Page 36 - JCAU-5-4

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Floral strategies for regenerative design

Figure 8. XENO. Source: Design sketch by Anna Vershinina, 2023

Caught between eating, mating, and the robot flower’s
Figure 7. XENO, robotic flower mechanism with blue light LED, potent potent scent, the mosquitoes in the gallery select their
scent, and zapper for mosquito prey, which falls into the benthic fuel cell energy pathway. Those that choose to consume the
at the base of the system, which in turn powers the robot. Source: Design
sketch by Rolf Hughes and concept by Armstrong, 2023 bioplastic polymers ingest an energy-rich meal, those
females that mature their eggs seek out carbon dioxide
the cathode, to generate an electric current. The electrons from the breath of gallery visitors, while the robot lures
at the cathode combine with a suitable electron acceptor, all towards its lethal tip with a blue light to electrocute
such as oxygen from the surrounding water, completing the approaching mosquitoes on a metal grid (Figure 9). When
circuit and generating electricity, which can be harvested a mosquito comes into contact with the electric grid of
and utilized for various applications, such as powering a zapper, it completes an electrical circuit and receives
remote sensors, environmental monitoring devices, or a lethal electric shock. Falling to the base of the petals,
low-power electronics. and down through pores into the benthic sediments, the
insect cadavers provide nourishment for the microbes
The efficiency and power output of benthic fuel cells in the “living” fuel cell and through their electrogenic
vary depending on factors such as the type and abundance metabolism, provide a source of electrical energy capable
of microorganisms present in the sediment, the availability of stunning the next insect prey.
of organic matter, and the design and configuration of the
fuel cell system, with the potential for practical applications Interrogating the possibility of establishing multiple
in renewable energy generation and environmental codependencies between different species — human,
monitoring (Figure 8). mosquito, flower, microbes — XENO generates an overall
benefit to the local ecosystem by catalyzing the different
While male mosquitoes obtain their energy solely from exchanges between the participants and highlighting
plant nectar, which provides them with all the necessary the exchange between them while establishing ethically
carbohydrates throughout their lifespan (Nature, 2010), challenging inflection points of energy transfer.
females must have human or animal blood meals for a Spotlighting these ethical dilemmas implicit within all
healthy reproductive cycle and egg development and natural energy systems, XENO operates through cycles
are also attracted away from the flower by the scent of of life (feeding, breeding) and death (decomposition)
carbon dioxide and other chemicals emitted by gallery to ensure continuous electron flow through all bodies as
visitors. The need for blood only occurs when females a basic currency of life (Armstrong, 2023). Designed to
are ready to mate and they emit specific pheromones that consume mosquitoes, on the one hand, XENO represents a
act as chemical signals to attract males who use highly mechanism for pest control, while on the other hand, it is
specialized antennae to detect these scent trails. Typically a means of capturing energy from within a living system.
flying in a zigzag pattern in search of the pheromone Mosquitoes, in turn, prey on humans, subjecting gallery
plume, male mosquitoes adjust their flight path based on visitors to a sense of ill-ease as they share the space with
the changing concentration of the pheromones in the air hungry female mosquitoes. On receiving a lethal current
to locate a female mosquito. The mating ritual involves delivered through the metal grid located on the anther,
specific behaviors such as wing beating and other courtship the mosquitoes fall through pores into the benthic fuel
displays, and once successful, the female mosquito will cell. Here they are consumed by microbes and turned
seek a blood meal to support her egg development. into electricity generation and compost, which returned

Volume 5 Issue 4 (2023) 7 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1006