Page 90 - JCAU-5-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Regenerative algal futures

Figure 6. Complex combined “brick” structure with rod-based assembly
system that co-houses photosynthetic and anaerobic populations of
microbes. The photo shows the prototype by Simone Ferracina for the
Living Architecture project. Source: Photography courtesy of the Living
Architecture project, 2017

of being integrated into the walls of high-rise buildings and
architectures in which biological processes use waste urine
to provide multiple functions for a building. Modular
bioreactor units are used (microbial fuel cells, synthetic
Figure 4. Living Architecture “wall” series of bioreactor. Source: microbial consortia, and photobioreactor) which integrate
Photograph courtesy of the Living Architecture project, 2019 into one hybrid system (Hogle et al., 2023). Prototypes
created are stackable horizontally and vertically — this
has positive implications when constructing buildings as
the algal bioreactors can be embedded into walls. Outputs
include polished water, fertilizer, and recoverable biomass
(Hogle et al., 2023). Algae are embedded and provide
oxygen through a system of biophotovoltaics, thereby
creating a microbial fuel cell. The living architecture
system prototype speculates a partially closed loop
system, which has the potential of producing oxygen and
biomass, and regenerating liquids and waste, and becomes
a multifunctional architecture in the elucidation of a mini
ecosystem (Figure 6).
Figure 5. “Wall detail” in the Living Architecture bioreactor installation. Systems such as Living Architecture are pertinent
Source: Photograph courtesy of the Living Architecture project, 2019
for counteracting future instability and for survival.
bioremediation, biophotovoltaics, and bioregenerative Bioregenerative algal architectures would specifically
implementation in the design. Biophotovoltaics incorporate consider contemporary dynamic cities, where the building
adapts to the environment and becomes an extension in
clean power generation and uses self-renewing organism- which the human works sympoietically with the nonhuman
mediated photosynthesis to capture solar power for (microalgae) for the furtherance of life. Architecture
generating electric currents (Zhu et al., 2023). designed through artistic and speculative means allows
Wastewater and organic waste are passed through a for the visualization of habitats, which can exist in extreme
series of three bioreactors to produce clean water, electricity, environments.
biomass, and phosphate as well as other by-products. The
concept of the project was to find a way to create pertinent 7. Speculative bioregenerative algal design
resources from household waste utilizing the work of Working with architectural PBR systems and designing
microbes. The living architecture system has the potential physiochemically with life has its obstacles. However, if a

Volume 5 Issue 3 (2023) 8 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.179