Imagine a Colorful Castle of Air

Upon entering, you instantly notice vaulted ceilings that arch toward heaven, creating a sense of grandeur and almost limitless space. The air is washed in colors--reds, blues, greens deepening from soft tints to lustrous jewel tones with the passing of clouds--and warmed by the strains of hushed music.

This isn’t Notre Dame or Chartres or even the Crystal Cathedral.

It’s Meggopolis, a polyvinylchoride “cathedral of air” getting its U.S. premiere this weekend in Costa Mesa. The brainchild of English artist Alan Parkinson, Meggopolis is the centerpiece of Imaginarium, a two-day “arts playground” of workshops and performances outside the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Imaginarium, which brings the 1996 Imagination Celebration to a close this weekend, also features four stages of international music, dance, puppetry and theater by professional and student groups, along with dozens of booths offering hands-on art activities. Imaginarium admission is free; Meggopolis admission is $1.

Constructed from 9,000 square feet of specially formulated PVC, Meggopolis is an inflated labyrinth of interconnected chambers and passageways. Measuring almost 110 feet long, 85 feet wide and more than 30 feet tall at its peak, the structure--looking something like a carnival “moon bounce” on steroids--is sure to be one of the most visually arresting elements at this year’s Imaginarium.

“It’s an innovative environment in which people can explore the values of color and light,” said Troy Botelo, OCPAC’s manager of education and one of the coordinators of Imaginarium. “This is truly a piece of art, but it’s art that you can walk through.”

If it lives up to its track record, Meggopolis will give the free arts festival a needed shot in the arm, attendance-wise. Last year’s Imaginarium drew a disappointing 5,000 people over its two days. Botelo says Meggopolis should be a magnet for families eager to experience this unique artform.

(To manage the expected crowds, organizers will distribute tickets at the Imaginarium’s information booth with specific entry times to Meggopolis. Visits are limited to 15 minutes; no shoes or smoking are allowed, and children under kindergarten age must be accompanied by an adult.)

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Meggopolis is the latest large-scale pneumatic sculpture created by Parkinson, a former photographer and college teacher who says he started making inflatable art “purely by accident.” He’s working on several new ones for possible installation on the rooftops of London’s South Bank arts district.

Speaking by phone from his home studio in Nottingham, Parkinson explained that his structures began as a service project for mentally and physically disabled adults in that region.

“It started out we were just creating inflatable sculptures that were sort of recreational,” recalled Parkinson, who refers to himself half-jokingly as an “architect of air.”

“Ultimately, we collaborated with a theater company and developed a show for people with special needs, and the sculptures grew into a performance space that we could tour around,” he explained. In 1992, the structure, which he dubbed Eggopolis because of its multiple, egg-shaped domes, went solo as a festival exhibit in Edinburgh, Scotland.

“There were just queues all the time of people wanting to go in and experience the structure in its own right,” he said. Since then, Eggopolis and the slightly larger Meggopolis have been featured at major festivals across Western Europe.

Meggopolis drew more than 40,000 people during a recent 26-day stay in Sydney, Australia. When it leaves here Sunday night, it will travel to Montclair, N.J., and Allentown and Pittsburgh, Penn.

Although visitors are given a map to guide them through the maze of passageways that link the different parts of Meggopolis, Parkinson says visitors don’t view his structures as a game. In fact, he says, they often react much the same way they would when viewing a great cathedral.

“I do think there’s a compatibility between my pieces and cathedrals, although I suppose that’s a bit pretentious,” Parkinson said with a gentle laugh.

“I do try to use forms like flying buttresses . . . that you would find on a gothic cathedral. And,” he continued, “working with this colored plastic is like creating a building out of nothing but stained glass, only stained glass that is flexible.

“When you step inside, there’s that feeling you get when you go into a cathedral. You just stand there and look up at these vaulting ceilings and luminous colors. . . . It’s a cathedral of light and color.”

* What: Meggopolis.

* When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.

* Where: At the Imaginarium, Town Center Drive and Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa.

* Whereabouts: From the San Diego (405) Freeway, exit at Bristol Street and drive north. Turn right on Town Center Drive. (Free parking in structure at Avenue of the Arts and Sunflower Avenue.).

* Wherewithal: Imaginarium admission is free; Meggopolis tickets are $1.

* Where to call: (714) 556-2787, Ext. 888.