01
In the trunk
Folded inside its sheath, it fits in the trunk of an average car.
Airone
My bachelor's thesis: an umbrella for restaurant and café terraces. A four-bar linkage lowers it from upright to flat, so it can be stored, moved on its wheels or taken out of the wind.
Team
Alessio Fontanelli
Airone is an umbrella with the neck of a heron. When the wind rises or the season ends, it folds down flat.
00 // THE INSPIRATION
The heron
The project started from the moments a terrace umbrella has to be put away: at the end of the season, when strong wind picks up, or simply when it has to move to another spot.
The shape comes from a heron. The structure is slender and the main arm curves like the bird's neck, a curve the mechanism needs anyway, because it follows the way the four-bar linkage folds. The umbrella has two positions: upright and open, or folded flat.
01 // KINEMATICS
How it folds
I defined the movement in CAD with geometric constraints: fixing the base line AB and the radii AC and BD leaves the linkage a single degree of freedom. FDM printed prototypes then showed that the mechanisms work.
01
A pantograph linkage
The four-bar linkage works like the pantograph on a train roof: it raises and lowers the arm with a single degree of freedom.
02
Folding flat
An open umbrella catches the wind like a sail.
On Airone the four-bar linkage folds the main arm down until the whole structure lies parallel to the ground. Folded like this it offers the wind very little surface and takes up far less space.
03
Low center of gravity
The base carries removable concrete ballast, and folding brings the rest of the weight down close to the ground.
04
On wheels
Swivel wheels in the base let one person move it without taking it apart.
05
One crank
The whole movement, opening and folding, is driven by a single crank.
02 // SUSTAINABILITY
Materials
I specified each material to last outdoors and to be recycled at the end of the umbrella's life. They are the project's targets, not the result of a production run.
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01
Recycled Aluminum
The structure: extruded, CNC machined and powder coated against the weather.
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02
Stainless Steel A4 (316)
Marine-grade steel for every joint and screw, so they resist corrosion even in salty air.
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03
Recycled Polypropylene
The injection-molded parts, base cover and handles, in plastic recycled from post-consumer waste.
One hex tool for every screw
03 // RIGHT TO REPAIR
One crank, one tool
The crank that opens the umbrella, turning a worm screw, is also the only tool it needs.
Every screw has the same hexagonal head, which fits the crank. The owner can assemble the umbrella, take it apart and replace any part, fabric and ribs included, without a toolbox.
04 // USER EXPERIENCE
From trunk to terrace
Five steps, from the back of a car to an open umbrella, and back.
02
Into place
Out of the sheath, it is light enough for one person to roll into place on its wheels.
03
Raising
Turning the crank drives the four-bar linkage, which lifts the arm and spreads the ribs.
04
Open
At full height it stands 265 cm tall under a 350 cm canopy, and the arm stays locked in place.
05
Folding back
When the wind rises or service ends, the same crank brings it back down flat.
05 // DATA SHEET
Specifications
Dimensions
- Open Height
- 265 cm
- Canopy Diameter
- 350 cm
- Closed Length
- 200 cm
- Passage Height
- 210 cm
- Base Footprint
- 100 x 60 cm
Configuration
- Primary Material
- Recycled Aluminum (Extruded)
- Joints & Hardware
- Stainless Steel A4 (AISI 316)
- Opening System
- 4-Bar Linkage / Worm Screw
- Mobility
- Integrated 360° Wheels
06 // ASSEMBLY
Six steps
The umbrella goes together in six steps, with the crank as the only tool.
01
Base and wheels
Fit the rear stabilizer and the heavy-duty wheels to the base.
02
Front support
With the crank, fix the wheels and the front support to the base frame.
03
Load-bearing arms
Attach the load-bearing arms, the main frame of the umbrella.
04
Main arm
Mount the main arm, which sets the height of the umbrella and the axis it turns around.
05
Ballast and cover
Clip on the plastic cover and slide in the concrete ballast blocks, which keep the center of gravity low.
06
Ribs and fabric
Connect the ribs and counter-ribs, which stretch the fabric and lock the shape of the canopy.
07 // IDENTITY
The marks
Airone is Italian for heron, the bird the main arm is drawn from. The name is engraved on the arm, and the pictogram with it.
The pictogram
A heron under a sun, marked on the arm above the hex screw.
The logotype
Engraved on the side of the main arm, next to the joint.
On the folded frame
The same two marks return on the frame, where they stay in view once the umbrella is down.
Open or folded
Open, it shades a restaurant terrace. Folded, it lies flat and low, ready to roll into storage or into the trunk of a car.