Aer Anala / the air we breathe

The project for Architecture at the Edge Festival suggests that “the air we breathe” is a shared resource that offers an alternative way to think about the public realm. 

The project led by Paula McCloskey and Sam Vardy of art and architecture practice ‘a place of their own’, in collaboration with Mace Head Atmospheric Centre (in Carna, Connemara) and physicist Dr Liz Coleman NUI Galway.

At 2pm on Saturday 9th October, a place of their own will host a performance walk starting at Seapoint Leisure centre, ending in a collective discussion at the Galway City Museum.  

A new sculptural installation will raise interest in the air around us, and be a visible and interactive symbol of the project.

The sculpture takes the form of a LED neon sign that simply reads ‘Aer Anála’. With it, will be installed a small air quality sensor (provided by Mace Head Atmospheric Centre). 

At street level, there is a small plaque with information about the project, and a link/QR code that enables people to view the live data about air quality from the sensor on their phone or device. The link will also show the StreamAIR app (https://streamair.nuigalway.ie/) developed by the scientists at the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station and NUI Galway.