組市松紋風船 feat. TMK120Harmonized Chequered Balloons feat. TMK120

野老朝雄と平本知樹が東京オリンピック開会式のドローンショーのために構想した多面体〈TMK120〉を、ヘリウムを充填した120個の四角い風船でつくった。各ユニットが自力で浮くので、いくつ集めても全体が宙に浮かぶ。

TMK120は異なる2種類の長方形を60個ずつ必要とするが、今回は1種類の長方形120個だけで球体へと組み上がる幾何学を求めた。風船全体の重さ1.6kgに対して浮力は2.3kg。差し引き0.7kgの余力で成立させるため、各接合部は2.9g以下に抑える必要がある。今回、この極限の軽さと、全体の形状を保つ剛性を両立する接合部を新たに開発した。

We recreated TMK120 — a polyhedron originally conceived by Asao Tokolo and Tomoki Hiramoto for the drone show at the Tokyo Olympic opening ceremony — using 120 helium-filled rectangular balloons that float a 4m-diameter sphere. Because each unit floats on its own, the entire structure remains airborne regardless of how many are assembled.

While TMK120 typically requires 60 pieces each of two different rectangles, for this project we devised a geometry that allows 120 identical rectangles to assemble into a sphere. The balloons have a total weight of 1.6 kg but generate 2.3 kg of buoyancy. To make the structure viable using only this 0.7 kg surplus, the weight of each joint must be kept under 2.9 g. We newly developed joints that successfully balance this extreme lightness with the rigidity required to maintain the overall shape.