Stefano Pagani is a BFA student in Product Design at Parsons School of Design, The New School in New York, USA.
Together with the fellow student Natalie Ferry, Stefano Pagani co-designed Bloom, a network of in-home bio-reactors used to grow algae, which can produce biofuel and bio-plastics. Bloom is a global network of bio-reactors that are integrated into the home. Through a series of home accessories, including window shades and sculptures, Bloom creates a bioreactor that is pleasing to the eye and functional. The product is composed of an algae-based 3d printed structure and two sheets of glass that connect to a larger reservoir at the base of the window. The algae that circulate through these sculptures use the inefficiencies of the window glass to its advantage, taking the heat and light energy that are not absorbed by the glass to grow and thrive. Bloom seeks to aid in the mass production of biofuel by producing a large enough yield of algae to reduce the gap in the production fields between fossil fuels and biofuels lessens, making algae-based biofuel a reality.
The team received the 2nd Prize and €3,000 from each BE OPEN and Cumulus in the Second Life of Things in Design student competition,