Aero – Science Toys = Science Tools
Science Toys = Science Tools is a research project that enabled direct exploration of abstract aspects of natural phenomena outside the Science Centre through design methodology. The design team aimed to relate phenomena such as the flow, pressure, texture, force and density of air to everyday experiences, such as breathing, weather forecasts and energy harvesting. Focusing on air as a common ground for the multidisciplinary collaboration, this project explored a range of experiments, workshops and prototypes, and developed a toy called Aero. The research objectives were achieved by creating and evaluating tools and methods of investigating air, and by developing a scientific toy that exemplifies the multiple ways in which the Science Centre experience can be extended to other contexts.
Aero is a very light wind turbine which represents a balance between playfulness, poetry and the scientific awareness of air. It can be altered, through various adaptors, to design objects such as a vacuum cleaner, a particle trap, a wind tunnel or an inflatable building block, and leaves space for new ways of interacting with the wind in different places.
