Project type: Exhibition / Temporary Installation

Location: Tallinn, Estonia

Status: Completed

Time: 2005

Photos: Chapman, GRAFT

Tallinn Drifters is a lightweight exhibition system that fits in a suitcase. Helium filled ‘blimps’ with back-lit displays float majestically through space – creating an architectural ballet of words and ideas.

The exhibition presents a ‘fluid city’: a continually changing configuration of objects drifting in space, independent of their physical context. Through interactive remote steering controls, the visitor can participate in the ephemeral organisation of the exhibition. The helium-filled sculptures defy gravity and are entirely independent of any surrounding architectural structure. Their inflatable construction means that can be transported by plan or even be sent by post or messenger.

The inaugural ‘flight’ of the exhibition took place in 2002 for the Baltic Architectural Triennial in Estonia, and the exhibition has since ‘flown’ in the United States.