Textiles under pressure | Inflatable Textiles¶
Concept¶
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Introduction¶
What is this project about?¶
This booklet is a practical and exploratory guide to inflatable textiles: materials that hold air, change form, and expand (no pun intended) the possibilities of what textiles can do.
Rather than presenting a single product or solution, this is a reference tool. It can be read linearly from beginning to end or consulted selectively. Designers, engineers, artists, and researchers can use it to understand existing approaches, test new ideas, and adapt inflatable textile systems to their own contexts.
The booklet is structured around three main sections: * Research, which maps materials, fabrication methods, and existing applications * Experimentation, which documents hands-on testing, successes, failures, and iterations * Results, which synthesize findings into transferable insights and design considerations
This is not a manual that prescribes a single “correct” way of working with inflatable textiles. Instead, it is an invitation to experiment, adapt, and reinterpret.
What are inflatable textiles?¶
Inflatable textiles are textile-based structures designed to contain air as an active material. Through inflation and deflation, these textiles can change volume, stiffness, insulation capacity, or shape.
Unlike traditional textiles, which are largely passive, inflatable textiles behave as dynamic systems. Air becomes a design parameter: invisible, lightweight, and responsive. By controlling how air is contained and distributed, it is possible to create textiles that adapt to environmental conditions, body movement, or functional requirements.
At a basic level, inflatable textiles rely on:
* Flexible materials capable of sealing air
* Methods of bonding or joining textiles into chambers
* Internal or external mechanisms for introducing and releasing air
From these simple principles, a wide range of behaviors and applications emerge.
Inflatable textiles have been explored across multiple disciplines: * Apparel and wearables, where air provides adjustable insulation, cushioning, or fit * Medical and therapeutic uses, such as compression, pressure distribution, or support * Architecture and spatial design, through lightweight, deployable textile structures * Soft robotics and interaction design, where inflation enables movement and actuation * Outdoor and technical equipment, prioritizing weight reduction and adaptability
What unites these applications is the use of air not as a byproduct, but as a functional material, one that can be shaped, controlled, and designed.
Brief History¶
The idea of using air to shape flexible materials predates modern textiles. Early inflatable structures appeared in maritime and military contexts, where buoyancy and rapid deployment were critical. Rubberized fabrics and coated textiles enabled the first air-filled shelters, life rafts, and protective systems.
In the second half of the 20th century, inflatable architecture and experimental design movements began to explore air as an expressive and structural medium. Artists and architects used inflatables to challenge ideas of permanence, rigidity, and scale.
More recently, advances in material science, digital fabrication, and soft robotics have reintroduced inflatable systems into contemporary design practice. Lightweight coatings, precise heat-sealing techniques, and embedded electronics now allow inflatable textiles to move beyond novelty and toward functional, repeatable systems.
Today, inflatable textiles sit at the intersection of fashion, engineering, and interaction design.
This research project is a work in progress and will continue to be so.
Research (Theory)¶
This section lays the foundations for all the experimentation and results that follow. Before inflating, sealing, or testing anything, it is necessary to understand what has been done, what materials are available, and how air behaves when trapped inside textiles.
The performance of these textiles depends not only on the textile itself, but on the material, how it is sealed, and how it responds over time.
With this section we build a framework that will be tested, challenged, and expanded.
State of the art¶
This is a snapshot of how inflatable textiles are currently used, researched, and commercialized. The goal is not to replicate the existing solutions, but to analyze and identify patterns, materials, and design strategies, as well as their limitations.
By mapping what already exists, this research establishes a point of reference from which new experiments can diverge.
Architecture¶
Inflatable structures in architecture are not something new; this technique has been experimented with since the popularization of commercial polymers. Some interesting examples of this use are documented below.
Binishells¶
The architecture firm uses inflatable “balloons” for creating the negative space inside of a house, then it is covered with a hardened mixture, thus creating organic shapes for habitable space. One of the most famous examples of this firm is Robert Downey Jr.’s home in Malibu.
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ETFE Cushions¶
Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene membranes are sealed and pressurized for its use on modern architecture. They provide high light transmision, great thermal insulation, low structural weight, and long durability. Currently used on the Allianz Arena for example.
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Ant Farm collective¶
This group of architects and artists are considered pioneers in the use of inflatable structures as tools for cultural critique, and architectonic experimentation. Mostly active between the 60s and 70s. Their Publication Inflatocookbook (1971) included accesible methods for designing and constructing temporary architectual structures, emphasizing lightness, movility and the ephemeral nature of these spaces.
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NASA’s Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM)¶
This project is an inflatable module that was coupled to the International Space Station on 2016. It was designed to be expanded once it reached orbit, and it’s a clear example of how inflatable structures can offer resistance, insulation and protection in extreme environments.
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Mark Fisher¶
Designer and architect specialized in inflatable structures and sculptures for scenography and great-scale concerts. He worked with the stage design and fabrication for U2, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, The rolling stones, Cirque du Soleil, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Metallica, among others.
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Fashion¶
Sports¶
Medicine¶
Soft Robotics¶
Art¶
Materials¶
- Mylar
- HDPE
- LDPE
Sealing methods¶
Heat¶
Vinyl press¶
Laser¶
Using a laser cutter, it is possible to weld different layers of thin materials. Special thanks to Saskia Helinska and Javier Alboguijarro, whose previous research helped and inspired me a lot on this topic.
3D printer¶
Experimentation (Applied theory)¶
Sealing¶
Laser sealing¶
For this process, the starting point is a vector file to cut on the laser machine. The shape to be produced is a basic balloon, then we can move on to more complex geometries.
The basic principle is to have 2 or 3 passes for the materials to weld, with a small offset from the cutting vector. For these experiments, the offset was different in order to get the most accurate and best bond. To figure out which parameters are to be used on every offset, 5 different tries were made. The material used here are dog litter bags made from thin HDPE, and the machine that was used is the Xtool F1 Ultra Here are the results of every test.
Offsets: .1mm - .5mm¶
The general parameters for this type of welding are low power and high speeds, for this particular case it was 15% power and 500 mm/s for speed.
The next step was to use this information for more complex geometries, and also I wanted to experiment with the engraving area tool, in case it had better results for welding both layers.
As a conclusion, the best parameters were 2-3 offsets at .4mm for the best seal. The area engraving wasn't very helpful, as it eroded the edges of the seal and was easier to unstick.
Heat press with textile vinyl¶
The cover for the booklet was designed to be inflatable and readable, some letters are flat and some volumetric. First the design was drawn with Onshape and cut on parchment paper with the laser cutter. The areas where there is paper, is where the balloon/volume will be generated, and the areas without paper are sticking to the other vinyl, creating flat areas.
The parchment paper stencil was sandwiched between two pieces of textile vinyl with the sticky part in the middle, and then pressed at 160°C for 15 seconds. The hard plastic film is removed and the final result is inflatable.
It is important to remember to add a small tab at the top, or any edge whatsoever, for it will be the opening for inflating, and measure the space for the propper tubing.
3D printer sealing¶
The principle of this process is to have the 3D printer nozzle, while hot, to complete passes on the materials for them to bond. The general parameters for this experiment were the same, but the ones that vary for different results are the temperature, speed, passes (in this case, walls), and layer height.
General Parameters¶
- 0 bottom layers – This parameter works by emptying the area of the first layers.
- 0 top layers – This parameter helps to keep the inner area/volume empty.
- No buildplate adhesion – The pattern is removed so only the walls are printed on the first layers.
- 0% Infill – The infill pattern is emptied so nothing prints inside of the walls.
These changes in parameters ensure that the extruder will only pass over the parts/areas/vectors we want to weld.
The part that is designed, is the same basic balloon as the previous tests, but in this case, it is not exported as a vector file, but as a .stl 3D model. Same vector but extruded .2mm.
The preparation for the machine took a bit of hacking, as we are decieving the machine into thinking we are extruding material on the buildplate.
On the Ender 3 S1 Pro we just jammed the filament sensor with a bit of filament but removed the rest from the hot end.
For the Prusa, it is possible to print without any filament. The filament must be removed, then the machine will let you know there is no material to be found, and if you’d like to turn the sensor off, one must agree and carry on with the “printing”.
