This Light Installation is Advocating for Cleaner, Healthier Cities

Vel02 is an interactive installation of light by design studio Loop.pH that highlights the link between physical activity and healthy cities. Commissioned by Shin Kong Life, it draws attention not only to the importance of an active lifestyle, but also to the importance of air quality in building sustainable cities. This installation was most recently on display during Velo-City Global 2016, an international cycling conference hosted in Tapei.

Open to the public and people of all ages and abilities, visitors to the installation are provided with bikes and invited to cycle at speed, activating a lighting system that communicates live and local air quality. A dynamic wooden branching structure grows from the BMX pump track, reminiscent of trees and the tubular networks in our lungs and pulsing with coloured light.

The installation uses an air quality sensor provided by Change London to collect the fluctuating data that measures six different air pollutants from three gasses and three different particle sizes. It then translates the data from the sensor into seven different breathing rhythms and colours of light, passing from green to a dark red for dangerous levels of pollutants and creating a kind of warning system based on the international standard Air Quality Index.

Air pollution is a huge problem in Taipei, as lung cancer has increased 2.3 times and asthma in children has doubled in the last two decades. Densely populated by motor vehicles, activism and schemes to adopt cleaner modes of urban mobility are essential.In this sense, the Velo2 installation speaks directly to the conditions of urban living in Taiwan.  Velo2’s creators ultimately hope the installation encourages citizens to take up cycling, taking a step towards tackling air pollution issues at the same time!

You can watch a video of Vel02 on Vimeo here.