Daan Roosegaarde

de Fumio Nanjo

Dutch artist, Daan Roosegaarde, is one of the most innovative artists to emerge in the past decade. His sculptures and installations, made in collaboration with a team of engineers and designers, aim to create better conditions in cities and to make difficult areas habitable again, by rethinking processes and upgrading urban structures. At the core of Roosegaarde's practice is schoonheid, a Dutch word that stands both for 'clean-ness' and 'beauty.' It is this that has informed some of his most popular public projects, including 'Waterlicht' (a virtual flood that shows the force of water); 'Smog Free Project' (a large outdoor air purifier that turns smog into jewelry), and 'Smart Highway' (an interactive road that charges throughout the day and glows at night).