Throughout the past decade, the creativity used in architecture has been spectacular, ranging from anything like the massively popular Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York to the stunning Absolute World structure in Toronto. What if these creations could be improved even further? The use of biological materials has rapidly increased during the 21st century due to its high efficiency and availability, and these materials could transform these landmarks to be more environmentally and economically beneficial. As a result, we decided to create the Living Wall: a bioreactor filled with diverse plants and foods. To grow these plants, we elected to use aquaponics: a method of transferring fish waste to grow plants. Through the use of this aquaponic system, the quality and naturality of the Nuvu environment improve greatly.

The Living Wall will provide NuVu students and coaches with a continuous water farming system that includes healthy and aesthetic foods such as water tomatoes and strawberries, which can be harvested to provide students organic school lunches. These foods are grown by using an aquaponic system in which fish waste is used to power plants with energy in a sustainable process. The hope with this project is that with the Living Wall, Nuvu will be taking a small step to becoming a healthier environment.

Dina: 

The Water Habitat is a beautiful bio-powered addition to NuVu's space, a private, leafy-green escape from the pressure of glass walls and exposed, open-plan workspaces. Featuring an aquaponic drip system, the wall grows tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, and herbs in a mutually beneficial relationship with a host of aquatic creatures. A comprehensive environmental regulation system is required to help the wall thrive for the community’s benefit. 

The Aquaponic Feedback System operates through several Arduinos, which are microcontrollers that can be programed from a computer and connected to an array of sensors and moving parts. Each Arduino takes in information from one or two sensors and sends commands accordingly. For example, if one Arduino detects a pH above the ideal range, it sends a signal to a peristaltic pump to add a few drops of basic fluid to the water. 

The Aquaponic Feedback System engages the issue of labor in the context of small-scale agriculture, exploring the possibility of hands-off plant growth. It is a step in the direction of a fully automated system that supports both aquatic and plant life. While the purpose of the project is for there to be as little human intervention as possible, certain sensors prompt a human, rather than automatic, reaction. When an ultrasonic distance sensor detects that the water level is too high, it alerts users by turning on an LED. A human caretaker is expected to respond to the problem manually. 

Lucy: 

A personal space designed to let one relax and connect with nature while surrounded by an aquaponic system; The wall has plants growing out of it and is rooted in a fish tank that is monitored by arduinos. 

The Bio-Powered Habitat provides a quiet space for the people at Nuvu to get work done or relax in, since the general environment can be loud and overwhelming. At the same time, it is a home for fish and flowers to grow and form a symbiotic relationship with the people. There are two transportable walls which can be pushed together in a corner to form the space. One wall is composed of the aquaponic system, while the other has a chair made of mycelium to lounge in.

The system of arduinos shows the potential for AI to completely automate the maintenance of an aquaponic system, garden, or even a whole farm. Sensors monitor the water level, temperature, and pH to ensure optimal growth conditions for the plants and fish. If one of these conditions is outside of the allowed range, an Arduino will light up to alert people. In the future, the arduinos could be hooked up to a pump (or whatever tool necessary) to return the condition back into the allowed range.

The automated aquaponic wall could be applied to a bigger scale to build a sustainable house. A much more eco-friendly alternative to current buildings, the wall demonstrates the possibility of using accessible materials (plants, flowers, fish, etc) to our benefit, while also helping the other forms of life around us.

Caitlin:

The Bio-Powered Habitat turns an otherwise mundane space into an environment that embraces and accentuates human interdependence nature through aquaponics. More specifically, programmed circuits are used to monitor a water system that sustain the plants on the wall. The wall can be rolled to different locations to change the space.

The Aquaponic Feedback System works by reading code off of an Arduino. For example, controlled variables such as temperature and water level are maintained by the Arduino. There is specific code that writes parameters for the variables, and if it goes outside of that range it will light an L.E.D. to notify people.

The hope is that the Bio-Powered Habitat will raise awareness of the impending consequences of abusing the environment, and will encourage others to work on projects similar to it on a bigger scale. This project raises the question of how we as humans are going to fix our environment and begin using less harmful products because there is no Planet B. Physically and mentally, the space will provide relief to those who use it through its comfortable design and the positive effects of plants.

Duncan: 

A device that harvests the power produced by photosynthesis. Moss releases electrons when it photosynthesizes which are captured by an anode and redirected through a circuit to a cathode. The Moss Volt has zero carbon emissions and uses all low cost, accessible materials. 

Each Moss Volt power cell using a layering system to separate the anode and the cathode, the contents of each power cell are housed in an acrylic box. The layers start with the moss on top. Below that there is wire mesh, soil, paper filter, sand, wire mesh, and sand. The technology behind this project is fairly simple. The moss releases electrons underneath it, the anode (chicken wire) collects the electrons, if the anode and the cathode are connected, the electrons detour through a circuit and power an LED. Multiple cells can be connected in series to increase the voltage significantly. The main design flaw of this project was the housing. Acrylic is more expensive and harder to seal than many other available materials. Acrylic was used mainly for its aesthetic appeal but in the future, a cheaper material would be preferable.

 
Biophotovoltaics (the transfer of the electrons produced by photosynthesis onto an anode and cathode) opens the door into a new clean energy source. Moss is optimal because of its resilience and short roots but all plants release electrons as a product of photosynthesis. This power is abundant and the simplicity of the moss vault displays to the world how to successfully draw from the enormous amount of bio-power. While bio-power devices struggle with efficiency, they would still be a very beneficial addition to the worlds growing clean energy sources. Most importantly, these power cells are very low maintenance, the only upkeep required of this device is watering the moss, which can be done automatically.

Jacob:

A device that derives power from moss photosynthesis. The moss releases electrons as it photosynthesizes and the electrons are captured in an anode and a cathode to create a power source.  This project has zero carbon emissions and a low cost which is extremely important in a new generation of power.

Moss Volt is an accessible, clean power source that derives power by capturing the electrons that are released from moss photosynthesis. The device consists of an acrylic box with wire mesh layered with natural and raw materials as insulators [if this is correct--try to give us an umbrella statement that gives us an overview, before you give the details] Wire mesh is used as the bottom layer in an acrylic box.  Sand, paper filters, soil, more wire mesh, and moss are layered on top of the mesh.  The basic technology behind our project is that the moss releases electrons that are captured by the two wire meshes.  Wires are connected to both sets of wire mesh to create a battery. An LED can be connected to create a circuit and thus power a light.  As more of these cells are connected, the voltage given off is increased.  One design flaws was that we used epoxy at first to bond the acrylic boxes, however, they were not sticking together, so we quickly overcame this obstacle by using plastic weld to combine the acrylic.

It is good for the environment and has zero carbon emission.  Furthermore, all plants photosynthesize so it is an abundant source of energy. Moss Volt helps people see the future of power and how power can be drawn from widely available, unprocessed materials.  Although there is a question regarding the lack efficiency of bio-power, it is worth considering incorporating this power source into our lives because of the immense benefits.  The best part is that the only human interaction with this device is watering the moss.

I am an architect and biologist by education, and I am super excited to teach biodesign studios at NuVu. In my academic research at MIT, I work on growing, shaping, and patterning materials that are living and bioactive for sustainable future product and architectural design. This past September I finished my dissertation on biologically active materials in architecture, and I now work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Synthetic Biology center at MIT.  In my work I combine tools from architectural design, digital fabrication, materials science, and synthetic biology, collaborating with both creative scientists and creative designers.

In this studio, students will build an algae-powered pavilion at NuVu that will serve as a healing space for both NuVu community and its environment. Students will explore the potential uses of living cells for sustainable design, such as filtering air, making biomaterials, detecting and neutralizing harmful chemicals, photosynthesis, and biofuel production. Students will also learn about imagining, planning, and constructing an architectural space.