecture. Phaidon Press Limited, London (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Gasperoni, L.: The bunker-bubble. Reflecting the unreal time. In: Armstrong, R., Breddels, L., Gantois, G., Ooms, T., De Smet, A. (eds.) Design in Unreal Times, pp. 34–40. KU Leuven, Leuven (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Han, B.-C.: The Transparency Society. Stanford University Press, Stanford (2015)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  18. Hill, J.: Immaterial Architecture. Routledge, London, New York (2006)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Horn, E., Bergthaller, H.: The Anthropocene. Key Issues for the Humanities, p. 102. Routledge, London and New York (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  20. César, I.L.: World Expos. A History of Structures, pp. 378–435. Architect Publications S.L., Barcelona (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Ito, T.: Atmende Architektur, Arch+ 107, 55 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Corbusier, L.: Towards a New Architecture, p. 181. Dover Publications, New York (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Lyotard, J.-F.: “Les Immatériaux”. Epreuves d’écriture. Editions du Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Mersch, D.: Obfuscated transparency. In: Alloa, E., Thomä, D. (eds.) Transparency, Society and Subjectivity. Critical Perspectives p. 276. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Migayrou, F., Moimas, V.: Aerodream. Architecture, Art, Design et structures gonflables. Éditions HYX, Orléans (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Sloterdijk, P.: Bubbles. Spheres, Vol. I: Microspherology. Semiotext(e), Los Angeles (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Spence, R.: Gebäude mit variabler Haut. Arch+ 104, 37 (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Virilio, P.: Speed and Politics: An Essay on Dromology. Semiotext(e), New York (1977)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architectural Theory, Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Lidia Gasperoni

Authors
  1. Lidia Gasperoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lidia Gasperoni .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Andrea Borsari

  2. Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Annalisa Trentin

  3. Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Pierpaolo Ascari

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Gasperoni, L. (2024). The Dangerous Adventure of Designing Bubbles. In: Borsari, A., Trentin, A., Ascari, P. (eds) TEMPORARY: Citizenship, Architecture and City. TEMPORARY 2022. The City Project, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36667-3_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36667-3_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-36666-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-36667-3

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation