Video // ON/OFF’s BOULEvard Tensegrity Ball Bounces through Brussels at Kanal Playground 2014

ON/OFF – BOULEvard at Kanal Playground, Brussels, September 2014; Video by Andrew Bateman and Dan Dorocic

This autumn, ON/OFF introduced the BOULEvard ball on the streets of Brussels during the Kanal Playground Festival (September 17-21).

The design of the BOULEvard ball was based on the principles of Buckminster Fuller, who used tensegrity – an ecological precept based on scientific theories of compression – to create a large 4m tall structure, balanced between tension and integrity and tough enough to roll through the city.

The ball was assembled on site and, through a series of workshops with locals, it embarked on its urban expedition around the canal area of Brussels. Festival Kanal Playground wanted to create playgrounds in unexpected places. The BOULEvard ball engaged local children and grandparents alike as they navigated the urban landscape and transformed otherwise familiar spaces. The mobile playground rolled past neighbours’ windows, inciting confusion, curiosity and ultimately enthusiastic participation.

ON/OFF is an adaptable constellation of young international designers, architects, curators, filmmakers and urbanists, who formed their collective in Berlin. Their curiosity lies in the city and its processes. This complexity offers the basis for experiments into our contemporary condition and the opportunity to question, to tune into and to discover new realities.

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