World's First Inflatable Concert Hall, Invented In Japan, Will Hold First Concert This Weekend

Have you ever wished you could transport Red Rocks, The Gorge Amphitheatre or Madison Square Garden to your hometown? Well that won't happen, but the Japanese-built "Ark Nova" could become your new favorite venue — its selling point: it's inflatable, mobile and for a good cause!

According Consequence of Sound, the mobile concert hall was the invention of Arata Isozaki, Yasuhisa Toyota, Kajimoto Agency and Anish Kapoor. The project began in 2011 as a way to create a low-cost music venue that could travel to disaster-torn cities for relief concerts. The structure takes two hours to inflate and can hold about 700 people.

The article reports that 30-by-36-meter "Ark Nova" will hold its first event this weekend at the Lucerne Festival in Matsushima City, Japan. According to the event's website, "The prominent European Music Festival LUCERNE FESTIVAL will lend its support to this ARK NOVA Music Festival as it unfolds in Matsushima City, Miyagi Prefecture — a city left with memories of the unforgettable earthquake and tsunamis that struck Japan on March 11, 2011."

Furthering that local connection, the seating and acoustic reflectors in the venue will be crafted from the area's famous cedar trees.

Check out the images, and watch Kapoor explain the structure in the video below. You can read more about the festival here.

anish kapoor: monumenta 2011 - leviathan from designboom on Vimeo.

What do you think of the new venue? Would you like to see something similar come to the U.S.? Let us know in the comments section below!