nas-dra detoxifies hong kong with responsive urban farming machines

nas-dra detoxifies hong kong with responsive urban farming machines
all images courtesy of nas-dra

while they appear to be the proof of reaching the objective by tourists, inhabitants perceive them as spam, assailing the spectator regardless of time of day. they interfere with the thermal balance of the environment, simultaneously illuminating and warming the streets after dark and offer everything from restaurants, tailors, and birds’ nests to night clubs, spas, and brothels. free market, stimulated with the constant stream of information, touches ones subconsciousness and body with the omnipresent heat. what we’re referring to are hong kong’s banners and advertisements, which have thickly overgrown this dynamic asian megalopolis, with it’s non-linear growth, multilayered structure, simultaneous explosions and implosions. as a result, they are the most credible ‘physibles’ of the web and provide the perfect location for nas-dra‘s ‘-CO2’.

streetscape during the day 

streetscape during the night

entering the street is like opening a browser, where motives of the user must be streamed into buying products and lifestyles, generating a default mindset hidden under words of success, fulfillment, or beauty. they are shaped with a hyper-podium typology exploited and overused in the 1990s, which became conductors of air pollution coming mostly from industrial cities located to the north. in response, the project calls for an implementation of machines with coded behaviors. they know how to lurk on the steel branches hanging above and spread their bodies to capture as much air as possible. they wait when the night comes and neon ads flash the streets, then they embrace the colorful heat of information and inhale the pure carbon dioxide, feeding the plants covering their surface.

street conditions
(left) during the day, streets are conductors for air pollution
(right) during the night, they warm up with the heat from neon ads

assembled in order to fight for a personal space, the constructs intend to flip the consumer-resource’s relationship in contemporary society. as functional parasites within the urban fabric, they provide small pockets farming, reduce noise, and decrease air and light pollution. these advantages are possibly through technology developed by chemists from UCLA. polyethylenimine (PEI) is an organic polymer, inherent in the process of detergent, cosmetics production, or employed as a wet-strength agent in paper-making process. however, the ingredient is most known for its capability of removing carbon dioxide, which has led to its use in the porous components of space aircraft interiors. while looking for the best and most permeable structure to impregnate polymer with, the scientists discovered that fumed silica is the most efficient material in terms of its absorption rate. once it is full of the chemical compound, the process can be reversed: heating the material to 85° C produces high-concentrated air (2 to 5% CO2), which could be used next to make methane or during the farming.

the parasites are closed at night

by capturing the heat inside releases the CO2 from PEI polymer and feed the plants, simultaneously cooling the streets

parasitic robot hanging above the street

close up view of the mechanism 

being spread above the street helps to absorb CO2 with PEI coated arms 

machines start closing during the evening 

by embracing the neon banners, they warm up their inside and reverse the process of absorption, releasing the CO2 and feeding the plants 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.