But for designers Jacob Douenias and Ethan Frier, spirulina algae could also have a role in our homes as lighting and furniture, producing food, fuel, heat and light.

In their collection Living Things, now on display in Pittsburgh's Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art in Pittsburgh, the pair of Carnegie-Mellon University graduates demonstrate the different uses of cyanobacteria, or more specifically, spirulina, which was “chosen for its rich green hue, light absorbency, and culinary qualities,” and cultivated in hand-blown glass vessels filled with alkaline water. The designers created three "vignettes" of dining room, living room and a control centre -- each lit with a different version of these glowing algal farms mounted on walls or set into tables.

They envision a kind of symbiotic relationship between residents and the spirulina, where the algae can be grown and harvested from "glass vessels [that] function [as] high functioning photobioreactors, which provide heat, light, agitation, air supply, nutrient and waste control to the living algae inside."

The system is connected via a series of tubes and wires, housed in the central control cabinet.

Each of the nine vessels' life support systems can be adjusted individually. The 3D printed nylon knobs embedded in the surface of this workstation actuate eighteen valves which allow for the harvesting of Spirulina when the culture becomes dense enough, and the supply of fresh liquid media to each vessel. Inside the cabinet the pumps, tubing, manifolds, LED drivers, air pumps, heater connections and filters which comprise the heart of the life support system.

Mai Linh