Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde has brought his huge smog vacuum cleaner to Beijing, and claims he can “make a whole city smog free”.
The Studio Roosegaarde founder unveiled his Smog Free Tower – which he describes as the largest air purifier in the world – in the Chinese capital yesterday, coinciding with Beijing Design Week.
Although the tower has already been installed in Rotterdam, where Roosegaarde is based, the designer told Dezeen his goal for the project was always Beijing.
“The idea originated in Beijing, but to convince China’s central government we used Rotterdam as a pilot, to test, to learn, to make a mistake, to upgrade,” he explained.
The seven-metre tall metal tower is now located in 798 – a former industrial park that has become an established art and design district. It creates a pocket of clean air in its vicinity, offering respite from hazardous levels of pollution.
Polluted air is sucked in at the top of the tower, and then purified air is released through vents on its four sides.
Roosegaarde describes the tower as “a sign of hope for a whole city”.
The Chinese government has now publicly confirmed its support for the Smog Free Project, so Roosegaarde is currently engaging with government officials and local designers to scale it up, to rid the whole city of its smog.
He is planning a “smog-free solution conference” to take place in Beijing, allowing Chinese designers to present their ideas.
“We have invited Chinese makers who have their own smog-free solutions to give a talk about their work,” he continued. “We’re going to put them in a room, have some city officials, some young makers and discuss how we can make a whole city smog free.”
He also plans to take the project to other Chinese cities to hoover up smog.
Read more on Dezeen: http://www.dezeen.com/?p=980763
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