I visited a luminarium this past weekend. What's a luminarium you ask? It's basically an air-filled sculpture made of colored plastic that lights up inside via the sunlight shining through it. It's actually quite relaxing and beautiful. This one, Mirazozo, had a couple small domes with winding passages, was made by hand in Nottinghamm, England, and (according to the little handout they gave us) was "inspired by repetitious forms found in the bazaars of Iran". Below is a shot of the exterior and one of the passageways.


You couldn't jump off the walls in it since the material was thin like a t-shirt and therefore delicate, but you could lean against it or gently push against it to watch the movement ripple through the structure up to the roof tops. There were little nooks scattered around that you could sit in while enjoying the relaxing music created by David Bickley.


Here's a video by the Sydney Opera House of Architects of Air's Mirazozo:


The exhibit will be in Austin until Friday, January 20. It's $8 to enter (I think children under 2 years of age can enter for free). I suggest going early because the lines were long (we arrived at 10AM on Sunday and waited about 45-60 minutes). Visit http://www.thelongcenter.org/architects_of_air.aspx for more information.