Pneumatic Tube Systems for Arts and Education
Pneumatic tube systems have a fascination to many sectors, Aerocom has regular requests for integration with artistic displays, exhibitions and the media – with a few other requests for permanent novelty displays.
The Future of Travel? At the ‘Horse to Hyperloop’ exhibition The Duke is shown how ‘Hyperloop’ technology uses electricity to propel pods through low-pressure tubes at speeds of up to 700mph. #GETNorth2018 pic.twitter.com/iyzNoNQYVO
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) September 7, 2018
Great Exhibition of the North
The “Northern Arc” pneumatic tube system design, developed with Ryder Architecture for the 2018 Great Exhibition of the North, UK, was one of the most visited presentations in the two-month display to promote Northern art, culture and design.
Appropriately our UK system designer is from Newcastle where the exhibition took place and lives within two miles of Coopers Studio, the city centre venue.
Coopers Studio is an original horse and carriage repository built in 1897, a rare survivor of the age of horsepower, now converted into fashionable offices.
With over 7,000 guests visiting to see the fantastic “Horse to Hyperloop” exhibit, including The Duke of Cambridge, Aerocom supplied and installed a glass pneumatic tube display, adding a few extra loops to the initial Ryder Architecture “Northern Arc” design. The conceived system was extended with additional tube donated by our specialist supplier Kuro GmbH in Germany. We filled the building with interesting twists and spirals, much to the appreciation of visiting children, who were allowed to interact and send carriers around the Hyperloop.
See the Tweet by “The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge”.
London Design Biennale
When a Turkish design group, Autobahn, came to the first London Biennale in Somerset House to display their pneumatic tube exhibit “The Wish Machine”, they asked Aerocom for assistance.
The design was made by Autoban founders Seyhan Özdemir and Sefer Çağlar based on a 19th-century pneumatic tube system. The set was shipped to London and assembled by Aerocom who then extended the tube from the exhibit to a delivery point at the destination through the corridors of this grade 1 listed building.
The carriers are loaded with the visitors wish then inserted at a hexagonal tube outline bounded by mirrors, then blown around the extended section through the corridors to reach the destination.
“You can make a wish, write on a piece of paper, then into a carrier and send it. Like the original wish tree, your wish is between you and the universe.”
Novelty Systems
There is a regular demand for novelty pneumatic tube systems. Whether for shop displays or interactive games for both adults and children.
For our designers, at Aerocom, these requests are a welcome break from larger and more complex assignments but do present the occasional challenge.
Some novelty systems are on permanent display, such as Jock Campbell Interactive in Milton Keynes, or Diverter Dilemma, a puzzle challenge at the National Explorium in Dublin. One of our most popular children’s air tube novelty is Scarf Scramble used in both locations.
BBC One Show – Aerocom
Artistic talents often get noticed by the media and result in other assignments, famously a TV researcher came across an Aerocom blog looking for information on 18th-century pneumatic tube systems and got in touch. After a long chat about possibilities for props and working demonstrations, a cameo video was produced for the One Show resulting in an hour-long show with our managing director, John Hughes, on the guest couch with Alex and Matt.