Interactive Beijing's quest for smog solutions sets designers thinking

The news that Danish designer Daan Roosegaarde has developed an electronic vacuum cleaner that can suck smog from urban skies has caused quite a stir in Beijing, bringing a ray of hope to residents suffering from the capital's notorious choking haze. However, less well known to the public is that some local designers have already been experimenting with their own ideas to tackle this problem. Three years ago, Fei Jun, an associate professor at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, initiated Interactive Beijing, a platform to help young designers turn ideas into tangible products and drive social innovation. This year, he decided it was high time to tackle air pollution. Fei, now 43 and an artist himself, believes designers can sometimes beat engineers in finding solutions to such problems.

It's simply because air pollution is having such an impact on everybody's life in Beijing. The problem has obviously worsened in the past several years. No one can escape from it. In my view, there is no use relying on the government for a solution. So we decided to choose Our Air, Our Responsibility as this year's theme for Interactive Beijing. Designers or artists are often stereotyped as narcissists who remain aloof from the problems of everyday life. That is not true. Designers can be the source of creative ideas that bring about real change, which is why I initiated Interactive Beijing.

It emphasises involving the spectator, leaving a deeper impression on those participating in such projects. To give a simple example, mobile phone apps are products of interactive design. And you can see how much our life has changed since the advent of smartphones.