Growing on a Bridge

The Cloud Collective has installed an algae cultivation system on a highway overpass in Geneva, Switzerland, as a demonstration of the role urban settings can play in the production of food and plants.

Designed as part of the garden festival Genève: Villes et Champs, the ‘Culture Urbaine’ installation is made up of a closed system of transparent tubes connected to the exterior of the bridge.

Algae are cultivated inside the tubes, grown using only sunlight and C02.

The algae can be used to filter air, as combustible biomass or even as raw material for different cosmetic and alimentary products.

A steel structure running vertical to the bridge holds the system’s pumps, filters and solar panels and provides a written description of the project for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Cloud Collective hopes that the installation prompts future practices of reinterpreting existing infrastructures for the production of food and biomass.

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