The Pneumad is a portable shelter that folds out from a car trailer and inflates itself with the press of a button. The inflatable shelter is stored in a trailer made from steel and aluminum. The Pneumad itself is made from polyethylene and rip-stop nylon. A small vehicle can tow the Pneumad and trailer.
When it is time to set up the temporary shelter, the Pneumad is unpacked from the trailer, along with furniture that comes with it and can be used either inside or outside. An air pump inflates the structure in less than a minute while the user is free to do other things.
The Pneumad is not limited by the dimensions and volume of the trailer. It does not have a fixed infrastructure or interior plan. Everything in it moves.
Architecture firm Min | Day created the Pneumad for travelers. It gets its name from the pneumatic method of inflating it and its potential to be used for nomadic travel.
The Pneumad was created for the Truck-A-Tecture show that took place from June 27 to August 23 at the Kaneko Gallery in Omaha, Nebraska. The exhibition brings together designs that explore mobile architecture.
The Truck-a-Tecture exhibition studies architecture that combines mobility and technical expansion. It includes both popular and elite designs to transcend current concepts of “pre-fab” and “mobile architecture.” The exhibition explores nomadism, transportation, trucking culture, the nature of “home,” sustainability, and technological advances that have led many people to adopt simpler lifestyles.
Min | Day has been contacted by a disaster relief housing manufacturer and a public advocacy agency that have expressed interest in using the Pneumad as a mobile information center.