Tubaloon,
Kongsberg

Designed by the prestigious Norwegian firm Snøhetta, besides being one of the most fascinating structures built by Canobbio Textile, Tuballon is the project that most embodies the idea of an Iconic Project. It is a membrane structure made PVC polyester textile tensioned on an inflated frame. The stage can be easily mounted for temporary use in the church square in Kongsberg both during the Jazz Festival and for any other event.

The PVC membrane is particularly appropriate for obtaining remarkable lighting effects and it is acoustically neutral.

The structure is 38 m long, 22 m wide and 19 m high. The textile is held by 2 arches and a steel ring. The ring is supported on the smaller arch with 2 steel sections.

The structure is shaped to form a “saxophone” as designed by the architect. The smallest arc measures 7m x 14m. The largest, “beak-shaped” one measures about 33m x 22m. Both ends of the arches are anchored to the ground.

The steel ring has a diameter of 12 m. Particular attention was paid to the installation project: the customer’s request was to install and dismantle the structure in a short time given that the Festival is held annually in the central square of the town.

Given its complexity, the structure was pre-assembled in Italy to verify the correct functionality of the components. The entire installation was completed in about 5 working days.