Peter Nasielsi initially specialised in his course MA Design (Ceramics, Furniture, Jewellery). I was first exposed to his work when I attended London’s out-of-the-lab exhibition. The image below showcases the collection he created, which explores life in symbiocence at the scale of the home and the individual through living bioactive furniture. The Symbiocene could be the next chapter in Earth’s history, an era in which human society becomes fully integrated with physical and living systems at all scales. In this future vision, furniture takes on a new role, fostering symbiotic relationships between individuals and photosynthetic microalgae. This regenerative paradigm leverages the incredible properties of Spirulina, an edible species of cyanobacteria that capture atmospheric carbon more efficiently than any terrestrial plant. Each piece of furniture functions as a photobioreactor or a device for growing algae. The algae growing within the pieces generates fresh oxygen and edible, vegan protein directly in the home. Engaging with the algae in daily life expands an individual’s Ecological Awareness, fostering symbiotic relationships between individuals and photosynthetic microalgae. This collection furthers conversations around how we can intermesh our lives with living systems to benefit our shared planetary ecosystem. I’ve seen this piece of work published in many areas relevant to biodesign, as innovation creates oxygen through the use of the system used in the design of the table.
When looking into the development and research, there are a few prototypes of the outcome with smaller Algae Solar Panels, which helps contextualise the development and final products of the outcome.