MOBILE SEAWEED FARM

Studio Theodore Spyropoulos

Tutors Apostolos Despotidis, Octavian Mihai Gheorghiu, Hanjun Kim

Team Paul Yakubu | Luisa Pereira Pires | Sukanya Balaji | Zhaorui Zeng

Life, as we know it, began in the ocean. The aquatic life suffers from the detrimental impacts of global warming, temperature rise, and plastic pollution resulting in microplastic bioaccumulation. Our research centres on how seaweed as an organic agent can help decrease ocean temperatures through photosynthesis, reduce ocean acidification, collect microplastics via surface adhesion, and provide food and shelter underwater.  

From an elemental perspective we explore adopting seaweed as a technology to clean microplastics from the ocean. Mobile Seaweed Farm is based on the natural ability of seaweed surfaces to release polysaccharides which collect small plastic particles. This natural propensity makes the case for scaling up seaweed farms, incorporating mobility and responsiveness. It further highlights the potential of seaweed in its industrial variety involving food, fertilizers, medicines, textiles, bioplastics and much more. This also suggests the possibilities of seaweed farming in the outer parts of the ocean where traditional farming methods are inadequate. In summary, mobile seaweed farm moves, can adapt to variable conditions, produce seaweed for different purposes while cleaning microplastics. Ultimately, it can help sustain life in the ocean. 

The Mobile Seaweed Farm is a circular system of seaweed aquaculture. This automated, symbiotic farming cycle can adapt and enhance the ecology. We developed three phases in the farming process. It starts with on-site mesh production where we explored different methods of creating farming nets directly on the water surface. In the following farming phase, the nets are moved and controlled with active unit systems aggregated in a circle packing logic. The species farmed for filtering microplastics form a protective boundary around the seaweed grown for consumption. The systems are dynamic, responding to ocean conditions required for farming; while controlling drag force and collecting microplastics. The final phase involves the harvesting of seaweed and the collected microplastics. Here we investigated the interactions between the farmers' boats and the farm, while harvesting the seaweed, following the logic of continuity and circularity.