Will bacteria solve our world problems? Biodesign looks to be a key factor in reaching global sustainability. Architects Howeler + Yoon and Squared Design Lab have imagined a future where derelict building will be covered in pods that grow biofuel algae.
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
Will bacteria solve our world problems? Biodesign looks to be a key factor in reaching global sustainability. Architects Howeler + Yoon and Squared Design Lab have imagined a future where derelict building will be covered in pods that grow biofuel algae.
Courtesy Howeler + Yoon Architecture and Squared Design Lab
The Genetic Barcelona Project, a research team at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, plans to inject jellyfish genes into trees to make them glow, creating a sustainable alternative to streetlights
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
The Genetic Barcelona Project, a research team at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, plans to inject jellyfish genes into trees to make them glow, creating a sustainable alternative to streetlights
Courtesy Alberto T. Estevez
The avant garde designer Mathieu Lehanneur has created a concept called Local River, in which a home aquarium produces both fish and plants that can be killed and eaten
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
The avant garde designer Mathieu Lehanneur has created a concept called Local River, in which a home aquarium produces both fish and plants that can be killed and eaten
Courtesy Mathieu Lehanneur
Phillips' Microbial Home project includes an 'urban beehive' that provides a constant supply on honey in the home
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
Phillips' Microbial Home project includes an 'urban beehive' that provides a constant supply on honey in the home
Image courtesy Philips Design
The Spanish designer Eduardo Mayoral Gonzalez has created an alternative to electric lighting. Billboards are illuminated using glow-in-the-dark bacteria and a species of algae that glows when it is shaken
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
The Spanish designer Eduardo Mayoral Gonzalez has created an alternative to electric lighting. Billboards are illuminated using glow-in-the-dark bacteria and a species of algae that glows when it is shaken
Courtesy Eduardo Mayoral Gonzalez
Amsterdam-based Joris Laarman Lab has created this Halflife Lamp, which uses genetically modified hamster cells as a light source
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
Amsterdam-based Joris Laarman Lab has created this Halflife Lamp, which uses genetically modified hamster cells as a light source
Courtesy Joris Laarman
The Pigeon d'Or project, created by Holland's Institute for the Unstable Media, proposes modifying pigeons to make them defecate soap across the city, cleaning rather than fouling it
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
The Pigeon d'Or project, created by Holland's Institute for the Unstable Media, proposes modifying pigeons to make them defecate soap across the city, cleaning rather than fouling it
Courtesy Pieter Baert
A Pigeon d'Or launcher which set pigeons free to defecate soap across the city
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
A Pigeon d'Or launcher which set pigeons free to defecate soap across the city
Courtesy Pieter Baert
The Bacterioptica chandelier, by the New Jersey company Madlab, uses a range of glowing bacteria and fiber optics to produce different effects
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
The Bacterioptica chandelier, by the New Jersey company Madlab, uses a range of glowing bacteria and fiber optics to produce different effects
Courtesy MADLAB, LLC
To promote the movie Contagion in 2011, scientists used large petri dishes to grow live bacteria. These cultures, including penicillin, mold and pigments, grew to spell out the name of the movie
Bacteria: A designer's dream? —
To promote the movie Contagion in 2011, scientists used large petri dishes to grow live bacteria. These cultures, including penicillin, mold and pigments, grew to spell out the name of the movie
Courtesy Glen D'Souza/Lowe Roche
Dr Henk Jonkers, a micro-biologist at Holland's Delft University, has created this self-healing concrete by infusing it with limestone-producing bacteria
The wonders of bacteria —
Dr Henk Jonkers, a micro-biologist at Holland's Delft University, has created this self-healing concrete by infusing it with limestone-producing bacteria
Courtesy Henk Jonkers
The Wyss Institute at Harvard has created this Lung-on-a-Chip, which mimics the complex biochemical and mechanical behavior of the human lung
The wonders of bacteria —
The Wyss Institute at Harvard has created this Lung-on-a-Chip, which mimics the complex biochemical and mechanical behavior of the human lung
Courtesy