South Korea’s Smog Free Tower turns air pollutants into jewellery

The ‘world’s largest’ outdoor air purifier, which turns smog particles into clean air, has opened at Pyeong-chon Central Park in Anyang, South Korea.

The installation is the brainchild of Dutch inventor Daan Roosegaarde, who has created several innovations to improve urban air quality, including the Smog Free Bicycle, which has a device on its handlebars that sucks up air pollutants and releases clean air.

South Korea’s Public Art Project (APAP) invited Roosegaarde to build a Smog Free Tower which they hope will become an iconic landmark in the park.

The 7-meter tall tower uses technology to produce smog-free air in public spaces and can clean 30,000 ug/m3 of air per hour and uses only a small amount of green electricity.

Roosegaarde then designed the Smog Free Ring which is made from compressed smog particles and costs €2000.

Recent Smog Free Project campaigns have been launched in China, the Netherlands and Poland.

Daan Roosegaarde: ‘True beauty is not a Louis Vuitton bag or a Ferrari, but clean air and clean energy.’

Air pollution has become a major political topic in South Korea this year, and according to the National Institute of Environmental Research, seven major cities have had record-high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution during 2019.

Earlier this year, the government passed several emergency measures aimed at curbing pollution levels, including installing air purifiers in school classrooms and encouraging the sale of LPG vehicles.