Can urban furniture benefit the health of residents? Katarzyna Kielan of {tag:Uczelnia} designed a graduation tower inspired by the work of Zaha Hadid.
The design of the graduation tower was the result of an assignment, the denominator of which was inspiration from the works of famous architects. Zahabreathe is an urban furniture project that took on the function of a graduation tower. Its body refers to the tension between wavy and sharp lines characteristic of Zaha Hadid's designs .
mock-up of a piece of urban furniture
designed by Katarzyna Kielan
urban sculpture full of salt
The graduation tower, with a total length of 5.5 meters, is made of white concrete and embedded in the ground on the SGGW campus. It functions not only as a place for contemplation and regeneration with health-promoting properties, but also as a sculpture at the same time.
Blackthorn - a natural material that saturates the air with valuable microelements - is responsible for the health-promoting effect, with 6.6% brine flowing down it.
graduation tower - project
proj.: Katarzyna Kielan
The brine produced in the process of evaporation enriches the air with, among other things, iodine, magnesium, calcium and bromine - elements with proven positive effects on the human body
- explains the author.
As a result, staying near a graduation tower has a beneficial effect on the quality of the respiratory and circulatory systems, or on skin disorders or joint pains, among others. In addition to the beneficial effects of the graduation tower on the human body, it is also worth noting its beneficial effect on the air quality in the surrounding area.
The brine is stored in an underground tank with a capacity of 25 cubic meters, from which a 600W pump brings water to the top of the graduation tower. The flowing water is returned to the tank thanks to a drainage system.
mockup - detail
designed by Katarzyna Kielan
The facility is complemented by lower brine waterfalls and a long, 10-meter bench, illuminated from below by a slat.
The designer also included environmentally friendly solutions in the design of the graduation tower - the lighting in its vicinity is powered by photovoltaic panels. These are also used for a public charging station. The design did not lack a source of drinking water and a space designated for dogs.
In addition, Katarzyna Kielan paid attention to the vegetation present at the location of the graduation tower and planned plantings of such species that function well in conditions of high humidity and salinity.
exhibition - documentation
proj.: Katarzyna Kielan
The project was illustrated in the form of a mock-up made of aluminum wire, clay, painter's tape, straw, wool and paint.
shape derived from the interior
The design of the graduation tower relates directly to earlier elements of the Zaha Hadid-inspired assignment, which also included a symbolic potential logo for the architect's work and a poster. The logo designed by Katarzyna Kielan is simple and summarizes Zaha Hadid's architectural style. It is from its shape that the form of the graduation tower was derived.
logo and sketches
proj.: Katarzyna Kielan
The poster titled ECG by Zaha Hadid, on the other hand, refers to the rhythm of lines present in the architect's designs, which the author associated with heart graphs. It was a slice of such a graph that she used in the dynamic composition of the poster.
linear poster
design: Katarzyna Kielan
The projects were created as part of the course Elements of Architectural Design taught by Dr. Justyna Juchimiuk at the Architecture Department of the Warsaw School of Life Sciences.
