Studio Roosegaarde, the Smog Free Project (2015)

Why is there a giant air filter in the middle of a park?

Some of you may have heard of the air filtering tower made by Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde.  It is a large tower located in the middle of a park in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and is able to filter the polluted air around it.  It is meant to work as a giant air filter working to purify the smog filled air of Rotterdam.  Daan Roosegaarde has in recent years done several unique design work such as painting a stretch of highway with glow in the dark paint to make dark remote stretches of road safer.  The tower is a part of Daan Roosegaarde latest initiative, the Smog Free Project.

Studio Roosegaarde, the Smog Free Project (2015)

Studio Roosegaarde, the Smog Free Project (2015)

The idea for the Smog Free Tower, as it's commonly known, was a c ollaboration between Daan Roosegaarde,  Bob Ursem ( Delft Technology University researcher), and European Nano Solutions (a green tech company).  The tower was a inspired solution to the cities growing air pollution problem. The completely metal tower stands about 23 feet tall and is capable of purifying up to a million cubic feet of air per hour.  It does this through a vacuum like method where a radial ventilation system on the top of the tower sucks in the air.  The tower then ionizes the air taking out the the airborne smog particles.  All this is done using only the amount of electricity it takes to boil a pot of water. The energy used to power the tower is all green as well.

One might ask, "where does all the smog go to then?"  Well that's one of the coolest parts about the Smog Free Tower, it turns the smog into jewelry.  Cool right?  The jewelry is then sold to tourists, locals and whoever wants to buy one to help support the project.   The tower has gotten so much attention that it is going on tour around the world.  It will be making stops in some of the most heavily polluted cities in the world like Mumbai, and Beijing. 

In order to conserve energy and create healthier air at home make sure to change your homes air filters once a month. For more information about home air filters visit JoeFilter.com.