World's first Urban Algae Canopy

Bartlett MArch Urban Design tutors Marco Poletto and Claudia Pasquero, of ecoLogicStudio, have created Urban Algae Canopy, a piece of bio-digital architecture that combines micro-algal cultures and real time digital cultivation protocols to produce oxygen.

The structure, to be displayed at Expo Milano 2015, is the first of its kind in the world, and once fully completed, will be able to produce the oxygen equivalent of four hectares of woodland, along with nearly 330 pounds of biomass per day.

Urban Algae Canopy is designed to control the flow of energy, water and CO2 based on weather patterns, visitor's movements, and other environmental variables. When the sun shines on the structure, technology and biology interact, encouraging the algae to photosynthesise and grow across the canopy.

The project is part of ecoLogicStudio's HORTUS series, the full-scale prototype of the pavilion was recently on show at the INTERNI ‘Feeding New Ideas for the City’ exhibition at Cortile d’Onore, University of Milan, Festa del Perdono.

Read more about ecoLogicStudio's work.