News: Berlin design studio Blond and Bieber’s project that uses algae to create colourful dyes for textile printing has won a competition for young designers organised by Lodz Design Festival (+ movie).

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber

Blond and Bieber’s Algaemy project has been chosen as the winner of the Make Me! competition at Poland’s Lodz Design Festival.


Related story: Arup unveils world’s first algae-powered building


Algaemy by Blond and Bieber Photograph by Lukas Olfe

The studio’s founders Essi Johanna Glomb and Rasa Weber created an analogue textile-printer that produces its own dye using different types of algae.

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber Photograph by Lukas Olfe

“The huge potential of microalgae has been a subject of research in natural sciences for quite some time,” said the duo. “Meanwhile the artistic and creative value of this resource is mostly undiscovered land.”

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber Photograph by Lukas Olfe

Various species of microalgae are naturally pigmented with blue, green, brown and red tones. These pigments can be extracted using heat and distillation, then turned into natural dyes.

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber

The duo built a machine from beech wood to house all the elements needed to create and print with the algae dyes.

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber

It holds the beakers in which the algae is grown, filters for the dye and test tubes for experimenting with different colours, as well as rails for hanging textiles over.

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber

A roller on the front is wrapped in strips of rubber, which can be covered in the dye and wheeled over lengths of fabric to print continuous patterns.

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber

The prints are photo sensitive and change tone over time when exposed to sunlight, creating a “biodynamic colour palette”.

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber

The annual Make Me! competition is open to international designers under the age of 35. Curators whittled down the entries to 21 projects, which are all on display at Lodz Design Festival until 19 October.

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber

Announced as the winner last week, Blond and Bieber was awarded 20,000 Polish zloty (£3,800) by tile company Ceramika Paradyż – one of the festival’s sponsors.

Algaemy by Blond and Bieber

Algaemy was originally exhibited at trade fair DMY Berlin in May and will also go on show during Dutch Design Week from 18 to 26 October.

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