Reverse Desertification DJI | Djibouti - Africa
Tour du NamibBarch 2009-2011 | Biomimetics
Tour du NamibBarch 2009-2011 | Biomimetics
Water availability is one of the biggest problems brought about by the climatic changes on Earth. Water availability will either be scarce or abundant, killing humans either way. Reverse desertification deals with the later: the non-availability of water in dessert environments, specifically in Djibouti – Africa. Here rivers have dried out, rainfall is sparse, temperatures rise and fall to extremes, land is infertile: people starve. Water is plentiful though beneath the surface of the dessert. People, predominantly nomads, have no access to this water due to the bad economy; so bad that water cannot be pumped out of the ground.
Tour du Namib proposes a group of systems that will, in both short and long run, improve the catastasis by mechanically re-instating the water cycle. The tower will suck water from the ground and bring it to the surface making it available for drinking and watering crops. In addition, water stored in underground tanks builds up pressure, due to high temperatures, and is released in the afternoon from the top tip of the tower. This acts as a sprinkler system, or simply…rain. In order to push and spread this moist over a larger area, the tower has been designed to have an aerodynamic form. The back of the tower is clad with a dense layer of thatch, further increasing the speed of air used to spread the water.
Eventually by raining over a specific area,every day for a certain period of time will improve the chances of floral survival, and with careful management of the ecosystem, it could form a newly developed forest. Tour du Namib is a prototype which once tested at one area could be dismantled and assembled elsewhere, or can work in groups for more dramatic results.
Tour du Namib proposes a group of systems that will, in both short and long run, improve the catastasis by mechanically re-instating the water cycle. The tower will suck water from the ground and bring it to the surface making it available for drinking and watering crops. In addition, water stored in underground tanks builds up pressure, due to high temperatures, and is released in the afternoon from the top tip of the tower. This acts as a sprinkler system, or simply…rain. In order to push and spread this moist over a larger area, the tower has been designed to have an aerodynamic form. The back of the tower is clad with a dense layer of thatch, further increasing the speed of air used to spread the water.
Eventually by raining over a specific area,every day for a certain period of time will improve the chances of floral survival, and with careful management of the ecosystem, it could form a newly developed forest. Tour du Namib is a prototype which once tested at one area could be dismantled and assembled elsewhere, or can work in groups for more dramatic results.
diagram: process of desert re-forestation
diagram: concept of artificial re-forestation
biomimetic approach to tower operation
biomimetic approach to tower structure and function
elevation drawings
