Architecture | Cleantech | Deployable Structure | Industrial
Design Thesis
Carbon sequestration in ambient air has been the most difficult obstacle in reducing greenhouse gas pollution, until in recent years lab scientists have proven crystallization as a potentially effective solution to get carbon dioxide out of the ambient atmosphere.
AirCO is an imagined company in the future when crystallization technology has been developed into full-scale application. It manufactures carbon sequestration robots and deploy them around the human habitat to combat greenhouse gas pollution in our precious Earth.
My Role
Designer of a duo team. This is the second semester design studio project at Columbia GSAPP, collaborated with Lingfan Jiang, my peer and design partner.
Timeline
4 months
Operational Logic
AirCO deploys its pre-fab factory modules on the heavily polluted sites, manufacturing the carbon sequestration cyborgs and deploying through drones to anywhere needed. After the cyborgs capture greenhouse gas to its full capacity (covered in heavy layers of crystals), the cyborgs were taken back to the factory to recycle the captured carbon for profitable uses: supply for urban farms, concrete factories, etc.
![exploded axon [Converted].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b5f848_8419b81637a042a7a3058fa2ea8587bc~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_706,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/exploded%20axon%20%5BConverted%5D.jpg)
airco cyborg-1
AirCO cyborg-01 is designed to capture greenhouse gas directly from the ambient atmosphere, which has been the hardest challenge in carbon capture and might become possible with the most up-to-date lab science discovery of using salt crystallization for carbon capture. It is designed with the capacity for different stacking formations to deal with different surface conditions. Flexible ball joint and soft pneumatic membranes allow it to conform its shape and appearance to the complex human environment and building surfaces.
![storage layer axon [Converted].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b5f848_17fb892477c841dba2858cd090f93a7a~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_634,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/storage%20layer%20axon%20%5BConverted%5D.png)
Deployment deck
final assembly deck
skeleton assembly deck
inventory deck
carbon storage deck
site selection
The AirCO is meant to be deployed at places where a heavy amount of carbon dioxide is distributed into the ambient air all the time. We chose the famous (or notorious) Cross-Bronx Expressway as the test site. The Cross-Bronx Expressway cut through the urban center of Bronx to provide a fast access to major highways in and out of the city. However, this highway has caused immense complaints from the neighborhood and urban degradation to the community of Bronx. As tens of thousands of cars and trucks commute on the CBE, it generates an annual amount of emission of GHG over 250 thousand tons, equivalent to the amount of GHG annually absorbed by 560 central parks.
