Year: 2022
Duration: 12 Weeks
Location: Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Studio: Ethics of Technologies (Speculative Design)
Black Forest in the City
As the city’s air pollution grows, more citizens suffer from lung cancer in urban areas. In 2019, fine particle pollution caused 1 million deaths in China. Black carbon, part of fine particle air pollution, can penetrate the lungs’ deepest regions and facilitate the transport of toxic compounds into the bloodstream.
In the future, “Black Forest” will use high technology to capture soot from the traffic and residential areas in the city. About 200kg of black carbon every two weeks is collected from urban areas and transferred to factories to be processed into black carbon for automobile tires. A closed loop occurs between those who produce the air pollutants and those who use them.
Would turning pollutants into resources create a clean air environment?
* Model Making
“The Pollutants which could have been in the lungs of millions of people are now beautifully resting as art.”
a. Electrodes cause soot particles to obtain a negative charge as they pass.
b. The negatively charged soot particles stick on the electrodes with a positive charge.
c. About 200kg of black carbon is collected after two weeks.
d. Dust is collected by machine and manual operation.
Positive electrodes on the top, connected to ground
Electrodes that release negative charges
Pathway
Central Vacuum System
Positive Charges Plate
Roundabout
The Power Unit
Detail Drawing 1
Piping System
Inlet Valve
Detail Drawing 2
AXONOMETRIC
1:200 @ A1
ELEVATION
1:200 @ A1
PLAN
1:500 @ A1
Inlet Valve
Connect the hose to collect soot
Wood
Piping System
Place under the path
The soot concentrates along the pipe to the dust collector
DETAIL DRAWING 2
1:5 @ A1
Inlet Valve
Connect the hose to the truck
Transport the soot to the factory
Piping System
DETAIL DRAWING 1
1:10 @ A1
