A biophilic interior embodying ecologic domesticity
The Design Apothecary, new outpost of eLS in Italy, represents an evolution in the conversion of industrial complexes into creative hubs, and tests a new concept of ecologic domesticity. Its centerpiece is a fully functional air purifying algae garden, featuring 17 photosynthetic reactors. This opens up on a living lab room bordering a balcony with a library of medicinal plants. In addition, guests will be welcomed into a drawing room that simultaneously functions as an exhibition space for 3D-printed biophilic products and furniture. Finally adjacent to it, a more private area hosts a playful guestroom.
After evaluating various locations, Claudia and Marco chose to locate their first Design Apothecary in Turin. The city is renowned for its rich artistic, scientific, and technological heritage as well as a tradition for radical design eclecticism. At the forefront of aerospace and automotive research, as well as cutting-edge developments in AI and robotics, Turin is growing a strong scientific community. It also presents challenges, such as very high levels of air pollution, which makes it a perfect test bed for bio-design.
The project is nestled inside the Ex Mulini Feyles, a XIX century industrial complex in the city center of Turin that rose to prominence in the 70s as one of the headquarters of the Arte Povera Movement, hosting among others the studio of artists Marisa and Mario Merz.
“The idea of a new outpost in Turin comes from our interest in exploring creativity as a Polycephalum – an entity capable of developing multiple forms of intelligence. Our work is carried out in synergy with a team located between the studio and university in London, and the Synthetic Landscape Lab, which I direct at the University of Innsbruck. In particular, this new platform allows us to test the potential for new models of circular design and healthy living, which have always been at the core of our design research”.
— says Claudia Pasquero, co-founder of ecoLogicStudio.
At the center of the 250 sqm open plan space sits the air purifying algae garden, the operating system of hi-efficiency engineered photosynthesis. The whole space comes to life, fueled by the algae’s unique metabolism, once the 200 liters of living cultures of Spirulina, Chlorella and Cyanidium housed in the algae garden are established and start to grow.
The cultures absorb CO2 at a rate of 250gr/day (equivalent to 4 large trees) and re-metabolize air pollutants into 140g of dry algae and 84g of vegetable proteins every day, enough to feed 1.5 adults. The inhabitants benefit from 190 g of fresh oxygen emitted from the very first day of operation.
The biomass is regularly harvested by Claudia, Marco and their team, and processed in the kitchen overlooking the living lab room. The biomass is often used as fertilizer in the medical plants garden, as protein ingredient in gourmet recipes, as sugary intake for biodegrading mycelium capsules and as raw material to 3D print products and interior design components.
Architecturally, the algae garden is made of a modular fir wood lattice structure, with a module of 50 cm. Assembled with stainless nuts and bolts and 3D-printed joints, the structure is fully reversible and expandable. It hosts 17 photobioreactors of lab grade borosilicate glass as well all the aeration and harvesting systems.
All the biodegradable components of the air purifying algae garden have been 3D printed in the lab area itself, emphasizing the circular nature of the metabolic processes underpinning the design and the production of the Design Apothecary interior project.
In the center of the living lab room, ecoLogicStudio has designed a 2x2 meter table consisting of four parts that can be rearranged to suit various modes of use: a "formal" squared configuration supports bio-lab activities while an "organic” configuration is better suited for informal gatherings. The table embodies the essence of the Design Apothecary project, reflecting its dual purpose: a space dedicated to leisure and interaction that turns into a space for experimentation and research.
After establishing a productive algae garden, ecoLogicStudio’s team moved on to a second phase in the apothecary project, which includes setting up the medical plants garden and the mycelium capsules. The abovementioned fir wood system is employed on the south-west side of the space to integrate a kitchen and food preparation island fronting a long storage shelving system, housing the mycelium. The system is screened by bespoke polycarbonate panels framed with birch plywood sliding on stainless steel track with magnetic closure.
Running along a typical Northern Italian narrow balcony with a wrought iron railing is a system of 10 planters housing medicinal plants and some climbing plants that provide a second vegetated layer for shading during summer. This system will eliminate the need for air conditioning in the space, reducing energy consumption and encouraging open interaction with the vegetated balcony and inner courtyard.
The north-east side of the Design Apothecary is the drawing room defined by a unique branching lighting system, inspired in its design by the behavior of the Physarum Polycephalum, another creature inhabiting the apothecary.
The drawing room serves as a gallery where ecoLogicStudio will showcase, on a rotating basis, bio-art and design products from their archive, including some original copies of artworks acquired by prestigious museums such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, and the Mudac - Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts in Lausanne, artworks like H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g, GAN-Physarum: La dérivée numérique, Bio.Serie, and AIReactor, will be showcased here.
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Showroom
The drawing room will also serve as space for lectures, special events or large family gatherings: 4 Zolla window benches made of cardboard and cork integrating a set of mycelium capsules will be unveiled for the first time.
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Zolla detail
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Forestry
Lastly, the drawing room leads to a more private realm of the project that includes a book- and bio-material library, and to the guest lodging. Conceived as a gridded forest of timber joists and screened by large sliding panels, the fir wood lattice structure integrates, in a very compact and three dimensional space, two elevated tatami beds perched above a storage wardrobe, and a cork desk surface that extends towards the large window into a cozy double reading alcove overlooking the cityscape of via San Donato.
