BreatheEasy

Leveraging long-lost vernacular building techniques to combat air pollution in Delhi homes

Long description

BreatheEasy leverages long-lost vernacular building techniques like wind catchers and solar chimneys to combat air pollution within homes in Delhi. Low-income households in the city exhibit a compounding indoor pollution crisis aggravated by the use of biomass for cooking and a lack of ventilation. In response, BreatheEasy is a lightweight retrofit intervention that offers an affordable way to improve indoor air quality and provide immediate comfort. The solution is a result of research conducted in Madanpur Khadar and is currently in its prototyping stage. This solution is pioneered by Architecture for Dialogue (AfD), a research and design lab which has been exploring architectural responses to surmounting toxic air in Delhi since 2021. BreatheEasy is made possible through partnerships with social impact organisations like Asar and Cornerstone, and a design fellowship grant by Godrej and Boyce.