Through Philippe Cohen
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” It’s what ? An aquarium ? asks Jocelyne, a resident intrigued by a blue-green light that illuminates Place Thome in Rambouillet (Yvelines), in front of the aptly named performance hall, La Lanterne.
This futuristic-shaped panel where a liquid is agitated, continues to attract the curiosity of Rambolitans.
Because inside live from marine bacteriawhich, like glowworms and fireflies, produce light.
It’s the magic of bioluminescence !
Abyssal organisms naturally light up
For the first time in Francethis technology has been tested since Friday, January 20, outdoors by Glowee start-up.
It is the concretization of a partnership established between Glowee and the town of Rambouillet in 2019.
The municipality has bet €100,000 to help the start-up to produce a prototype and above all to experiment with it in its cultural heart of a city.
For 8 years, Glowee has been developing in its laboratories d’Evry (Essonne)the best way to cultivate marine organisms from the abyss to light up the cities of tomorrow in a different way.
An alternative to traditional urban lighting
The founder of Glowee, Sandra Rey intends to propose a solution in tune with the times, an alternative to Led and conventional streetlights to light cities in a natural and sustainable way.
If, Glowee had made the first tests in campuses and in the waiting room of the airport of Roissy Charles de Gaulle, never, she had developed a furniture intended to live outside.
How biological light can revolutionize lighting
80% of marine organisms emit photons of light. A biochemical reaction caused by a protein, luciferin.
How do you imitate this fascinating natural phenomenon of sea creatures and bacteria?
It was on the basis of this question that in 2013, Sandra Rey, then a Design school student, won a prize for a project combining design with biology.
Carried by this idea and the possibilities of bioluminescence, she imagines her company: Glowee.
By partnering with researchers, his start-up born in 2014, to try to find a concrete application of bioluminescence, from well-being to urban lighting.
In Evry, with a team of twenty people, she multiplies the tests on ephemeral installations and experiments relaxation rooms around bioluminescence.
In 2019, she signed her first contract with the City of Rambouillet to achieve a concrete application within the urban network.
Two and a half years were needed to develop the street furniture and its autonomous operation.
“We have achieved progress in intensity by improving the performance of bacteria. This furniture allows you to see bioluminescence 600m away, at the end of the square. It allows you to guide, signal and highlight. The objective is to illuminate squares, pedestrian crossings, border areas with nature”.
At a time when we want to fight against light pollution, Glowee brings an alternative: “A biosourced and biodegradable raw material, made of micro-organisms that can be cultivated in the laboratory. The solutions are in nature, it’s a living library able to provide us with solutions on many subjects,” says Sandra Rey. The first test is “a step to make people want to see this light in our daily lives”.
On the place of Rambouillet (Yvelines), the organisms coming from the depths of the oceans are fed by air and nutrients to encourage them to give the most beautiful possible light to the passers-by of the city of Yvelines.
A real challenge to bring this light to life outdoors
“This is the first time that bioluminescence has been permanently installed in an urban environment. It may seem simple, but it’s a real challenge because it’s a light that is alive! Marine bacteria!
“It’s signage furniture that guides, highlights. We wanted to mix the imagination of the bud with that of the periscope, a link between nature and the light that comes from the bottom of the oceans”, explains Sandra Rey, the founder of the start-up Glowee during the inauguration, in the presence of hundreds of inhabitants.
“The challenge is to test bioluminescence outdoors and the reactions of the public”, indicates the founder of Glowee who, after the experiment, intends to launch around fifty bioluminescent projects, in different forms of furniture across France: seats, illuminations of monuments or parking modules for bicycles.
A French innovation for the cities of the future
For the mayor of Rambouillet, Véronique Matillon:
It is a source of pride to offer the possibility to French researchers to test such an innovative project, to get in the saddle to develop their project throughout France.
“An innovation which also concerns the quality of our environment and arouses curiosity which has the virtue of asking us the right questions for our future, and of telling ourselves that from living things, marine organisms, we can provide solutions for a sustainable city”, explains the mayor of Rambouillet.
The conquered inhabitants: “Super-innovative and poetic”
Friday evening, the public was conquered: “It’s beautiful and soothing”, confided Ludivine, a schoolgirl.
“Intriguing to know that it’s alive and comes from the bottom of the oceans,” added Séverine.
“It’s super innovative and it’s timely with regard to new energy needs. Having our natural lighting linked to marine resources is fascinating,” notes Céline. For the resident of Rambouillet, seeing the square in her town immersed in bioluminescent light is also “very poetic. It reminds me of images from the movie Avatar! »
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