Aéreo

Aéreo is a brilliant volume of air floating over Rio de Janeiro’s Ponta do Arpoador, between Ipanema and Copacabana, creating a shadow that cools the beach and generates energy from the Sun for the beach’s infrastructure. Off the ground and buoyant, Aéreo shadows life underneath it through the interplay of wind, sun, and temperature. In its movement throughout the day, Aéreo’s shadow creates a landscape for convention, a place to comfortably host large gatherings and activities at Ipanema beach without any physical interruptions. Helium, one of the main components of the Sun is the main building element together with the buoyant hot air of Rio. The mixing of these two gases accentuates the fluctuations and variations of Aéreo between day (globe) and night (grotto). Two mylar balloons englobe them creating the visible, shading and energy collection structure of the project. The solar energy collected is used to both light up the surface of the balloon at night as well as to re- direct the remaining energy to the streetlamps that light the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. [For more info please refer to project details and video]