Dubai-based architecture firm Znera Space has proposed "The Smog Project," an ambitious proposal across Delhi to combat toxic smog.Shortlisted in the World Architecture Festival's Experimental Project Category for "proposals that challenge conventional thinking,” the Smog Project aims to address Delhi’s noxious air quality by adding a network of smog filtering towers that could absorb pollution from the atmosphere, with each building creating a 1.2 mile radius of semi-clean air.India's capital has become known for toxic smog. According to World Health Organization, industrial waste, diesel vehicles, power plants in the city, and crop burning in the neighbouring Haryana and Punjab regions, all contribute to poor air quality.“The proposed network of smog free towers will help the city cleanse its air and make it breathable again. The vertical air cleaning tower would be connected by sky bridges that are built with Hydrogen Generating Cells to power the towers. Znera argues for a localized approach, stating that the construction could start with a single district to judge the success rate before a larger network is built,” the ArchDaily quotes.Indian startup company Graviky Labs has created a method that transforms carbon from air pollution into a product called Air Ink.Specifically designed to remove smog and contaminants from the air, the project uses a filtration pod at the base and air propellers at the top. Inflows at the base of a tower suck in air and pass it through five stages of filtration — including charcoal-activated carbon, negative ion generators and electrostatically-charged plasma — to trap airborne particles. Air is forced upwards where it passes through a photo-catalyst filter to sterilize bacteria and viruses, before being released into the atmosphere. The towers would produce 3.2 million cubic meters of clean air per day."It's a conversation starter," says Najmus Chowdhry, principal architect for the concept. Chowdhry, raised in Chandigarh, about 150 miles north of Delhi, compares the nation's capital to "a gas chamber," but says politically "everyone is passing the buck."Similar projects have been carried out in other cities in the hopes of reducing smog and air pollution. Although considerably smaller, at seven metres tall, Roosegaarde Studios’ has installed Smog Free Towers in Rotterdam and Krakow. Roosegaarde Studios is the social design lab of Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde.http://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin
↧