Breathe!
IVAAIU City & A-Axis Architects
[OPEN AIR! A Public Art Commission for Somers Town] Popup Exhibition
As part of the London Design Festival 2023
This public structure aims to create a new urban space that accommodates residents and visitors in Somers Town.
The structure has a general form of a garden of repetitive arches with air purification systems for the locals who struggled with the loss of green spaces and deprived air quality.
‘Breathing Loop’ is a new kind of air filtration system consisting of a diverse ecosystem: air-filtering plants, carbon-capturing soil, and algae modules. The multi-layered diamond-shaped modules provide a spatial coexistence between these natural elements and create an ecosystem that also functions as an air-filtering layer that can be effectively used in highly polluted air zones.
When polluted air enters the structure, plants, soil, and algae modules clean and share the air with each other and create their own air mechanism, making the air filtration process vibrant and robust. A thick air buffer formed around the structure has a self-sustaining air circulation loop.
An ‘Algae Pocket’ is implanted into the system to help air filtration when met with solar radiation. The natural ability of microalgae to capture solar radiation and absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) is ten times more efficient than trees therefore, it can create a clean and comfortable environment around it.
Microalgae capture CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, which helps to improve urban air quality. Disposing of ‘algae filtration pockets’ into a multi-layer and composing them with air filtration plants will help ‘Breathing Loop’ be more vibrant and effective. ‘Algae Module’ is designed to be made out of reused plastic, and after microalgae’s expectancy is over, it will be poured into soil modules and used as a natural fertilizer. Algae is a sustainable, renewable, and economical source of fertilizer. It can be used safely and in a more environmentally friendly way than chemical fertilizers.
The ‘Air Filtration Effective Plants Module’ consists of diverse indigenous plants. Consisting of common species, it will add an air filtration available of ‘Breathing Loop’ stronger. And most importantly, it will retain the sense of nature to nurture observers mentally and physically.
‘Breathing Loop’ is a new kind of urban layer consisting of a diverse ecosystem, consisting of algae and various air cleanse-effective plants, disposed as a shape that can create a constant breathing loop for the people inside the layer. The diamond-shaped multi-layers of vegetation, soil, and algae systems are intended to offer fulfilling and comfortable sunlight inside the tunnel to offer a nurturing air shelter for the residents and visitors.
