LG creates face mask with battery-powered air purification system

South Korean electronics company LG has integrated electronic fans and HEPA filters into a face mask, in order to turn it into a wearable air purifier.

Unveiled at the IFA Berlin tradeshow, the release will make LG the latest in a slew of companies including Adidas and Burberry that have made forays into face coverings in recent months.

This comes as several countries, including the UK, have made face masks mandatory in communal spaces like shops and on public transport to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.

As an extension of LG's PuriCare line of air purifiers, the design features two fans, one on each side of the face, that circulate fresh air into the mask.

The air is cleaned using H13 HEPA filters, which can block 99.95 per cent of airborne particulates as small as 0.1 microns.

According to LG, the product was designed to resolve "the dilemma of homemade masks being of inconsistent quality and disposal masks being in short supply".

"At a time when consumers are seeking ways to make life safer and more convenient, it's important that we're able to offer solutions that add measurable value," said Dan Song, president of LG's home appliance and air solutions arm.

The coronavirus is approximately 0.125 microns in diameter, meaning it technically falls within the catchment area of the mask's HEPA filters.

However, the brand has made no claims about whether the design could protect the wearer from being infected with the coronavirus or whether the mask would also filter outgoing air to help prevent transmission to others.

Representatives of the UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), as well as the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, have previously made it clear that masks with exhalation valves or vents do not prevent the wearer from expelling "respiratory droplets", which could infect others.

When reached for comment, a representative of the company said that further testing was needed before details can be made available.

LG claims that all of the mask's constituent parts are recyclable and replaceable, in contrast to the disposable masks that are increasingly polluting our oceans.

The product features a patented respiratory sensor, which detects the speed and volume of the wearer's breathing and automatically chooses one of three fan speeds to match.

This also allows the fan to speed up when inhaling and slow down when exhaling, in order to reduce resistance.

A 820 milliamps per hour battery can power the mask for up to eight hours on the lowest and two hours on the highest fan setting.

The mask, which is set to be released later this year, comes with a matching case to charge and store it in between uses while integrated UV-LED lights "kill harmful germs".

Although ultraviolet light has been shown to kill other coronaviruses, including the ones that cause the respiratory syndromes SARS and MERS, the effectiveness of this technology is highly contingent on the duration and intensity of UV exposure.

Another company that recently placed its bets on the future potential of UV light is Italian lighting brand Artemide, which integrated the technology into its lamps to turn them into room sanitisers while people are not around.

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Useful Studio creates arched weathering steel Chiswick Park Footbridge

London-based Useful Studio has connected a tube station to a business park in Chiswick, west London, with a pedestrian bridge made from weathering steel.

Named Chiswick Park Footbridge, the pedestrian bridge forms part of a route between a London Underground station and the Chiswick Business Park.

"The bridge is designed to enable better connectivity and a safe enjoyable journey between the business park and the wider community along with access to the transport network and Chiswick Tube Station," explained Catherine Ramsden founding director of Useful Studio.

The bridge was built from three weathering steel arches that increase in height from west to east as the spans grow. This means that the path curves around an existing building, creating the most efficient route.

Useful Studio chose the material due to its durable nature as the bridge's location over train lines means that any maintenance needed would be costly. The studio aimed to create a "zero maintenance" bridge.

"Bridges typically have a 120-year life which puts a huge performance demand on the materials and detailing," said Ramsden.

"Network Rail enhances this demand by restricting access for ongoing maintenance and retrofit. Work over live rail lines require a formal possession – these are exceptionally costly and require a long lead time for scheduling. Therefore it is better to design out this need by using materials that are self-weathering with a long life."

The weathering steel arches are connected by angled steel support ties to the bridge's deck to create a network arch structure.

The use of inclined support ties, which are linked together, creates a stiffer more stable structure meaning that less material was needed and mass dampers to control the vibrations of the footbridge were not needed.

"A network arch structure is the combination of the arch, the deck and critically, the tied inclined hangers. The network is achieved with the angled cables which are linked at their intersection," explained Ramsden.

"This system increases the stiffness and the stability of the structure," she continued.

"This solution emerged to provide stability to the very thin arch – in the pursuit of minimal material use – and to control the dynamic behaviour of the footbridge."

Although network arch structures have several benefits they are not often used for footbridges as they involve complex engineering Ramsden added.

"Network arch footbridges are sophisticated structures which require a very good understanding of the structural behaviour, detailed care in the architecture – in particular at the hangers intersection, and precision during construction – especially for the tuning of the hangers," she said.

"It requires very close collaboration between the design disciplines and the contractor to ensure success."

To construct the bridge Useful Studio created a "kit of parts" so that it could be largely fabricated off-site. Each of the arch sections was brought to site in five sections before being assembled and lifted into place.

This limited the amount of time spent working above the rail tracks.

Chiswick Park Footbridge has been longlisted in Dezeen Awards 2020 in the infrastructure category. Cullinan Studio and McGurk Architects energy building that captures excess heat from the London Underground to help warm over 1,000 buildings was also longlisted in the same category.

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Suspended Orbs, Webs, and Air Plants Imagine an Alternative Ecological Future by Artist Tomás Saraceno

“Thermodynamic Constellation.” All images © Tomás Saraceno, courtesy of Palazzo Strozzi by Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio, shared with permission

Three reflective spheres hover above the courtyard of Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi in Tomás Saraceno’s immersive installation.  The metallic orbs mirror the historic Renaissance architecture in addition to visitors who pass by, while marking the entrance to the imagined space that explores life beyond anthropocentrism. As its name suggests, Aria is concerned with air, encompassing human travel, its ability to foster growth, and how it’s entwined with every living organism.

The Argentinian artist (previously) is known for his large-scale works that fall at the intersection of science and art and consider the human toll on the natural world. Throughout Aria are various experiences dealing with contemporary environmental issues: Glass forms hang from the ceiling and house Tillandsia plants, which need only air to survive, while “A Thermodynamic Imaginary” considers the immensity of the sun and its unused potential.

Each of the works also references one of Saraceno’s 33 arachnomancy cards that explore ecological interconnectivity. References to arachnids manifest in the complex systems that hold Weaire–Phelan structures in “Connectome” or in the stark “Aerographies,” a series of clear balloons and framed networks that explore how “the movements of people, heat, animals, and spider/webs affect and are affected by the air,” a statement from Saraceno says.

Ecosystems have to be thought of as webs of interactions, within which each living being’s ecology co‐evolves, together with those of others. By focusing less on individuals and more on reciprocal relationships, we might think beyond what means are necessary to control our environments and more on the shared formation of our quotidian.

If you’re in Florence, stop by the Palazzo Strozzi to see Saraceno’s work before it closes on November 1, 2020. Otherwise, find out more about what he has planned for the rest of the year, which includes a new solar-powered balloon, on his site and Instagram. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

 

“Thermodynamic Constellation”

“Flying Gardens,” (2020), Tillandsia plants and hand-blown glass

“Thermodynamic Constellation”

“Thermodynamic Constellation”

“Aerographies,” by Studio Tomás Saraceno

“Connectome”

“A Thermodynamic Imaginary”

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"I long for the day where suppressing my identity is no longer part of the job"

Black architects are forced to be palatable in order to be successful, says architectural designer Naila Opiangah, who shares her experiences of racism within the industry.

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For months now, the discourse on race and equity has been predominant in every setting of our lives. Non-black people have had another series of introductions to the injustices faced by the black community.

This flux of attention on racism that emanated from police brutality is not a novel occurrence. In fact, in the short period of time I've lived in the US, from late 2012 to today, several murders of innocent black people by the police received similar attention and sparked protests by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Architecture has never been a haven for genuine racial discourse in my experience

What is different today is that the killings that occurred on 13 March, 25 May and 12 June triggered a reckoning on racial injustices at all levels of society, pushing the movement well into the architecture and design world.

Architecture has never been a haven for genuine racial discourse in my experience. In my opinion, it has been a petri dish for blatant racism. When I moved to the US from my home country of Gabon to study it and later to practice it, I did not expect that my success would be defined by how well I managed to suppress my black and African identity.

I learned early in the process that assimilation was a must in order for me to fit in a field where black people only account for a sliver of its members. This awareness came after direct and indirect forms of discrimination and microaggressions in school, from the studio workshops to the midterm and final reviews.

I also quickly realised that my mere presence, perceived as an oddity and often a threat, was something that I had to justify, not only with the quality of my work but also through the degree of my eloquence. One instance of the many microaggressions I was subjected to was when I was told by a guest juror that I was a better foreign student because of how articulate I was. However, I should quit talking about race so much as it distracted the audience from my otherwise good studio project.

Entering the professional practice of architecture was equivalent to graduating to a higher level of social gymnastics

I can also recall the time when one of my studio projects involved researching a neighbourhood in the Chicago South Side with all of my studio mates. Only one of them seemed truly committed to understanding that neighbourhood while the rest kept on sharing prejudiced and racist "observations" and fears of going on a studio visit in a predominantly black neighbourhood, that is "infested by gang violence".

Being the only black student in that group, I always tried to reassure them, but I ended up feeling defeated and exhausted.

Despite working extra hard to prove my worth as a student of the academic institutions I attended, it never felt good enough, and that shortfall followed me well beyond college. Entering the professional practice of architecture was equivalent to graduating to a higher level of social gymnastics.

I participated in the marginalisation of other black people by accepting the marginalisation I was subjected to

Considering that getting this far in the field is still so rare for a young black woman, I navigated these spheres resolute to constantly express my gratitude for such a chance. In a less sarcastic way, it meant that I defeatedly complied to the low assessment that was established of me, convincing myself that it was a sort of rite of passage. I participated in the marginalisation of other black people by accepting the marginalisation I was subjected to.

Early in my career, I accepted a position much lower than my qualifications because I believed my employers knew better. After months of doing my best to please them, I was told by one of the principals that he and the rest of the leadership team was very concerned by my communication style and tone. That comment came after I finally gathered the courage to ask for the better position I was "promised" to have. Blooming into my full self and attempting to exert my full potential was always something that I felt could negatively affect my career growth; unfortunately, it did.

Black people evolving in architecture and design face a disturbing amount of racism. It is insidious, vain and strategically set up to keep us away from the upper echelons of the practice.

Although a very few of us manage to make it as far as possible, the treatment of the majority of us remains increasingly appalling. As society tackles once again the issue of race and policing, I can't help but wish for architecture to address its own issues of policing of the black people who practice it. I long for the day where suppressing my identity is no longer part of the job. Until then, I weave my way through the spaces, enduring one gaslighting at a time.

Naila Opiangah is an architectural designer based in New York City. She moved to the US from Gabon seven years ago to study architecture and developed multiple interests throughout her time in college. From social advocacy, politics, art and business, Naila has explored ways through which architecture could engage other disciplines. She's worked in various reputable design offices and her experience led her to found the Architecture Is Complicit movement.

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Layered Botanics Comprise Artist Vanessa Hogge’s Delicate Porcelain Assemblages

All images © Vanessa Hogge, courtesy of Ester Segarra/Vessel Gallery, shared with permission

Vanessa Hogge translates her lifelong fascination with flowers into monochromatic assemblages of hydrangeas, roses, and myriad blossoms. The London-based artist (previously) has been working on EFFLORESCENCE, which is comprised of three ceramics, since October 2019. Each of the delicate porcelain pieces is adorned with innumerable hand-sculpted florets and leaves that blossom from a central base.

Rather than studying horticulture textbooks and the intricacies of plant life, Hogge works entirely from her memory and imagination and frequents gardens and other places where organic elements thrive for observation. “I’ve traveled to research in the Okavango Swamps in Botswana, the flower-filled valleys of the Northern Cape in South Africa, and this January (just before lockdown), to Southern India to be surrounded by the exotic vegetation there—just beautiful,” she tells Colossal.

Hogge’s inspirations, though, are vast. She imbues elements of the funky textiles created in the 1970s, miniature depictions of Indian gardens, and Frida Kahlo’s iconic flowers. “As an artist, the variety of their forms and structures is immense and endless. People comment and wonder when I will move on and if I will tire of flowers, but how can I? This fascination is also steeped in my family matriarchs—strong women gardeners and the great outdoors,” she says.

The artist offers a brief look into her studio and process in this short video and on Instagram. You also might enjoy Hitomi Hosono’s intricate vessels.

 

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