Based between London and Berlin, Daryan Knoblauch is an architect, designer, and researcher who approaches the built environment as a medium of communication. Free Air, Knoblauch’s winning proposal for The Mies van der Rohe Foundation’s Architecture Festival in Barcelona, was conceived as a research-by-design project on the air we breathe. Built with reusable theatrical rigging, the pavilion is equipped with mirrors, solar panels, and water collectors, while screens inside display Barcelona’s air quality index in real time. Through these fixtures, the pavilion brings into focus the invisible substance that surrounds us, enabling people to see, understand, and reflect on a vital resource, which, due to human-made pollution, has become a threat to our health. But Free Air also serves an active role in enhancing Barcelona’s environment, filtering toxic gas particles from car exhausts through its light-reactive membranes, while creating a meaningful urban infrastructure for public gathering and performance.