'Smog Free Tower' Heads To Poland To Vacuum Air Pollution

Daan Roosegaarde is bringing the Smog Free Tower to Krakow, Poland, in February. The 23-foot tall structure is described as a smog vacuum cleaner that first appeared in Rotterdam and later China to fix their urban areas struggling with air pollution. The tower is a part of a portfolio of Smog Free Projects that the Dutch artist has been working on.

Smog Free Tower will be showcased at Park Jordana in Krakow. The city was selected to host the aluminum structure as they’re one of the leaders in fighting their own air pollution in recent years. It cleans just over 39,000 cubic yards per hour and picks up two common air pollutants, PM2.5 and PM10, to control smog over its surroundings.

Rotterdam, which is the home of Studio Roosegaarde, was the first location to erect the Smog Free Tower. It was boosted with a successful crowdfunding campaign that made approximately $127,000 US in August 2015. The structure was later moved toward Beijing, which at the time had PM2.5 pollution levels that were bigger than the total area of California.

Two different cities in China hosted the Smog Free Tower afterwards. Krakow will be the hosts from February 16th to April 15th, and the public is able to visit it from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM local time each day during that window. They’ll also be presenting the Smog Free Rings which are created from the compressed smog the tower sucks in.

Smog Free Rings are part of the entire Smog Free Project that Roosegaarde has created. The dust that’s captured is filled with carbon and is compressed into a cube. Each of these rings represent just over 1,300 cubic yards of smog that was cleared out of the air, and they’ll be available for purchase at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow.

Even better, the tower’s power levels to vacuum up smog and create rings is an extremely low 1,170 watts and utilizes positive ionization technology, according to the official website. They’re looking at the potential for installing solar panels in the future to make it a fully sustainable process.

Roosegaarde added Smog Free Bikes to the project last year. In similar fashion to the tower, these bicycles would be able to suck up the smog, filter it out, and release clean oxygen back into the air as the cyclist pedals away. This had the additional benefit of keeping more cars off the streets.

In December, the entire Smog Free Project won a Design for Asia Grand Award for Sustainability. It was selected due to its ability to solve the significant issue of air pollution right now and it could help create bigger ideas down the road. Studio Roosegaarde has been doing brilliant things to fight air pollution, and it’ll be interesting to see what comes next from them.