Aerium
Future Trends / Speculative Design / Synthetic Biology
Future of Flight
The future of flying is green. Aerium imagines a future where synthetic biological systems are integrated seamlessly with electromechanical ones on board. This new industry of bioavionics will challenge the way we experience flight, offering sustainable solutions for the air we breathe, the energy we consume and the water we drink.
Bioavionics
Recent developments and investments in synthetic biology, biotechnology, and genetics have made the design and production of biologically based systems more precise than ever. Inspired by existing projects on algae powered homes and bio-synthetic materials, these developments show great promise in the field of sustainability.
This new field of bioavionics integrates biological systems with electromechanical ones to hint at our future experience of flight. Aerium is a multi-layered cabin structure that focuses on three systems: hydration, energy generation, and oxygenation.
Hydration
The first is a biopolymer coating on Aerium’s exterior microstructure. This responsive material harvests moisture and condensation from the clouds. It guides water towards the rear of the plane and collected for onboard clean and grey water use.
Structure
The second layer is a computationally generated skeletal structure that minimizes weight whilst maximizing strength, saving fuel for each flight.
Energy Generation
Embedded in this generative structure is a synthetic chloroplast layer, extracted from algae and suspended on graphene matrices.
Oxygenation
Like plants, the organelles convert sunlight and CO2 expired by passengers to generate clean air and electricity through the process of photosynthesis.
From Flying to Fuel Cells
Together, these layers are used to power various onboard needs, reducing the stress on the primary fuel source. Currently, planes are inactive when parked at airports. With this new performative skin, we imagine a future where planes can become fuel cells both in air and on land, supplying excess clean water and energy for airports.
BA 2119: Flight of the Future
The work was exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery “BA2119: Flight of the Future” exhibition in August 2019. As such, a series of interactive exhibition elements were designed to explain our concept.
This project is a collaboration between the Royal College of Art and British Airways to celebrate the airline's centenary. These future concepts were developed in collaboration with experts from Airbus, Boeing, Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories, Imperial Aeronautics and British Airways.
