In 2020, DIAC issued a Call for Design Projects. Our intent was to highlight the critical role of designers in developing human-centred and resilience responses to the pandemic that will enable communities, businesses and governments to improve quality of life and return to some level of prosperity during the ongoing health crisis. DIAC has been very pleased to receive project submissions in all of the design disciplines. For each of the featured projects we have included a website link for more information.
URBAN SUN
Daan Roosegaarde is a Rotterdam-based designer and innovator whose work exists at the intersection of art, science and design. His installations in the public realm often have an environmental theme. In 2019 Roosegaarde started work on a technical design to sanitize the air in public spaces. With the start of the pandemic the development of the project, called Urban Sun, took on a new urgency.
Urban Sun is inspired by the powerful light of the sun. The science is based on multiple peer-reviewed journal articles by scientists from Columbia University and Hiroshima University. Urban Sun uses a special far-UVC light of 222 nanometer source to reduce up to 99.9% of viruses in the air, including various strains of the coronavirus. In this form, the UVC light source is not harmful to people. It meets the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) safety standards. The technology was developed by the Studio Roosegaarde team along with experts and scientists from the Netherlands, US, Japan, Spain and Italy. After its successful launch in Rotterdam, Urban Sun has gone on a world tour.
