And the award goes to….. architect Virginia San Fratello. Yes, she won the 2006 Next Generation Prize for her unique ‘The Hydro Wall’. It is a creative series of flexible sacs built within a building’s wall that store rainwater! Yes, rainwater. It is so made to facilitate solar collection, thermal storage, and supplement the existing water supply used in and around a building.
Wow! Now people living in the warmer climate or others concerned with the soaring electricity bills during summer can enjoy the pleasure of a natural AC room. The Hydro Wall acts as a thermal mass for warm climates.
The third annual Next Generation event occurred at the Art Director’s Club in New York City, and was sponsored by Herman Miller and Maharam.
Virginia’s Big Idea got her $10,000 as the award.
This layered wall will facilitate solar collection, thermal storage, and supplement the existing water supply used in and around a building. Panels could be used in commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. Fire stations could use the recycled water from the Hydro Wall to fill trucks. Schools and municipal buildings could use the water for heating and cooling, watering the landscape and as gray water for the building.
Via: Yanko Design
