BioBombola by ecoLogicStudio lets you grow an algae garden in your own home

london-based architecture and research firm ecoLogicStudio, led by claudia pasquero and marco poletto, has devised ‘BioBombola’ — a project that invites people to cultivate domestic algae gardens that provide a sustainable source of vegetable proteins. ‘BioBombola’ absorbs carbon dioxide and oxygenates homes more effectively than common domestic plants while fostering a fulfilling daily interaction with nature.

all images © NAARO

during the recent weeks of lockdown, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the designers cycled everyday with their two children, giacomo and lulu, between their home in broadway market and their bio-lab in london’s east end. spontaneously, they involved the whole family in the algae cultivation and in the collection of data on air pollution. following this experiment, ecoLogicStudio decided to develop the concept further and to create a minimal kit for indoor cultivation that includes the BioBombola — a harvesting kit for simple collection of fresh spirulina ready to be consumed, a nutrients bag, and a starter batch of spirulina cells.

each BioBombola is composed of a single customized photobioreactor, a one meter tall lab grade glass container, filled with 15 liters of living photosynthetic spirulina strain (a type of cyanobacteria, which is a family of single-celled microbes that are often referred to as blue-green algae) and culture medium with nutrients. it also includes an air piping system and a small air-pump that constantly stirs the medium. the gentle bubbling keeps the algae afloat, aids oxygenation and produces a calming sound that emanates with the fresh oxygen in the surrounding environment.

the photobioreactor absorbs the equivalent of two young trees in CO2 while producing the same amount of oxygen as seven indoor plants. the harvest is a simple and entertaining process that can be performed several times per week, collecting up to seven grams of spirulina per day (one tablespoon), which is the daily recommended intake for a family of four. BioBombola can be easily assembled and dismantled, with zero waste, during the production, assembly and dismantling phases. the photobioreactor adapts to any environment and any ceiling height, and it should be installed in a spot with direct sunlight or next to a grow lamp.

the designers say that the project explores a visual and tactile way to introduce high-tech cultivation into the urban context by encouraging direct interaction with city-dwellers’ everyday lives. ‘we believe that this product will contribute to re-design some of the logic that led us to the current health crisis,’ says claudia pasquero and marco poletto. ‘if we, collectively, transform air pollutants into highly nutritious aliments there will be fewer opportunities for viruses to exploit unsustainable food supply chains and for polluted atmospheres to reach and attach to us.’

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project info:

project: EcoLogicStudio (claudia pasquero and marco poletto)
design and prototyping team: claudia pasquero, marco poletto with georgios drakontaeidis, riccardo mangili, eirini tsomokou
academic partners: synthetic landscape lab IOUD innsbruck university, urban morphogenesis lab BPRO the bartlett UCL
photography: NAARO