Karst 水过滤楼梯 by Chi-Hao Chiang is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 A' Design Award 铜奖 in 建筑材料与建筑构件设计 Competition Category.

铜建筑构件· 2022

Karst 水过滤楼梯

by Chi-Hao Chiang

Client: Chi-Hao Chiang

A' Design Award 铜奖 Winner in 建筑构件 Category

29,776

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #127386

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Karst 水过滤楼梯

Karst是为纽约总督岛设计的模块化楼梯，它就像一个解决方案洞穴，让人们可以看到和听到流水，并配有水过滤系统，将自然的感觉带入房屋，连接人与水的社区。每个模块都有一个口袋，用于放置一袋碎牡蛎壳。由碳酸钙组成的贝壳可以与酸雨发生反应，通过吸收二氧化碳来帮助中和酸化的海洋。归根结底，它是一个过滤系统，可以模糊总督岛上人类与自然之间的界限。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 铜奖

Karst 水过滤楼梯是 A' Design Award 铜奖得主，这是授予以创造力、独创性和敏锐见长的杰出设计的极具声望的认可。铜奖得主是技艺娴熟、创意惊人的作品，印证了其设计师丰富的经验、想象力与机智。预计Karst 水过滤楼梯将成为一件备受推崇、令人钦佩且被珍爱的物品，兼具显著的专业性与创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 铜奖的设计融入艺术、科学、设计和技术领域的最佳实践，并因注重细节而出类拔萃。Karst 水过滤楼梯出色地满足需求，触动渴望，迷住情感，并吸引好奇心。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties: Karst, a modular staircase designed for Governors Island in New York, is like a solutional cave for people to see and hear the flowing water, with a water-filtering system that brings the sensation of nature into the house, connecting the community of humans and water. Each module has a pocket for placing a bag of crushed oyster shells, and the shells composed of calcium carbonate can react with acid rain to reduce ocean acidification by absorbing carbon dioxide.
Dimensions & Packaging: 2032 mm x 5740.4 mm x 5130.8 mm
Tags: Staircase, Concrete, Water Filtration, Governors Island, Sustainable
Production Technology: It will be made out of concrete, and the bags with crushed oyster shells inside as the filtering material.
Design Challenge: Finding a way to combine two very different forms to be consistent and functional is the design challenge.
Research: Question the relationship between industrial standardized building material and organic material in the present time when concrete jungles are sprawling on the land. Our goal is to allow nature to appear and break the traditional boundary that we humans created, separating ourselves from nature. After the explorations of physical material combinations, we took styrofoam and pine cone models to deconstruct and reconstruct. After simplifying, two different forms combined in a consistent way.
Inspiration: The goal is to allow nature to appear and break the traditional boundary that we humans created, separating ourselves from nature. After many physical explorations, the proposal was narrowed down to create an interactive community for humans and water. Also, the reason for naming the staircase Karst is from the Karst terrain, which is famous for solutional caves, with its cave form and the process that acid rain can act with the crushed oyster shell.
Project Duration: The project started in February 2020 in New York and finished in May 2020 in New York, and was exhibited on Governors Island in New York in October 2020.
Operation Flow: First, the rainwater drips from the pockets with bags of crushed oyster shells. After the filtration, it trickles down on the cliff and flows through the troughs. Potentially, this staircase can be not only applied indoors but also separated into modular sliced units then installed along the island. It is a filter system that can blur the boundary between humans and nature on Governors Island. In the end, the filtered water can return to the harbor and benefit the island.
Team Members: Chi-Hao Chiang
Zhixian Song
Image Credits: Image #1: Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Front View of Karst, 2020.
Image #2: Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Side View of Karst, 2020.
Image #3: Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Filtration Bags of Karst, 2020.
Image #4: Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Handrail of Karst, 2020.
Image #5: Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Steps of Karst, 2020.
Video Credits: Architect Zhixian Song, Application of Karst, 2020.