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Edible Sea-Scapes | IE School of Architecture and Design

Edible Sea-Scapes

Final Project for the Bachelor in Design, Class of 2021.

Our relationship with the ocean has changed over history. In the past century, we have changed that relationship to a more exploitative, one-sided one. We are coming close to exhausting our oceans’ underwater life to feed an ever-growing population. Overfishing will not only have dreadful effects on society, but also on the environment. 

This project focuses on creating an oceanic agricultural system that works synergistically with the ocean, that uplifts societies and economiesin the context of fishing towns of Galicia, while creating food to feed themselves and others. There is one way we can do this, and it is by turning to a resource that we have always had but only now we have started to appreciate: micro and macro algae. Algae is a versatile element of our ecosystems. When farmed, it helps keep oceans healthy and clean. Its uses are growing more and more everyday, but some examples of its applications are in food, energy, fertilizers, bioplastics, and clothing, just to name a few. Several towns in Galicia have a history of using seaweed and seaweed is embedded into the oceanic culture. This project takes seaweed farming to an extreme. 

The project aim is a scalable agro-ecologic farming system based on three different types of algae: red and brown (macro algae) and blue-green micro algae. The system will be represented in the main seaweed-harvesting town of Galicia which is A Guarda; but it could be applied to any other town in different scales and by changing the algae used. 

The project deliverable is a set of axonometric drawings representing the system broken down and explained.

IE - REINVENTING HIGHER EDUCATION