The temporary meeting hall introduced a minor novelty to the long history of inflatable structures. It was built using Global Foil, a membrane composed of two outer layers of silver Mylar and a middle layer of polyethene bubble wrap. The joints between sheets were made having three layers of 140 mm wide transparent adhesive tape and a 50 mm wide fibreglass mesh tape. At each of these joints, a gap of about 20 mm between sheets allowed natural light to pass through.
During ten days, hundreds of visitors entered the hall to attend lectures, debates and celebrations, shifting the monumental character of this urban spot to a more festive and informal mood. The hall allowed different settings for the meetings: sometimes people sat in a circle around the speaker and a larger screen –resembling an auditorium– or sometimes they gather in smaller groups around digital screens scattered all over the floor, as if they were bonfires on the beach or TVs in separated lounges.
The nature of the membrane and the construction system deployed resulted in an extremely fragile building. It evoqued working with those degrees of insecurity of which Andrea Branzi was so fond.