What’s 23 feet tall, eats smog, and makes jewelry for fun? In Rotterdam this week, the designer Daan Roosegaarde is showing off the result of three years of research and development: The largest air purifier ever built. It’s a tower that scrubs the pollution from more than 30,000 cubic meters of air per hour—and then condenses those fine particles of smog into tiny “gem stones” that can be embedded in rings, cufflinks, and more. Each stone is roughly equivalent to cleaning 1,000 cubic meters of air—so you’re literally wearing the pollution that once hung in the air around Roosegaarde’s so-called Smog Free Tower. In the designer’s words, buying a ring means “you donate a thousand cubic meters of clean air to the city where the Smog Free Tower is.” The project has been in the offing for a long time. We wrote about the idea more than two years ago when the Dutch designer first publicly announced the project, which was originally planned for Beijing after the city’s mayor endorsed the idea.

Roosegaarde and his team have spent the past few years developing the first prototype in Rotterdam, where it was unveiled this month. “It’s really weird that we accept [pollution] as something normal, and take it for granted,” Roosegaarde explains.The white, oblong tower—slatted with louvres protecting its electronic innards—will still eventually make its way to Beijing, which of course is notorious for its smog. It’ll also make stops in Mumbai and Paris, and possibly other cities (you can suggest your own using the project’s hashtag on Twitter). To fund the travel, the studio launched a Kickstarter campaign where you can buy jewelry and cufflinks made with its tiny smog gems—which, theoretically, would eventually become diamonds if they were compressed with much more extreme pressure. But for now, the tower sits on a patch of grass next to Roosegaarde’s studio in Rotterdam, whose mayor and local government supported the project with grant money. The process taking place inside its walls is powered by 1,400 watts of sustainable energy, which is comparable to a water boiler, and the studio says it hopes to one day integrate solar PVs into the design to power the process—which works not so differently than some ionic air purifiers.

Roosegaarde explains:By charging the Smog Free Tower with a small positive current, an electrode will send positive ions into the air. This technology manages to capture ultra-fine smog particles which regular filter systems fail to do.Now that the working prototype is up and running, the next step is figuring out how to bring it to other cities—including the city that started it all, Beijing. The team’s Kickstarter, where the studio is raising funds for another eight days, is closing in on doubling its goal—you can get your own smog gems by donating here.uv air purifier replacement bulbs That cash will go directly to transporting the tower, publicizing the design in cities around the world. air purifiers for hotelsEventually, that attention could lead to copycats and spin-off designs—one day, these ungainly white tower might be fixtures in our parks and playgrounds.cold air intake for auto cars

That we need super-sized air purifiers to live in super-polluted cities is certainly a pretty grim prospect. But at least someone is thinking hard about not only how to clean the air, but how to get people excited about funding that process. Clean Air News Blog World's Largest Air Purifier Produces Gem Stones How Clean Air Produces Jewelry Cleaner air has never been this rewarding. Well, let’s face it, clean air alone is its own reward - something everyone should try and make an effort and do their part. Daan Roosegaarde, a designer from Rotterdam, has taken this one large step farther by building the biggest air purifier the world has ever seen. After 3 arduous years of research and development, Roosegaarde has achieved this momentous achievement, which by itself warrants hearty accolades - but wait, there’s more! Not only does this 23 foot air purifier clean more than 30,000 cubic meters of air each hour, it then condenses those fine particles of smog into gem stones, the likes of which can be used in various jewelry accessories!

About 2 years ago, the Dutch designer announced his fresh idea, originally planned for the notoriously smog ridden city of Beijing. Now, after years of hard work, Roosegaarde and his team have completed and unveiled the first prototype in Rotterdam, which will be making its way to Beijing, Paris and Mumbai, and possibly other cities (people are urged to suggest their own city in need of a massive air cleaner, using the project’s hashtag on Twitter). Have Air Purifier, Will Travel The smog free tower resides next to Daan Roosegaarde’s studio. The mayor of Rotterdam and its local government have supported this project with grant money. Taking this humongous purifier on the road, on the other hand, is crowd funded by selling the by-product it formulates - jewelry. Just as cleaning the air should be a communal effort, in that same vein, the  studio has launched a Kickstarter campaign, where you can buy jewelry accessories made from tiny smog gems that could have even become diamonds by being compressed with extreme pressure.

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