In collaboration with nasal healthcare company Otrivin, bio-based architecture and design innovation firm ecoLogicStudio has presented a showroom and workshop that purifies air thanks to the power of living photosynthetic microalgae.
Entitled Otrivin Air Lab, the presentation is currently open to the public at the Building Centre in London up until September 17th. Visitors are invited to learn about the dangers of urban air pollution on breathing health and how using microalgae can re-metabolize the air pollution into a biodegradable material.
The Otrivin Air Lab itself is made of a timber structure that houses 12 photobioreactors, each of which measuring one metre tall and filled with 10 litres of microalgae. In total, the photobioreactors are said to be able to adsorb 240g of CO2, release 180g of oxygen, and produce 84g of biomass daily.
With the grown biomass, ecoLogicStudio transforms them into bioplastic, which is then made into biofilament for 3D printing biodegradable products.
“With the Otrivin Air Lab, we want to enable urban dwellers to design new nature-based circular economies,” says Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, co-founders of ecoLogicStudio. “At the lab we harvest carbon dioxide, purify polluted urban air and 3d print plastic-free biodegradable products. Essentially, we convert air pollution into products that help protect our breathing!”
“ecoLogicStudio & Otrivin are partners in the belief that no action is too small when it comes to mitigating the impact of poor air quality on our breathing health, and that experimentation is a key part of the journey towards uncovering innovative ideas that can inspire thought and be a template for a sustainable manufacturing future,” reads a press release.
All images in this article are courtesy of ecoLogicStudio.
