Words by Smiley Team
Young designer Henry Glogau only recently graduated from the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen, Denmark. But he is already rejuvenating the design scene with a life-changing skylight that won him a Lexus Design Award 2021.
Created especially for people living along the sunbaked coastlines of Chile, the device uses solar rays to make seawater drinkable and uses leftover brine to generate energy for lighting shanty houses.
Chile is home to around 110,000 families living in shantytowns, where it’s difficult to access purified drinking water and homes are often very poorly lit.
“In my development process, it became apparent that I could address the lack of indoor lighting and water access by creating a hybrid skylight and solar desalination device,” Glogau wrote. “In this way, the solar energy required to evaporate the seawater was optimized.”
He elaborated: “Informality within cities is a global phenomenon and needs to be urgently addressed for the creation of safe, sustainable and prosperous communities. Governmental systems will face growing stresses such as climate change, privatization and resource scarcity in the near future. Therefore, we need to re-imagine our living environments in a sustainable and autonomous way to survive.”
Glogau’s degree focused on architecture and extreme environments, allowing him to investigate design solutions to living in adverse natural surroundings. He now works for the green innovation department of the international architectural firm, 3XN.
A scarcity of drinking water is a problem inflicting millions of people around the world, with one in ten people globally unable to access clean water close to home, according to WaterAid.
But, as the young designer found, global problems require localised solutions, tailored to communities’ specific needs. To test his design, Glogau spent a month visiting informal settlements in Antofagasta, Chile, where he collaborated with a local NGO, TECHO.
He said: “I had the opportunity to install my device into a home within the settlements. This was a unique opportunity to engage with many from the local community. Here I got valuable feedback to help evolve and evaluate the idea.”
Supporting communities to find clean water sources, WaterAid works in 28 countries across the global south to ensure everyone can access this basic need.
If you’re feeling inspired by Glogau’s creation, why not help drive similar change yourself by donating to WaterAid?
