Green Water

[close]

Revitalising urban bodies of water using fungus-based floating biotopes

[close]

Though the artificial waterways running through many of our city and town centres have barely been used for years, their quality has not improved in that time, but has instead declined or stagnated. These bodies of water do not provide animals and plants with a protective habitat. The floating biotopes used for that purpose until now have relied upon petroleum-based substances.

The »Green Water« project introduces new floating utopias to the watercourses that once breathed life into the ancient Hanseatic merchant city of Hamburg, to create a natural, sustainable, liveable city of the future. Fungi are highly versatile, and in our project they act as innovative sources of buoyancy. Islands made of fungal mycelium improve the city’s air and quality of life. Planted with the right species, they provide biotopes where fish, birds, insects and other small creatures can eat, reproduce and hide at the heart of this densely populated urban area.

since 2021

Services:

  • Idea
  • Planning the creative concept
  • Project management
  • Implementation
  • Communication and public relations

Photos:

Maischa Suaga (1, 2, 11), Martha Starke (3, 4, 5, 7, 8)

Photos (Behind the Scenes):

Martha Starke (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24), Beate Kapfenberger (19), Torsten Jonas (20), Maischa Suaga (26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35)

Project partners

Behind the Scenes

Christoph Pöhler (Fraunhofer WKI) und Martha Starke

o