The Salt Tower
3D printed plaster, clay, salt, paint; base made of CNC milled marble.
It's estimated that 99% of potable water in Qatar is desalinated sea water, a process that requires 5 litres of oil per each cubic meter of treated water. Most desalination plants are located along the country's west coast, resulting in the adjacent sea being approximately 30% more saline than the country's east coast.
The design of the Salt Tower was catalyzed by the aforementioned. Placed by Qatar's west coast, the design is surrounded by a salt farm, which provides the raw material - the bricks - that make up the bulk of the Salt Tower's walls. Here, however, the tectonic support is, in a sense, 'reversed', and is actually provided by the gridded 'mortar' that surrounds the hollows that support the salt bricks. Maintaining this wall of salt would require constant upkeep. The salt farm provides the material, human labour would be needed to both fabricate the bricks and to patch the cavities resulting from seasonal rains and general erosion. The tower would act as a constant quantified reminder of the energy and effort required to provide us with one of our most basic needs.
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| Sketch of the Salt Tower... |
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