Archinect - News

For the 19th time, Los Angeles takes the crown as the smoggiest city in the U.S.

2019-05-01T19:42:00-04:00

For 20 years, the American Lung Association has gathered and analyzed data from official air quality monitors creating its annual "State of the Air" report. It's been reported by the association that more than four in ten people currently live in areas where pollution levels are too dangerous to breathe. Now several factors contribute to such poor air quality; however, during the 20 years these reports have been conducted, Los Angeles has been ranked as the city with the most polluted air quality by ozone measurements.

Sadly, the city's air quality has gotten worse since last year's State of the Air report. The data gathered analyze ozone layers in the city. The San Bernardino and Riverside counties are also included with Los Angeles' data report which affects the city's ranking tremendously. Many may view smog as an obstruction from Los Angeles' cityscape, however, the long-lasting effects of poor air quality can cause severe damage like lung cancer with a higher risk for early de...

India proposes to fight pollution after Supreme Court considers demolition of deteriorating Taj Mahal

2018-07-30T14:17:00-04:00

India has proposed a ban on plastics, polluting factories and construction around its 17th-century monument to love, the Taj Mahal, a government document showed, in a bid to stave off pollution that is turning the structure yellow and green. In a draft document submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, authorities in Uttar Pradesh said they would ban all plastics, switch to electric and hydrogen vehicles, and boost the green cover within the precincts of the Taj, to fight pollution.

"The document was submitted after the justices, in a fit of anger during a hearing two weeks ago, demanded that authorities either restore the structure or tear it down," Reuters reports. "One of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal is flanked by a garbage-strewn river and is often enveloped by dust and smog from belching smokestacks and vehicles."

India's Supreme Court again weighs in on discolored Taj Mahal: shut it down, demolish it, or restore it

2018-07-16T15:50:00-04:00

The Taj Mahal in Agra could be closed unless the Indian government steps in and saves the neglected landmark, says India’s Supreme Court. “Either we shut down the Taj or demolish it or you restore it,” the two-judge committee told state officials last week. [...] The Supreme Court says that it will monitor the situation on a day-to-day basis from 31 July.

Frustrated with the slow response from officials in charge of restoring the deteriorating Taj Mahal, India's highest court demanded swift action to stop the ongoing discoloration of the iconic Unesco World Heritage site caused by pollution and millions of tiny insects, saying: "We want you to give us an action plan of what you propose to do. We will hear it and finally dispose it. If it has to be shut down, let it be shut."

The Taj Mahal went from white to yellow and now greenish

2018-05-10T19:08:00-04:00

India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday faulted the country’s archaeological conservation body for failing to protect the Taj Mahal from discoloration, dirty feet and green slime emitted by millions of mosquito-like insects. Since 2015, the body, the Archaeological Survey of India, has overseen a restoration project at the Taj Mahal, with workers scaling scaffolding to remove grime from the 17th-century tomb [...].

After decades of slowly turning dull and yellowish from smog and pollution, the Taj Mahal's formerly white facade has now taken on an unattractive green discoloration. Archaeological experts suspect swarms of tiny bugs to be the perpetrators, but India's highest court isn't pleased with the slow pace of cleanup of what is arguably India's most well know architectural landmark.

China builds "world's biggest air purifier" to battle air pollution

2018-01-17T13:36:00-05:00

An experimental tower over 100 metres (328 feet) high in northern China – dubbed the world’s biggest air purifier by its operators – has brought a noticeable improvement in air quality, according to the scientist leading the project, as authorities seek ways to tackle the nation’s chronic smog problem. [...] The head of the research, Cao Junji, said improvements in air quality had been observed over an area of 10 square kilometres (3.86 square miles) in the city over the past few months [...].

Now that the experimental smog-eating tower is up and running in the city of Xian, authorities are hoping to build much bigger, scaled-up versions in other Chinese cities soon: "A full-sized tower would reach 500 metres (1,640 feet) high with a diameter of 200 metres (656 feet)," the South China Morning Post writes.

Beijing bans winter construction to reduce air pollution

2017-09-19T14:00:00-04:00

Beijing will suspend construction of major public projects in the city this winter in an effort to improve the capital’s notorious air quality, official media said on Sunday, citing the municipal commission of housing and urban-rural development. All construction of road and water projects, as well as demolition of housing, will be banned from Nov. 15 to March 15 within the city’s six major districts and surrounding suburbs, said the Xinhua report.

"China is in the fourth year of a 'war on pollution,'" Reuters reports, "designed to reverse the damage done by decades of untrammelled economic growth and allay concerns that hazardous smog and widespread water and soil contamination are causing hundreds of thousands of early deaths every year."

A smog-cleaning bike, a kite-charging dike: Studio Roosegaarde's creative design solutions to infrastructural challenges

2017-08-22T15:03:00-04:00

In the unofficial category of "Creative Pollution Solutions," the Dutch firm Studio Roosegaarde is angling to be the winner: the firm has several projects that introduce innovative solutions to existing infrastructural challenges. First up, in partnership with bike-sharing firm OFO, the studio has announced to develop a bicycle that "inhales" smog and then releases purified air by virute of pedaling.

The project, which was initially announced at a TED forum, has now advanced to the first stage of design. The bikes, which release clean air around each cyclist as they are pedaled, are not only environmentally friendly but culturally attuned: Daan Roosegaarde wanted to reference the iconicity of the bicycle in China while simultaneously improving air quality.

In addition to the bicycles, Studio Roosegaarde has also undertaken the redevelopment of the Icoon Afsluitdijk. As the architects explain: "It is the government-scale landscape innovation project on the legendary Dutch dike, whic...

Smog continues to choke Beijing

2017-01-04T13:18:00-05:00

The Chinese capital issued its highest red fog alert for a second day on Wednesday, keeping highways closed in and around the city which is already under a smog alert after weeks of choking winter pollution. China's weather bureau warned of visibility of less than 50 meters in some areas, leading many airports to cancel flights.

Air pollution is one of the most significant public health issues facing major cities around the world. Find out more here:

The Taj Mahal, yellowed by smog, is getting a restorative mud mask

2016-10-10T13:20:00-04:00

The famed monument to love ... has for years been acquiring a yellow tinge despite a ban on coal-powered industries in the area. Authorities have been applying "mud packs" around the side walls and towers since last year to draw the impurities out of the stone, but have not yet touched the main central dome. [...] The mud-pack therapy involves covering the surface with fuller's earth and leaving it to dry before removing it with soft brushes and distilled water.

David Adjaye and Daan Roosegaarde take home London Design Medals

2016-09-21T14:19:00-04:00

Now in its tenth year, the prize celebrates ‘the achievements of designers who are making or who have made a significant difference to our lives through innovation, originality and imagination’, with past winners including Zaha Hadid, Marc Newson and Dieter Rams.

David Adjaye received the Panerai London Design Medal for "consistent design excellence", while Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde (Studio Roosegaarde) took home the Airbnb Design Innovation Medal, for his work designing building (and jewelry)-sized smog filters.

Other winners of this year's prizes include industrial designer Sir Kenneth Grange and furniture and product designer, Bethan Laura Wood.

Related on Archinect:

Investigations into the threat of air pollution have failed to account for people's movement

2016-08-24T13:24:00-04:00

The true impact of air pollution has been obscured by the failure to consider people’s exposure as they move around during the day... The research cites air pollution as “the world’s single largest environment and human health threat” but laments that the problem has not previously been “considered spatially and temporally”, with most studies basing a person’s pollution exposure on where they live.

Interested in urban initiatives to combat air pollution? Follow these links:

Smog-choked Beijing plans "ventilation corridors" to provide much-needed fresh air

2016-03-03T14:14:00-05:00

Beijing is stepping up measures to fight against smog and pollution by building a web of ventilation corridors as one of its plans to combat climate issues, according to municipal authorities. “Ventilation corridors can improve wind flow through a city so that wind can blow away heat and pollutants, relieving urban heat island effect and air pollution,” Wang Fei, deputy head of Beijing’s urban planning committee, told Xinhua News Agency.

The planned "ventilation corridors" would range from less than 80 meters to more than 500 meters wide and – hopefully – do what their name suggests, providing a conduit for wind to blow away pollutants like particulate matter.

Five major corridors are planned for the Chinese capital, running primarily from the northern suburbs to the south of the city. One will cross Beijing's central axis, running from Taiping Suburban park down through the Olympic Park and the Temple of Heaven before finally intersecting with the Beijing-Shanghai Highway.

Ventilation corridors have already been carved out of other Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, and Wuhan. In Wuhan, planners believe that the corridors have lowered temperatures by as much as 1 to 2 degrees Celsius (urban temperatures and pollution levels correlate).

Beijing has struggled with its pollution problem for many years now, with only marginal improvements following the closure of the city's worst polluting factories. China has also...

Reducing Turin's smog with free public transit

2015-12-11T12:55:00-05:00

Health warnings have been issued this week as atmospheric pollution is set to rise to dangerously high levels on Thursday and Friday, with levels of breathable toxic particles reaching 100 micrograms per cubic meter. In a bid to stop pollution reaching dangerous levels, the council is making the city's buses and metro free on Thursday and Friday to reduce the emissions caused by Turin's heavy traffic.

Other cities coping with mitigating air pollution:

Beijing's latest "airpocalypse" is bad enough for city to issue first ever red alert

2015-12-08T18:34:00-05:00

A red alert should go into effect if there is a prediction that the air quality index will stay above 200 for more than 72 hours. The United States government rates above 200 as “very unhealthy,” and 301 to 500 as “hazardous.” At 7 p.m. Monday, the Beijing municipal reading was 253. [...] At international climate change talks, including the ones now underway in Paris, Chinese officials have promised to curb coal use in order to address both air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions.

Rotterdam's smog transformed into jewelry thanks to an outdoor air filter

2015-09-17T15:21:00-04:00

After [the 23-foot-tall air filter designed by Daan Roosegaarde] filters smog from the air, it compresses the collected waste particles into cubes that can be embedded into jewelry such as rings and cufflinks — and, hopefully, prompt further conversations about extreme air pollution.

For more on how designers are creatively tackling pollution:

• Delhi’s air pollution is worse than Beijing's. A new app measures the air quality in real time.

• Beijing mayor says air pollution makes his city "unlivable"

• Air Pollution Google Earth Mashup

China’s "most influential architect" is not pleased with the state of Chinese urbanism

2015-02-10T14:17:00-05:00

For 70 years, Mr. Wu has ridden out the country’s political storms, including one that killed his mentor, to establish himself as the most influential architect, urban planner and éminence grise of China’s cities. But looking out the window of his apartment in this city’s northern suburbs, he can only shake his head at the dim building emerging from the haze. “Our environment is unfit for daily life, and the responsibility is very heavy on our shoulders,” he said.

Beijing mayor says air pollution makes his city "unlivable"

2015-01-28T17:22:00-05:00

China's smog-shrouded, overcrowded, traffic-choked capital has become unlivable. And that's not the assessment of some tourist or disgruntled cubicle-dweller: That's the mayor talking. [...] "In establishing a top-tier, internationalized livable and harmonious city, Beijing is currently establishing a system of standards, something that is very important," Wang said in comments reported by state news outlets. "At the present time, however, Beijing is not a livable city."

China plans to unleash smog-killing drones to zap its pollution

2014-03-07T19:07:00-05:00

China’s premier, Li Keqiang, announced a “war on pollution“—evidence that the highest levels of government have acknowledged that China’s smog and dirty air have reached a crisis point. And what better way to launch a war on pollution than with a fleet of smog-clearing drones?