Konrad Fleszar is the author of the project. It is his thesis, thanks to which he defended his Master’s degree at the Faculty of Arts of the Pedagogical University of Cracow. He designed a piece of furniture whose use lowers its own carbon footprint and at the same time purifies the air and produces nutrients. The product of his design works by means of freshwater algae
Dr Dagmara Latała is the supervisor of the thesis ‘Habitat for humans and plants’. Konrad Fleszar designed a modular plant system integrated with technology for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using freshwater algae. Behind this complex term is a simple and functional thing – it is a modular furniture system with the additional function of purifying the air
The essential function of the project is storage, and the chief idea is to purify the air by using a freshwater algae culture system. The design of the modular installation was based on an analysis of three aspects: climate change and the response of the design arts to this problem, the use of algae in global warming contexts, and timber construction using timber joints
The technological systems used in the project were implemented from existing algae power plant structures. The primary purpose of this type of facility is to produce biomass, which is then converted into biofuel. In the presented project, this aspect has been changed by using a species of algae, chlorella vulgaris, which, being a rich source of micro- and macroelements, can become a valuable element of the daily diet. With this treatment, the project fits into the trend of urban agriculture as an example of vertical plant cultivation, explains Konrad Fleszar
An important element of the conceptual work was specialist consultation at the Department of Botany of the KEN Pedagogical University in Kraków, thanks to which the technology for growing algae in power plants could be successfully implemented on a smaller scale
The algae, pumped by means of a peristaltic pump into a system of tubes running the entire length of the modular facility’s structure, are exposed to UV radiation, resulting in photosynthesis and algal growth. The carbon dioxide captured by the algae reduces the carbon footprint of the production and use of the entire plant
Through the use of a proprietary connection system and its modularity, the project functions as a wide-ranging system capable of adapting to the physiognomy of any space: whether private, such as flats, or public, such as libraries, offices or exhibition spaces. The possibilities of the system designed by Konrad can be seen below, where we publish visualisations of possible arrangements of the object
source: Konrad Fleszar
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The unit is modular, so it can be used to create larger pieces such as shelving. This results in a piece of furniture that is fully functional and further cleans the air
