Elusive creatures, one moment a playful balloon will be the object of a child’s affection, and the next it has succumbed to a flirtatious breeze, flown out of the child’s hand and off on a new adventure. As a youngster, did you ever wish you could grasp onto the string of your helium balloon and float away with it in a passing breeze? Unfortunately, no matter how many helium balloons were gathered, or how fast you ran down a steep driveway to generate speed for take-off, gravity always had other ideas in mind. Intrigued by the idea of floating away on a balloon-powered aircraft and inspired by the 1953 French film Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon), where a young boy is flown away from a grey existence by a colourful bunch of balloons, the designers at Japanese design firm h220430 created the Balloon Bench. While the bench does not float like the house in the movie Up, or the balloons in Le Ballon Rouge, it creates an illusion of floating. The bench actually hangs from four anchors that are bolted into the ceiling and concealed by the balloons, but if you suspend your disbelief, you may feel for a brief moment as though some of your childhood dreams have come true. All that is left to do is close your eyes and dream of all the exotic lands your balloon-powered aircraft may take you to.