Anti-Smog Architecture in Paris - Vincent Callebaut's Green Innovation Centre (GALLERY)

In a battle to claim title to world’s cleanest cities, Paris has come up with a concept for anti-smog architecture.

What looks like the top half of a drinking straw poking out of the water, and a giant white and green football laying on a road is actually a new prototype by architect Vincent Callebaut. He hopes the green technology and sustainable design will help to ward off smog and promote cleaner air in the City of Lights.

The football structure has been called a “Solar Drop” and sits on unused railroad tracks. It’s covered in solar photovoltaic panels to produce green energy, and the titanium dioxide (TiO2) coating works with UV lights to break down and reduce smog and other air pollution.

Callebaut’s straw-like structure is actually a “Wind Tower” which “spirals into the air with a helical shape and a façade that alternates between vegetation and embedded Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) to capture the prevailing urban winds. Ramps lead visitors through museum space and out to a rooftop garden with views across Paris,” Inhabitat explained.

It looks incredible from the inside too. A sunny room covered in glass allows optimal light in an area that appears to be a cafe. The modern white furniture is striking against the ashy wood floors. Then again, these are just sketches and not necessarily how the interior will really look.

More information on Anti Smog: An Innovation Centre in Sustainable Development can be seen on Callebaut’s site.