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Project Information
Name of Project: Safezone Shelter
Client: Thai Creative and Design Center (TCDC)
Category: Installations
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Design Period: 2019
Completion Year: 2020
Site Area: 150 SQ.M.
Photographer: Napon Jaturapuchapornpong
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Bangkok Design Week 2020, Safezone Shelter is an ephemeral intervention, aiming to purify air and provide comfort for people, while also raising awareness about “air pollution,” which becomes a critical concern for many societies. Looking at Bangkok, according to the World Air Quality Index of 2019, it has 54% of total days in a year in which particulate matter (PM) was measured over WHO’s standard level, threatening over one-third of inhabitants.
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The city has also constantly been facing “Urban Heat Island Effect” from a large amount of hardscape and skyscrapers with inadequate green space. Nonetheless, as Bangkok was selected by UNESCO Creative Cities Network as “Creative City of Design,” it’s a good opportunity to create an experimental space in order to achieve a better city and United Nations (UN)’s Sustainable Development Goal No.11. Inspired by “cloud,” the pavilion was designed in a futuristic organic form, depicting a clean refreshing atmosphere, while also forming a pleasant Microclimate by equipping vegetation and engineering technology together.
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Air quality is a factor needed to be carefully controlled to keep good air inside. First, hot dirty air is pulled inside by a fan, passes through rows of trees and shrubs which capture dusty particles, as well as ground-covering plants which absorb toxic substances. After that, the pre-filtered wind will flow through the dust filter plate and the cooling plate consequently, and come out as a purified breeze at the end. As providing comfort is also another important circumstance, various techniques are adopted to keep the shelter’s interior temperature at around 22-29 degree Celsius, suitable for Thailand’s tropical climate.
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They include using fans to release heat and create air flow, wrapping Nylon clothes around the structure to get an interior light with diffused blurry effect – friendly for our eyes, and operating the humidifier to maintain 50-70% humidity level. In addition, natural scents from plants, and experimental music – made up of nature-like sounds (breeze, water, birds) is employed to provide a soothing experience while walking inside the pavilion. All of these inventive methods could further be applied to solve air pollution in other kinds of design.
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At an individual level, a personal mobile suit equipped with a portable air filter could be manufactured, allowing users to move around refreshed. Looking wider at an urban scale, bus stops, recreational space under expressways and skywalks also have a potential to be revitalized with such purification systems. At the end, even high-rise buildings might become old-fashioned when a better choice like an air purifier tower could be constructed. In conclusion, Safezone Shelter might be seen as a starting point on gaining such benefits from natural species and technological advancement, in order to revitalize Bangkok into a sustainable city that every inhabitant can take a deep breath.
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