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17-25 October 2026
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Algae Cloud

If data storage were a living thing with a finite lifespan, how would we nurture it?

Gepresenteerd door [email protected]

Dit project is nu gearchiveerd en was onderdeel van DDW23

Dit project is onderdeel van:
Design United.EXPO by 4TU
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Care kit
Care kit
Neva Linn Rustad
Algae Cloud is a speculative research artifact that imagines a personal cloud-storage system as a series of algae cultures; a mutual caring relationship where data storage is traded for sunlight, nutrients, and regular attention.

Concept description

DNA data storage technologies make it possible to safely store digital data files in the DNA of living organisms. Algae cloud imagines the weightless and ethereal “cloud” as a breathing, living culture that requires and provides care. In a world where humans are increasingly disconnected from other living things, but also to how digital data hoarding takes its physical toll on the planet, what relationships could we have with living organisms if we were dependent on them for data storage, and how would we treat data storage if it lives, grows and eventually dies?
Uploading files
Uploading files
Neva Linn Rustad
Care routine - microscope
Care routine - microscope
Neva Linn Rustad

Colofon

Supervisor Jiwei Zhou
Supervisor Himanshu Verma
Advisor Elvin Karana
Video editor Marica Michele
Polestar
MCI
Triodos
Dutch Design Foundation
Ministerie van OCW
Gemeente Eindhoven
Provincie Noord-Brabant
Brabant C
VPRO
Fonds 21
Stir