The Jaju Air Purifier Is Clean in Design and Purpose

Air purifiers have increasingly become de rigueur within residences and workspaces, where air pollution and seasonal fires have made the air we breathe daily a growing concern. While there are numerous air purifiers designed to filter interior air of small to large rooms, the Seoul-based design team at SWNA have taken a more personalized approach, creating an air purifier designed at a more personal scale.

Optimized to serve smaller spaces indicative of urban apartments, the JAJU air purifier fits in the palm of the hand with a 360-degree design akin to a smart audio speaker. The air cleaning appliance utilizes the combination of an integrated fan with an ionizing element and filter to create a negative electrical charge for capturing particles. This design also permits the user to wash and reuse the filtration element for more cost-efficient ownership.

An air purifier of this modest size will unlikely be effective for servicing an entire room unless very small; that process requires a combination of airflow using a large fan and enough surface area using a particle-capturing membrane to optimize efficacy. But when placed in close proximity, a smaller air purifier would aid in improving the air quality immediately surrounding the user.

SWNA used corrugated cardboard in the exploratory phase of the design process. Using these preliminary shapes resulted in choosing a rounded square, both for aesthetic reasons alongside the necessity for accommodating the inner components for mass production.

Established in 2009 by Sukwoo Lee, SWNA is the design office located in the highly inspirational city of Seoul, Korea. Check out more background and sketches related to the JAJU air purifier project at theSWNA.com.