Running through May 31
The Future City of the Carbon-Neutral Era
Through May 31, Hyundai Motor Company is presenting 'Habitat One,' an exhibition that offers a vision of the future city in the carbon-neutral era, at Hyundai Motorstudio Seoul, located in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu.
Designed to let visitors experience new possibilities for sustainable living and envision the daily lives of future generations who will live in the carbon-neutral era, the exhibition was created in collaboration with ecoLogicStudio, a London-based architecture and design innovation group specializing in biotechnology.
The exhibition's centerpiece, 'Tree One,' consists of an artificial tree that stores carbon in its body and supplies oxygen to the atmosphere just like a real tree—achieved by injecting microalgae into a bioplastic structure produced with a 3D printer—together with a connected 'Algae' cultivation device.
The photosynthetic microalgae used in the work purify indoor air by feeding on surrounding sunlight and carbon dioxide from the air, capturing carbon dioxide at a level equivalent to about 12 fully grown trees, thereby offering an experience of the bio-digital ecosystem of the future city.
In addition, at the 'Bio Lab,' visitors can observe the process by which cultivated 'Algae' photosynthesizes and, through a bio-circulation process, gives rise to the artificial tree 'Tree One.'
Furthermore, the large media facades located inside and outside the first and second floors of Hyundai Motorstudio Seoul screen the video work 'Habitat One: The architecture of the carbon neutral city,' which depicts a future in which the cycle of natural regeneration is maximized. It portrays a sustainable city as a single living organism that autonomously supplies and circulates the energy and resources needed for life activities.