safe water, and every day 1,400 children
under the age of five die from water-based diseases. Designer Arturo
Vittori believes the solution to this catastrophe lies not in high
technology, but in sculptures that look like giant-sized objects from
the pages of a Pier 1 catalog.
His stunning water towers stand nearly 30 feet tall and can collect
over 25 gallons of potable water per day by harvesting atmospheric water
vapor. Called WarkaWater
towers, each pillar is comprised of two sections: a semi-rigid
exoskeleton built by tying stalks of juncus or bamboo together and an
internal plastic mesh, reminiscent of the bags oranges come in. The
nylon and polypropylene fibers act as a scaffold for condensation, and
as the droplets of dew form, they follow the mesh into a basin at the
base of the structure.
Vittori decided to devote his attention to this problem after
visiting northeastern Ethiopia and seeing the plight of remote villagers
first hand. “There, people live in a beautiful natural environment but
often without running water, electricity, a toilet or a shower,” he
says. To survive, women and their children walk for miles to worm-filled
ponds contaminated with human waste, collect water in trashed plastic
containers or dried gourds, and carry the heavy containers on
treacherous roads back to their homes. This process takes hours and
endangers the children by exposing them to dangerous illnesses and
taking them away from school, ensuring that a cycle of poverty repeats.
Exposure to this horrific scene motivated Vittori to take action.
“WarkaWater is designed to provide clean water as well as ensure
long-term environmental, financial and social sustainability,” he says.
“Once locals have the necessary know how, they will be able to teach
others villages and communities to build the WarkaWater towers.” Each
tower costs approximately $550 and can be built in under a week with a
four-person team and locally available materials.
A more obvious solution to a water shortage would be digging a well,
but drilling 1,500 feet into Ethiopia’s rocky plateaus is expensive.
Even when a well is dug, maintaining pumps and ensuring a reliable
electrical connection makes the proposition unlikely.
Instead of looking to Western technology for a solution, Vittori was
inspired by the Warka tree, a giant, gravity-defying domed tree native
to Ethiopia that sprouts figs and is used as a community gathering
space. “To make people independent, especially in such a rural context
it’s synonymous of a sustainable project and guaranties the longevity,”
says Vittori. “Using natural fibers helps the tower to be integrated
with the landscape both visually with the natural context as well as
with local traditional techniques.”
The design has been two years in the making and though the final
product is handcrafted, Vittori has used the same parametric modeling
skills honed working on aircraft interiors and solar powered cars to
create a solution that is safe and stunning. The 88-pound sculpture is
26-feet wide at its broadest point but swoops dramatically to just a few
feet across at its smallest point. Vittori and his team have tested the
design in multiple locations and worked in improvements that increase
the frame’s stability while simultaneously making it easy for villagers
to clean the internal mesh.
Vittori hopes to have two WarkaTowers erected in Ethiopia by 2015 and
is looking for financial rainmakers who’d like to seed these
tree-inspired structures across the country.
Joseph
Flaherty writes about design, DIY, and the intersection of physical and
digital products. He designs award-winning medical devices and apps for
smartphones at AgaMatrix, including the first FDA-cleared medical
device that connects to the iPhone.
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