Inflatables are good for more than just pool toys and camping beds – they also come in the form of giant tentacles springing from open windows, the world’s largest rubber duck and (literally) gigantic piles of crap. Blow-up buildings can have a practical purpose as mobile architecture, but sometimes, oversized inflatables are just for fun, transforming both interior and exterior environments and bringing shock value to art festivals around the world.

Giant Poo, Pig & Stonehenge

A group of artists came together in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong to install oversized inflatable works, including ‘Complex Pile’ by Paul McCarthy, ‘House of Treasures’ by Cao Fei and ‘Sacrilege’ by Jeremy Deller, for an art festival.

Plastic Bubble Environments Transform Interiors

All that’s left of an interior space once these inflatable plastic environments by Penique Productions are put into place is the basic shape and structure of it, all details obscured to create a surreal new environment. The Barcelona-based group inflates massive colorful balloons inside buildings to transform them for special events.

Tentacles, Eyeballs & More by Filthy Luker

French street artist Filthy Luker makes it seem as if gigantic octopi are trying to escape from buildings around the world, and anthropomorphizes trees with inflatable eyeballs.

Inflatable Snow Chalet in Miami Beach

The unlikely sight of a snow-topped ski chalet bobs up and down in the bay beside the now-abandoned Miami Marine Stadium for Art Basel 2013. Entitled ‘Curiosity,’ the giant inflatable structure by Paris-based Galerie Perrotin and French artist duo Kolkoz plays on contrasts. “‘Curiosity’ was the name that was given to the last Mars exploration rover. We have taken this idea of an invader exploring a foreign land and applied it to the snow covered chalet that has set off on a journey and arrived in the middle of a maritime stadium in the hot Florida sun.”

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Inflatable Installations 18 Fun Projects Full Of Hot Air

Admit it – you’re jealous of the little kids who get to romp in those inflatable bounce houses. Once we reach a certain age (or weight), we’re just not welcome in those primary-colored playgrounds any longer. But some lucky kids-at-heart got a chance to relive the fun of that experience with ‘Net Blow-Up,’ most recently installed near the waterfront in Yokohama by Croatian-Austrian design collective Numen/For Use.

The inflatable play structure looks like a big white bubble in its spot beside the water, glowing like a lantern once the sun goes down. Inside, it’s strung with multiple levels black netting that’s just stretch enough to climb, jump and flip to your heart’s desire.

Watching it from the outside might be almost as fun as bouncing around within it, as the soft-sided structure deforms and mutates with each movement of those inside. “The outer membrane acts both like a ‘soft box’ diffuser of the outside light, or a projection screen in case of inner illumination of the installation,” say the designers.

Inflatables are popular as temporary installations, since they’re so easy to install and take down. Plus, they tend to have a lighthearted, comical look. Two recent examples include the Bridge in Paris and the world’s first inflatable concert hall, the Ark Nova.

Ephemeral, often amorphous inflatable structures eschew the nature of human habitation, occupying a space only temporarily and making few promises about protection from the elements. Altering existing structures or creating usable, climate-controlled event space in typically undesirable urban locations, these 17 (more) blow-up buildings, balconies, complexes and even entire cities can be assembled and taken down in mere minutes.

Inflatable City at Bellastock Architecture Festival

(images via: popupcity.net)

1300 students, architects and artists gathered at the May 2011 Bellastock architecture festival in the Ile-de-France region to construct this incredible inflatable city. “The infrastructures are mobile micro-architecture pieces. They allow to explore experimental ecological principles and invent new sustainable solutions to daily habits and needs.”

Spacebuster by Raumlabor

(image via: raumlabor.net)

Berlin-baed architects Raumlabor are renowned for their thought-provoking temporary work including Spacebuster, a massive inflatable space coming out of the back of a van, which occupied public spaces in New York City. The inflatable structure could hold as many as 80 people at a time and was used for community events.

CristalBubble

(images via: bubbletree.fr)

Rent an inflatable, transparent ‘bubble tent’ and place it just about anywhere in the South of France, from the hilly countryside of Mont Blanc to the beach or even in a tree. CristalBubble Hotel is 13 feet in diameter with a king-sized bed; certainly the most comfortable way to sleep under the stars with a 360-degree view. Designed for two adults, the bubbles can be expanded to add a smaller children’s room.

Hovercraft – Lifting Modernism by Raumlabor

(images via: raumlabor.net)

The space beneath an urban office building in Berlin was wrapped with a clear inflatable membrane for the 2008 project ‘Hovercraft – Lifting Modernishm’ by Raumlabor. For three days, the membrane transformed an underused area into ideal event space, protected from the elements and from the cold November air. It was used for concerts, speeches, dinners, a conference and a party.

6 Minimalist Blow-Up Bars by Inflate

(image via: inflate.com)

UK-based Inflate produces modern, minimalist blow-up structures tat are perfect for throwing parties and events. Ranging from small, simple ‘Lite’ structures that hold only a handful of people to interconnected domes that measure 80 feet long, Inflate’s structures cost between $1,300 and an eye-popping $70,000.

Kiss the Frog by MMW Architects

(images via: mmw.no)

In 2005, the Norweigian city of Oslo was home to a leggy green inflatable structure appropriately namd ‘Kiss the Frog’. MMW Architects of Norway created the temporary art pavilion in celebration of The New National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. “The concept for the temporary art pavilion is based on the fairytale, in which a beautiful, rich prince, after been thrown an evil spell on, is trapped within the shape of a frog. One day, when a princess kisses him, he is transformed back to the prince he really is, and they live happily ever after.”

Inflatable Entrance to KW Berlin by Instant Architecture

(images via: instant-arch.net)

On-Air was a temporary inflatable installation in the doorway of the KW Berlin exhibition space, created by Instant Architecture. The installation involved a pneumatic structure that cantilevered a balcony out over the street, altering the space without harming the historic building with a single nail or screw. As Instant Architecture notes, the structure was strong enough to withhold the weights of visitors, but unfortunately not impervious to the unwanted attentions of nighttime vandals who were determined to pop it.

INFLATABLE Floating Solar-Powered Stage

(images via: inhabitat)

PinkCloud.DK gives the abandoned Miami Marine Stadium an imaginative makeover with INFLATABLE, a proposal that would transform the space into a floating performance venue. The low-cost, inflatable structure floats on the river and is entirely covered wit solar panels to generate its own electricity for events. 280 feet across, the disk would be filled with helium and anchored with six cables.

The Kitchen Monument by Raumlabor

(images via: raumlabor.net)

Yet another incredible inflatable project by Raumlabor, The Kitchen Monument takes the ‘Hovercraft’ concept of an inflatable spaces pumped out the back of trucks and brought it to raw urban settings like the spaces beneath overpasses and viaducts. The resulting protected space makes these often-unpleasant forgotten corners of cities feel more welcoming.

Mobilizarte Mobile Cultural Structure

(images via: archdaily)

Architecture firms FRENTES and PAX.ARQ proposed this undulating inflatable structure for the Mobilizarte Mobile Cultural Structure competition. It consists of a set of scaffolding towers, lightweight freestanding structures that provide internal framework, and a crochet-inspired inflatable membrane that will shade the space during the day and become a source of lighting at night.

Amococo by Architects of Air

(images via: architects-of-air.com)

This wacky, brightly colored creation is called ‘Amococo’ and it’s made up of 86 triaxial domes and 71 pods. Architects of Air bring the massive inflatable sculpture to festivals and other events, where guests can wander through its labyrinthine halls. The translucence of the vinyl and strategically placed windows carry daylight throughout the structure in vivid colors.

Hirshhorn Museum Temporary Inflatable Pavilion

(images via: hirshhorn.si.edu)

Washington D.C.’s Hirshhorn Musuem and Sculpture Garden, part of the Smithsonian Institute, will soon get a stunning inflatable pavilion that will wrap around one side of the round building and balloon up from its ceiling. Architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro plan an auditorium, cafe and meeting place for the inside of the inflatable structure. Construction of the installation will begin sometime in 2012.