In the capital of India, New Delhi, sits an art piece installation that’s more than what it seems. Rather than just a tall cylindrical building, this tower is a cutting-edge air purification system that brings hope of transforming the city into an area that’s more inhabitable.
Plagued by the world’s most severe air pollution, New Delhi has become the center for the visionary husband-and-wife architectural duo, Amit and Britta Knobel Gupta. The couple, who hails from the U.K., took their inspiration from the intense smog that they would see outside their window, compelling them to take formative action.
As a result, the Verto tower was conceived and created by their firm, Studio Symbiosis. This curvaceous, elegant – as their tagline shares – and aerodynamic marvel channels air through numerous openings, housing a stack of air filtration cubes within.
Remarkably, this tower possesses the capacity to cleanse an astonishing 600,000 cubic meters of air daily – equivalent to the contents of 273 hot air balloons.
The couple, Amit and Britta, envision the Verto tower to be a widely distributed solution for city parks in the more polluted urban centers all over the world. With its flat-pack design, which facilitates mass production of filtration, the manufacturing process can be further subdivided for efficiency.
Each tower has the capacity to cleanse in an extensive range. For enclosed spaces, it can handle 200 to 500 meters, or 656 to 1,640 feet. While for outdoor spaces, it can handle 100 to 350 meters, or 328 to 1,148 feet, depending on the wind direction and other such factors.
The pictured prototype stands proudly at the New Delhi Sunder Nursery, a testament to their dedication to their craft. The tower’s development faced its greatest challenge in eliminating swirling air around its structure, ensuring that every breath of air was drawn inside. This feat was accomplished through a meticulous study of various aerodynamic designs, ranging from automotive spoilers to aircraft.
In a video call from New Delhi with CNN, Amit told CNN, “Now that (findings from the prototype) are what we expected, we will start speaking to the government authorities about further installation.”
The heart of this purification lies in its filters, which were created by German Firm Mann+Hummels. These filters require replacement every nine months, and the mechanical components generate noise levels akin to a common kitchen blender. Fortunately, this level of noise is likely acceptable for city dwellers seeking tranquility in their local parks, especially if limited to a single tower per green space.
Studio Symbiosis boldly asserts that a mere 100 of these towers could purify the entire central region of New Delhi. They have also garnered interest from U.S. companies looking to deploy the towers on construction sites and potential buyers from countries as diverse as France, New Zealand, and Uzbekistan.
Now, the Verto tower stands as a symbol of both architectural innovation, as well as a beacon of hope for cleaner and more breathable air in cities grappling with the issues of worsening pollution. Through this incredible creation of Amit and Britta Knobel Gupta, there is renewed hope for a transformative change in the way we combat air pollution all over the world.
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