CLOUD.IA

The city of Ghaziabad is one of the most affected by air pollution and lack of water reserves. Through intense agriculture and crop burning in the areas north-west, the city gets regularly hit by enormous amounts of toxic air. In order to change this condition we imagined Cloudia: a tower that purifies the air, collects rainwater and offers an oasis as well as refuge to the inhabitants of Ghaziabad.

The tower is an architectural monument as well as a representative of the relevant issues in times of the Anthropocene.

The building is located on a cultural site, though not challenging it, instead enhancing it. Problems like smog etc. are a major characteristics of the present condition in Ghaziabad. The tower thereby acts as a reminder as well as a symbol for the path into a healthier future. Cloudia actively challenges the present toxic condition.

The orientation of the tower and the facade elements results from the wind analysis. The individual elements are designed in a way so that they absorb as much wind as possible throughout the year. Thus the filtration of toxic air and the harvest of the emerging condensate is maximized.The filtered air creates a sphere of clean air around Cloudia while the water, gained during the filtering process and the additionally collected rainwater a green urban oasis in Ghaziabad.

Architecture is more. We want it to be more. Architecture as cultural site, political site, building, infrastructure, machine, garden. We believe architecture can positively enhance and preserve our future lives.