Breathing Barrier

BREATHING BARRIER is a highway barrier with a honeycomb structure and moss fillers that serves to block out air and noise pollution from vehicles. It does much more than typical sound insulation barriers. Moss was chosen as fillers because of its accessibility and its ability to absorb vehicle emissions. The main component of emissions are NO3-, and NH4+, which are also components that cause acid rain. The design uses the nitrogen-fixing ability of the moss (nitrification) to decompose these components. The honeycomb structure, predominantly made with aluminium alloy pipe, is modularised so that they can be rapidly assembled. The horizontal pipes are punctured to allow rainwater flow into the space below the barrier, where the filtered rain is stored and used as a nutrient for the moss. With BREATHING BARRIER, air pollution problems and certain environmental afforestation in the future will be improved. Red Dot Award: Design Concept | Concept | Public Space