Furniture and Interior Design for TUMO
TUMO is an innovative educational concept from Armenia that provides young people aged 12 to 18 with digital and creative skills. Since 2020, TUMO has been building a worldwide network of TUMO centers together with franchise partners.
Pneumocell has been commissioned to design and produce inflatable furniture and interior design elements for the TUMO center in Hirschaid, Germany.
The sofas as comfortable relaxing workspace.
The basic structure is made of durable transparent TPU film. The seating surface is covered with a velvety fabric that can be removed and washed.
The sofa is relatively large and wide in order to provide sufficient privacy. Holders for drinks and small tray surfaces can be integrated.
The lower surface is curved so that it can roll, but with a person sitting on it the center of gravity stabilizes. Since the underside of the sofa is slightly flattened by the weight, it also does not roll too easily. By lifting the legs and/or shifting body weight, the steeper or flatter position of the sofa can be individually adjusted. A small water ballast tank can help optimize the center of gravity.
The hexagonal outline makes it possible to group the sofas in a honeycomb pattern, saving space.
A color-adjustable LED light in the funnel at the center can create an attractive visual effect and also help users find their personal workspace more easily by means of an individual color.
Space partition elements – Option 1 “Rockets”
The proposal is to install vertical transparent “rockets,” like trees, which take up little space and floor area and therefore do not obstruct the view across the large room, yet extend through the full height of the space and point upward toward the ceiling.
Ready for takeoff, so that young people can lift off with their new knowledge and new skills, once their minds have matured in the blossom-shaped sofas.
The rockets are illuminated from within, and each of the four “boosters” is equipped with LED lights that shine downward onto the workspaces arranged around the rockets in a honeycomb pattern. The remaining general room lighting can then be switched off completely. The color of the lighting can be individually adjusted.
One rocket weighs about 11 kg and is additionally secured to the ceiling beams with ropes to prevent tipping. They can easily be hooked on and unhooked there. A water tank is integrated at the base of the rockets so that they are ballasted at the bottom and thus fixed in position on the floor.
Space partition elements – Option 2: Tree-Mushroom Hybrid
May the dreams of young people grow toward the sky with their new knowledge and skills, once their minds have matured in the blossom-shaped sofas.
The tree/mushroom structures are illuminated from within and cast light downward onto the workspaces that are arranged around them in a honeycomb pattern. The remaining general room lighting can then be switched off completely. The color of the lighting can be individually adjusted.
One tree/mushroom element weighs about 17 kg and is additionally secured to the ceiling beams with ropes to prevent tipping. They can easily be hooked on and unhooked there. A water tank is integrated at the base of the elements so that they are ballasted at the bottom and thereby fixed in position on the floor.
Space partition elements – Option 3 : Mushroom Column with Simplified Smoothed Geometry: Each of these columns emits light and serves to divide the space. Four such mushroom columns grouped together form a dome space.
The design is not motivated by an analogy to nature but by creating a luminous modular canopy with maximum structural efficiency and minimal construction effort. The analogy to mushrooms in nature is a coincidental result due to similar structural requirements.
Space partition elements – Option 4: Final Option flexible hexagonal elements suspended from the ceiling. With a rope-system. All suspension ropes are directed via roller bars and come together at one point near the gallery so they can be operated from there
