Daan Roosegaarde (2017)

Yes, I'm still here, and so is smog :) But it is not just China, London 5 weeks ago was almost more polluted than Beijing. So there is still some work to do. Check out our new Smog Free Bicycle design we launched yesterday with ofo, the bike sharing company.

We are now in phase 1, just started. But we have experience with cleaning air in public space with Smog Free Tower. So now creating a team of engineers and designers in China and Netherlands: build a prototype, make a mistake, upgrade and than upscale. We will work with ofo to launch, and it is China so it should be fast and larger amounts. Quite exciting to work on, and happy to see people getting excited about the idea.

Oh where do I start!? I think most has to do not with technology or money but more with perception. So when we launch a new project or innovation there are always some people who say: "it cannot be done" or "it won't work". And you know what the same people say when it's finally finished after long hard work? "Thats a good idea, why didn't you do it before?" haha. So it is really about upgrading reality.

I also like this one: in China we got a call from mayor office after installing our clean air tower: local people where coming with glass bottles to capture the clean air, and they started to sell it! I thought this was smart thinking of them. Not really the reason why we made it, because clean air should be for everyone for free, but still creative.

OK, great, well I have a whole 45 minutes now!

Look at this: ant hills which give clean air and create amazing underground structures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFg21x2sj-M. Now that's a smart city.

Good one: my first artwork '22 beds' in 2001 while studying fine arts I sold for 12 times my room rent which was around 3000,- euro. I was very happy about that.

These days its a balance between commissioned and self-commissioned projects. sometimes you get a question from a museum, or city, or an entrepreneur and you react to that. But sometimes we ask ourselves a question and we get to work, like Smog Free Project and client comes later. The calculation of a value is an endless ping-pong, there are no rules.

And besides artistic value, there's also a more pragmatic one; define your "burn rate" (I love that word) so what you spend on rent, people, coffee etc per year. And than connect this to your vision, your dream; what do you want to make, where do you want to be?; and what do you need to make this happen. The gap inbetween has to come from your paid projects.

does this helps Marijn?

I love this question. You know I had a lot of 'official' interviews this week but you reddit people ask way better questions!

give me a sec to think about it.

"If you would be an animal, what animal would you be?"

When I was 16 my teacher pulled me to the architectural museum in Rotterdam. I didn't wanted to go. I walked on and saw this great wooden models of square and towers. It was the work of Arata Isozaki. That was for the first time I realised that I what I wanted to do, building stuff, creating, making, was actually a profession.

15 years later I got the chance to meet Isozaki in Japan, and share this story. We visited our Liquid Space project, a shape which changes physically to motion of people. He loved it, and we talked about making architecture more connected to people and how technology can help to improve life. Although he was 66 his mind was still as sharp as a razor blade.

the 22 beds example was just so as a student I would have 1 year of time, 1 year not to pay my rent. That was freedom for me than. So define your dream, brake it down to numbers, and that was the value. Indeed now it become more complex, but still, see the value as an activator for your new dream. Always invest in your new dreams.

Space waste, space debris. Right now there are 23.000 large junk particles floating in space caused by us. It is the smog of the universe. If a junk particle hits a satellite, it will get damaged, no more communication, no more reddit etc. So can we use the ionisation technology and creative thinking of Smog Free Project to clean up space. I don't know how yet, but this is whats in my brain.

my pleasure. Well, if you do good projects, you attract good people, so you can do even better projects etc etc. It is always a divers group of designers, engineers, project managers, external experts. You need people with obsessions. This eco-system is indeed the real fun. Key is to keep the focus what you do and what you don't do. And than push until you're there.

and drop Hanne a line; she might can fix you a studio tour in our dream factory in Rotterdam: hanne@studioroosegaarde.net.

I got to run now, but will be in Tokyo/Kyoto next week; drop me a line at daan@studioroosegaarde.net. CY

No, nothing. They actually like it, calling it the "clean air temple".

When you design you use the best materials, most durable. You anticipate how people will use it. And we always provide a maintenance contract + yearly local check. Than repairs of parts are little.