The excesses of Miami Beach may make it the perfect location for Art Basel’s second home, but for architect Luis Pons, the overindulgences are reproachful.

“The Fabulous Floating Inflatable Villa” was designed by Pons as a reaction against the “McMansion” culture of Miami real estate. The 30-foot-high floating pavilion is moored at Aqua, 250 West 63rd Street, on Allison Island, until December 4, during Art Basel Miami Beach.

The 900-square-foot structure boasts 360-degree bay views, and is illuminated with white lighting throughout its columns and dome, making it visible at night. The PVC villa will be kept inflated by a generator and transported by a flatbed barge to various other locations.

“We are surrounded by so many inflatable things — an inflatable culture, an inflatable real estate market — and I related that to an inflatable house,” commented Pons. “This is a critical response to the real estate boom and the insensitive way developers treat the city, with an architecture that doesn’t consider the environment. Here you see a building treated with classical style, but it’s empty inside.”

Via poloxygen Interior design and Miami Herald. Other image.
About the artist’s inflatable-clad appartment (images).

Check also MetropolisMag article about America’s mania for big.

And fabulous inflatable snow globes and xmas !