Air Shield 다기능 워크스테이션 by Jung Joo Sohn and Barbara Young

Air Shield 다기능 워크스테이션 by Jung Joo Sohn and Barbara Young is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award 동상 in 사무용 가구 디자인 Competition Category.

동사무용 가구· 2021

Air Shield 다기능 워크스테이션

by Jung Joo Sohn and Barbara Young

Client: Purdue University

A' Design Award 동상 Winner in 사무용 가구 Category

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Air Shield 다기능 워크스테이션

코로나바이러스 팬데믹으로 인해 사람들은 서로를 보호하기 위해 물리적 거리를 유지해야 합니다. 그러나 현대 사무실의 레이아웃은 공간 효율성과 동료들과의 소통에 의존하고 있습니다. 이 프로젝트의 목표는 직원들이 기존 업무 공간 레이아웃에서 보호받으면서도 시각적으로 연결된 상태를 유지할 수 있는 방법을 고려하고, 코로나 팬데믹 이후에도 이 솔루션을 지속 가능하게 사용할 수 있는 방법을 고려하는 것입니다. Air Shield는 공기를 정화하고 공기 흐름으로 병원체 전파를 차단하여 책상 사용자를 보호하는 부착형 이중 팬 및 필터 시스템입니다.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 동상

Air Shield 다기능 워크스테이션, 이 작품은 A' Design Award 동상 수상작으로, 창의성, 독창성, 영민함으로 돋보이는 뛰어난 디자인에 수여되는 높은 권위의 인정입니다. 동상 수상작은 충분히 숙련되고 인상적으로 창의적인 작품으로, 디자이너의 폭넓은 경험, 상상력, 기지를 입증합니다. Air Shield 다기능 워크스테이션, 이 작품은 높이 평가받고 감탄과 사랑을 받는 사물로서 두드러지게 전문적이고 혁신적일 것으로 기대됩니다. 이 동상 수상 디자인은 예술, 과학, 디자인, 기술의 모범 사례를 담고 있으며 세부에 대한 주의로 훌륭합니다. Air Shield 다기능 워크스테이션, 이 작품은 필요를 훌륭하게 충족하고 욕망에 닿으며 감정을 매료하고 호기심을 불러일으킵니다.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Air Shield is an attachable dual fan and filter system which serves to purify air and protect desk occupants by blocking pathogen transmission with air currents. Fan systems filter a variety of air impurities, good for mitigating pathogen transmission and reducing allergies, as well as providing mild white noise for acoustic privacy in open office systems.
Dimensions & Packaging: Air Shield is 57” wide, 31.10” deep, and 28.50” tall. The fan unit is held 0.5” off of the work surface by an adjustable clamp. Air Shield can be attached to any work surface over 57” wide, but it is illustrated on a custom-designed, adjustable height workstation that is 31.10” deep and can adjust between 28.5” - 42.00” high.
Tags: Workstation Design, Workplace Design, COVID-19, Air Purification, Air Flow, Air Curtains, Invisible Partitions, Fan Systems
Production Technology: The Air Shield housing is made of extruded aluminum with perforations and molded plastic end caps which are removable for ease in changing the primary air filter. Air Shield uses a dual-fan system to filter and circulate air. The outer fan blades are made of HEPA filters with customized Germ Defense material to purify the air. The inner fan is made from plastic. Both fans run on a motor. The steel screw-clamp is fitted with rubber pads to protect work surfaces.
Design Challenge: The inception of this project was to challenge the use of partitions for safely separating people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team speculated that after the pandemic had subsided, screens and partitions used to provide physical separation would be removed and sent to landfills, causing harm to the environment. Additionally, mixed recommendations about materials were presented fueled by research that showed the virus lived longer on hard surfaces which are, of course, easier to clean. The team was challenged to consider a workable solution that had benefits and uses beyond the COVID-19 crisis. The biggest challenge in working on this project was that the world was learning about the virus and how to mitigate transmission during the design process. Many theories were proposed, and adopted by government officials, based on known science but there was not enough time to deeply study the behavior of the virus in different conditions. The filtration fan system was developed to purify air. Existing filters are mainly designed to work with vertical fan circulation and are large in diameter. Using this type of filter would result in an imposing fan system on the desk. The compact size of the fan was maintained by combining the filter and fan function.
Research: Air Shield is the product of a cross-discipline collaboration between a product designer and interior designer to explore resilient, non-temporal, solutions that mitigate the spread of pathogens in workplace environments. Considering a product with potential uses and benefits during and after the COVID-19 pandemic was a primary goal. The team reviewed existing design recommendations for office solutions that mitigate COVID-19 transmission and compared those to global workforce surveys which aggregated perceptions of working-from-home, the desire to return to the office, and perceived obstacles of both. Findings from workforce surveys indicated a continued desire for face-to-face collaboration, especially for those who experience difficulties working from home. Respecting that many companies recently moved through extensive change-management projects to promote social settings, visibility, and interaction in the workplace, flexibility with existing furniture systems and maintaining social aspects of company culture became additional drivers to the solution. Indoor air quality with increased ventilation and air filtration also presented as being of high importance for health, safety, and well-being in interior environments. As such, product ideation began around concepts of on-demand fresh air or filtration systems. The team drew inspiration from healthcare and warehouse environments where air curtains are used to control and contain harmful interior particulates. The final flexible solution provides a sense of safety for people working at their desk environment by helping to contain the spread of airborne pathogens with added “white-noise” acoustical benefits.
Inspiration: Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, people should maintain physical distance to protect each other. The layout of the modern office, however, depends on space efficiency and communication with other co-workers. The goal of this project is to consider how employees can stay visibly connected while remaining protected in existing workspace layouts and consider how to use the solution sustainably after the corona pandemic.
Project Duration: The project was started in May of 2020 in the United States of America and substantially completed in July with continual updates and revisions.
Operation Flow: Air Shield is easily installed and removed with two screw clamps. A simple push-button operation on the lower right-hand side of the unit powers on/off the Air Shield fan. Motion sensors detect when other people are present to start the air-flow. For example, if someone is sitting on the left side, Air Shield detects them and activates the air curtain from the left side.
Team Members: Jung Joo Sohn
Barbara Young