An algae-enchanted future. From resource to companion

This article examines the growing interest in algae as a central resource within sustainability strategies and the emerging “blue economy.” Although algae have long been associated with pollution and ecological degradation, they are increasingly recognized for their regenerative potential across sectors such as food, agriculture, energy, design, and fashion. Drawing on research conducted in 2024 during the Premio Stoccolma design residency in collaboration with the Swedish brand Houdini Sportswear, the contribution depicts the rapid development of the Scandinavian seaweed industry and its promise as a low-impact alternative to petrochemical-based production. This study revealed the risks of reproducing the same linear and extractive logics that have driven contemporary environmental crises: simply replacing existing materials with seaweed-based alternatives does not necessarily challenge the anthropocentric and profit-oriented systems underpinning industrial production. The article therefore proposes a shift from understanding algae solely as exploitable resources toward recognizing them as more-than-human companions capable of reshaping how humans produce, create, and coexist. Engaging with feminist and posthumanist perspectives, the article develops three interconnected reflections. First, it highlights algae’s terraforming capacity and their fundamental role in sustaining life on Earth. Second, it considers the importance of touch, embodied engagement, and proximity in cultivating care and relational forms of knowledge. Third, it addresses the need to relearn finitude in opposition to extractivist ideas of unlimited growth. Ultimately, the article argues that creative practices cansupport the development of alternative industrial imaginaries by positioning seaweed not merely as a sustainable material, but as a catalyst for rethinking ecological coexistence and production systems.