It has been since the time of Boccaccio and his Decameron that an exceptional situation triggers unusual stimuli in artists. The Covid-19 pandemic is no exception and designers are no exception. This is the case of the Dutch Daan Roosegaarde who with the team of creatives and engineers of his design studio designed and created “Urban sun”, an ultraviolet light source capable of generating a space free from viruses and “from” viruses. of Covid.
Another view of the installation (studio Roosegaarde)
This, at least, is what declares Roosegaarde himself, which installed its first “sun” on the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, and which builds on studies carried out by researchers from Columbia University and other universities. According to these studies, while ultraviolet light at a wavelength of 254 nanometers is harmful to humans, that at 222 nanometers is not, which, on the other hand, has the property of reducing the presence of viruses between which Covid in the air.