Aéro - 2023/24
Thesis project at the AADRL programme in Architecture and Urbanism
Tutor: Dr.Theodore Spyropoulos
Team: Mattia Badiani, Ipek Duzova, Eugenio R. Tenaglia Giunta, Natalie Jablonski
SideFX Houdini - Grasshopper - Unreal Engine - 3DSMax - Arduino
Aéro is a low-tech deployable water-harvesting infrastructure, that aims to capture, store and distribute
environmental fog as an alternative and reliable water resource
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A computational framework
Feeding data collected from the U.S. National Weather Service, we have created a digital atmospheric prototype.
Making use of our digital atmospheric model, we have undergone a digital exploration through particle systems. These particle behaviors allowed us to study not only the masses of water that move along the atmosphere but also the optimal conditions for fog harvesting.
Terrains and local conditions have also been thoroughly studied in order to inform the deployment logic
of our water-harvesting infrastructure.
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From thin air…
Because of turbulence and temperature alterations, the effective collection and retention of the collected water has been a priority in our development process.
Hydrogel has been added to the compound material system as a way to retain the collected water inside the hollow core of the unit.
The water previously dispersed in the atmosphere
can thus attain a material shape.
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The unit
The structural concept of the unit can elegantly integrate both the air-filled enclosed volume required for lifting, and the hollow funnell functioning as water harvester, allowing for an easily deployable structure.
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The wind rises
Mostly inspired by the work of the artist Tomás Saraceno, the physical prototypes we have developed have been designed as proofs of concept, in order to justify and showcase the strenghts of our proposal for a sustainable, passive and low-cost solution to aerial deployment.
Inspired by the unconventional and pioneering ideas for a purely thermally lifted geodesic structure envisioned by Buckminster Fuller, our system is designed as a fully fuel-free organisation of partially-controlled tethered balloons.
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