expandable fog-x backpack by pavels liepins harvests fresh water from thin air

pavels liepins designs mobile fog harvesting system

Tackling the global challenges of water scarcity amid climate change, Pavels Liepins designs Fog-X, a mobile desert habitat that harvests fresh drinking water from thin air. In the form of a foldable backpack, the device draws its concept from the Namib Desert Beetle’s natural ability to generate its own water supply by capturing and liquidizing clouds of fog. As such, Fog-X allows its user to move through even the most arid of landscapes and sustainably gather up to 10 liters of clean, condensed water each day. Made of lightweight aluminum, PET-plastic, and reused steel, and integrated with an expandable shelter, it provides the user freedom of movement and enables efficient functionality.

all images by Pavels Liepins

derived from the namib desert beetle’s ancient survival skill

Inspired by the Namib Desert Beetle, Fog-X’s design and sustainable fog harvesting system imitates the insect’s ancient survival skill. Pavels Liepins equips the mobile habitat device with a foldable antenna that uses a raschel mesh net to capture fog droplets and channel them into a water container as they condensate. The container also functions as a window for a foldable sleeping vessel which expands to provide the harvesters a place to rest. ‘In order to collect fog, the user needs to have a holistic approach to the landscape, movement and cycles of the elements,’ notes the designer. The first prototype of the mobile habitat was developed by Liepins in 2019 and tested in the world’s driest non-polar desert, the Atacama.

an integrated foldable sleeping vessel expands from the container to provide harvesters shelter

The project was undertaken as part of Pavels Liepins’ Architecture and Extreme Environments masters studies at the Danish Royal Academy of Architecture. The designer’s work explores how understanding existing ecosystems while targeting future global challenges will become a crucial quest for the existence of human societies. Fog-X is developed as a concept to replenish communities that are affected by drinkable water scarcity, while empowering users of the device to become active and resilient agents in the face of this global issue. According to the United Nations, by 2030, 700 million people could be displaced by intense water scarcity caused by global warming and mismanagement of natural resources.

a foldable antenna uses a raschel mesh net to capture fog droplets as they condensate

the mobile desert habitat takes shape as a foldable backpack, granting its user free mobility

Fog-X’s sustainable fog harvesting system imitates the Namib Desert Beetle’s ancient survival skills

the first prototype developed in 2019 was tested in the world’s driest non-polar desert, the Atacama

Fog-X can sustainably gather up to 10 liters of clean, condensed water each day

project info:

name: Fog-X
designer: Pavels Liepins

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edited by: ravail khan | designboom