Even though the outside appearance of the “air trees” seems to be right out of a mid 40′s sci-fi flick, it’s what happens on the inside of them that counts the most. Right? This interesting design/concept from Madrid provides a way to revitalize and repopulate urban environments with fresh air, moisture, entertainment and energy. Perfect for warm climate urban areas that lack green space and refuge from the harsh sun. These “air trees” also serve as a place for the surrounding community to gather for musical performances, internet/media access, sporting events or just to relax and socialize. These “air trees” also provide power back to the community grid and on average earn up to 6,000 euros a year. In a time of rising global temperatures and rapidly growing cities, solutions like this one will become more and more popular and necessary.
More information and videos after the jump.
Video added by: Kirstendirksen -> Current.tv page
The whole thing is kind of scary looking. “Air trees” is a really flattering name for them. They should be called “big metal machine trees”, because that’s what they look like. Glad to know they’re touring. When will they make it to Mad Max’s Thunderdome?
Then again they fit right in to this Spanish neighborhood in the video. It looks like a dead factory forest. That looks like the worst neighborhood I’ve ever seen. The dry climate appears to be the least of their problems.
The designer has cool glasses though.
“It looks like the worst neighborhood I have ever seen.”
That is quite possibly the biggest lie published on SpinningMedium to date. Did you not live in lovely downtown Phoenix for many a year? Madrid might as well be the Garden of Eden.
It might look scary on the outside, but definitely could be cool on the inside. Although, from what I understand, Madrid can get very, very hot, 8-10 degrees less is still not going to get me inside that thing. But a lot of the people in that neighborhood probably don’t have Air conditioning. So i guess it’s better than nothing.
Is there a scientist somewhere working on a machine that does the same thing as plants but on a massive scale? Have it constantly sucking in air, convert the CO2 to just O2 AND produce energy and the same time? It doesn’t seem that hard. I mean if plants have been doing it for billions of years, you’ve already got the foundation laid, just reverse engineer the plant. I know there is a way to trap CO2 that fossil fuels emit into rocks. But that seems like it could have unintended consequences. I have a picture in my mind of the rocks revolting and letting 50 years of COS into the atmosphere in 10 minutes. I can’t imagine that would be a good thing
Not to be a homer about this, but downtown Phoenix is pretty bad ass. It’s not Manhattan, or even Manhattan beach, but it’s by far the best place to live in the state of AZ. You could argue the state of AZ sucks, but the weather’s nice. Little hot sometimes…little dry. Maybe they should put these robot trees in Mesa next. That would be a perfect fit!
Your appreciation for Phoenix is fine with me. I think that AZ is a really beautiful state pretty much everywhere but Phoenix. Phoenix has the nightlife, which no doubt makes it fun, but it is an eyesore of a city; total concrete jungle. Papago park is the one redeeming place in the whole get up. The rest is vast tracks of endless strip malls and golf courses – the epitome of urbanization gone wrong. My point is: compared to Madrid, Phoenix is a dusty armpit.
Ok, so as someone born and raised in Madrid I feel I need to clarify some of the points raised above.
What SS describes as “the worst neighborhood [he's] ever seen” is not that uncommon around the outskirts of Madrid. What you see are the results of hundreds of years of mucking up the environment in the older continent (sorry, I’m not sure whether “mucking up” is spelled with an M or an F, but again, English is my second language).
Westerners, like you and I, have only been able to rot the American landscape for a mere five centuries. So of course, you’re not used to the moonscapes that are all too familiar with back there.
Worry not, my friends, as this will change soon enough. We’re clearly beating new records when it comes to destroying the bed we lie in. And before we even notice it we’ll have attained new quotas of trashing our surroundings (I’ve witnessed significant change during my own lifespan, and this is alarming enough).
I’ll tell you this: there are no guns or gang problems in those neighborhoods and, although delinquency and violence are not uncommon to the poorer sectors of Madrid, nothing compares to the dementia you see in many areas of this country. Sorry folks, but if we’re shooting straight we need to be fair and do it from both sides of the road.
As for ugly metal cylinders, I certainly know that I’d have clean air instead of shitty gas coming out of them any day…