Atelier Victor Braun

DRAGONFLY DIRIGIBLE / Personal Project 2019-2020

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In the nature, dragonfly wings possess great stability and high load-bearing capacity during flapping flight, glide, and hover. Scientists have been intrigued by them and have carried out research for biomimetic applications. The wings of this insect are mainly composed of veins and membranes, a typical nanocomposite material. The veins and membranes have a complex design within the wing that give rise to whole-wing characteristics which result in dragonflies being supremely versatile, maneuverable fliers.

I designed this at a time where I've been watching and re-watching movies fromHayao Miyazaki. Besides being moved by the drawing quality, I was amazed by the creativity of some of the vehicles the characters use. They're poetic and dreamy, I wanted to explore that too. Dragonfly is a dirigible which could carry 50 to 60 passengers in the air, at 100mph. Its structure is rigid and its shape inspired by dragonflies. The airship uses helium to lift itself and electric engines as propeller. The engines are reloaded via giant wings made of flexible solar membranes. The main purpose of the vehicle would be for transport and tourism with the idea of slow travel in post-oil world. We could also imagine a cargo version.

The interior is split in two areas : a lounge area for passengers to seat and relax, and an observatory area at the back. The latter offers panoramic view allowing people to enjoy the view and mingle. The lounge area is defined by two rectangles of teal carpets cut by a wooden floor central alley. There is ranks of single and duo seats, also a café and a bookshelf, as well as plants in different areas. Using renewable and recycled materials, the interior was designed to be calm and relaxing to help people to reach a state of contemplation and enjoy a new kind of travel. Slow travel.