Local Heros – Algal Bloom and Harvest at the Fountain on the Ziegelwiese in Halle

During the project, a very special resource emerged as the unsung star of the project: the spiral algae from the fountain on the Ziegelwiese in Halle. Due to its extraordinarily rapid growth, the algae was present in large quantities. The students harvested the material on-site as needed, which regularly caused astonishment among passersby. In addition to its easy availability and local origin, the spiral algae stood out above all for its versatile material properties: The material could be processed into paper by scooping or pulping, it could be hot-pressed or felted into solid components without the addition of any binders, and the degree of fluffiness could even be precisely controlled. In addition, the algae possessed a distinct natural green color that could even be extracted as ink. Toward the end of the project, however, the supply of material was briefly jeopardized when the city had the algae removed from the water using a professional harvesting boat. The project team managed to secure enough material for the final work just in time.