Stumbled upon this on the cool hunter:
Bad city planners can breathe a little easier now that clever designers have come up with a temporary building that will do the job of trees. Trees keep the air clean, provide shade and act as meeting and gathering points in open spaces. These ingenious contraptions apparently do the same. Made of steel, thermo textile and solar panels, the interesting-looking rotundas even create all the energy they need to light themselves. So, next time you forget to include trees in your plans, stick some of these in their place while the trees grow.
Unable to find more explanation on what it exactly is, or how it works, I’d resort to judging the book by its cover. On first impression, the aesthetic of this structure really doesn’t fit into its usage theme. Fresh air is it you want? Try looking for it under those giant cylinders that look like they may lift-off and roast you – or like a bundle of aerosol cans strapped together.
In terms of its “tree-like” feature – two of them can probably be achieved by almost any architecture feature that doesn’t bill itself as such (provide shade and act as meeting point). Keeping the air clean – well, having such a giant structure for that just doesn’t ring it for me.
