ALGAL MICROFOREST CONCEPT BY MUSELAB

“We believe that the next step in preservation may lie in partnerships with the very entity that we endanger, and that too with one of its tiniest representatives, ALGAE. We find ourselves in awe of these unassuming members of the plant family that hold the potential to compete with their massive cousins on equal footing, often surpassing them in resilience and efficacy. We are therefore inspired to try and harness their capabilities to create a modular piece of street furniture, the ‘Algal Microforest’ that can act as effective carbon sinks integrated into the built urban environment,” says Huzefa Rangwala of MuseLAB. The Algal Microforest is designed to provide refuge from the weather. A visitor may sit beneath it while breathing in the air that millions of minute carbon sponges oxygenate for them overhead. Throughout the day, one would look up to find themselves under an undulating canopy of green, simultaneously simulating and reimagining the traditional forest cover. The intervention aims to activate public spaces by creating light, shade and seating spaces, along with the algal ability to use the light productively to absorb CO2 from the environment.