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DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Chi-Hao Chiang Is Honored with the Bronze A' Design Award for Karst Water Filtration Staircase in Building Materials and Construction Components Design

Chi-Hao Chiang honored for building materials and construction components design by the international grand jury of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 22, 2022 /DesignNewswire/ Karst Water Filtration Staircase by Chi-Hao Chiang has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Building Materials and Construction Components Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the Bronze A' Design Award Means

The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

More About Karst Water Filtration Staircase

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. The shells composed of calcium carbonate can react with acid rain to help neutralize acidified ocean by absorbing carbon dioxide. In the end, it is a filter system that can blur the boundary between humans and nature on Governors Island.

About Chi-Hao Chiang

Chi-Hao Chiang / 江啟豪 is an avid gamer, amateur Hip-Hop dancer, and a cross-field industrial designer with a mechanical engineering background. Coming from Taiwan with a BA in mechanical engineering, He completed his Master's Degree in Industrial Design at Pratt Institute in May 2021.

Award Record

This recognition makes Chi-Hao Chiang a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Building Materials and Construction Components Design Award

The A' Building Components Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good building components by best brands and designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to building material manufacturers, building material brands, construction product designers and industrial designers from all countries. Entries typically include bricks, beams, windows, doors, insulation materials and roofing materials. Awarded building components designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/building-components

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Karst Water Filtration Staircase
Function
Water Filtration Staircase
Category
Building Materials and Construction Components Design
Discipline
Industrial Design
Industry
Architecture and Manufacturing
Colors
Dark Gray, Dim Gray, Gray and Dark Slate Gray
Images
5

The Recognition

Laureate
Chi-Hao Chiang
Country
United States of America
Recognition
Bronze A' Design Award
Edition
2021 - 2022
Design ID
#127386

Credits

Team
Zhixian Song
Image Credits
Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Front View of Karst, 2020.; Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Side View of Karst, 2020.; Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Filtration Bags of Karst, 2020.; Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Handrail of Karst, 2020.; Industrial Designer Chi-Hao Chiang, Steps of Karst, 2020. Video Credits: Architect Zhixian Song, Application of Karst, 2020.

Design Details

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.
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.
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.
Challenge
Finding a way to combine two very different forms to be consistent and functional is the design challenge.
Realization and Technology
It will be made out of concrete, and the bags with crushed oyster shells inside as the filtering material.
Operation and Interaction
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.
Project Duration and Location
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.
Specifications
2032 mm x 5740.4 mm x 5130.8 mm
Keywords
Staircase, Concrete, Water Filtration, Governors Island, Sustainable

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