Arts Thread

Gina Bastero
Product Design Official Undergraduate Degree

IED Istituto Europeo Di Design Barcelona

Graduates: 2023

Specialisms: Product Design / Design Research / Modelmaking

My location: Barcelona, Spain

gina-bastero ArtsThread Profile
IED Istituto Europeo Di Design Barcelona

Gina Bastero

gina-bastero ArtsThread Profile

First Name: Gina

Last Name: Bastero

University / College: IED Istituto Europeo Di Design Barcelona

Course / Program: Product Design Official Undergraduate Degree

Graduates: 2023

Specialisms: Product Design / Design Research / Modelmaking

My Location: Barcelona, Spain

Website: Click To See Website

About

From an early age, I have always been guided by curiosity towards everything around me. Thanks to my artistic education during high school, I was able to establish a theoretical and practical foundation in the visual arts, which led me to pursue a degree in Product Design at IED Barcelona. Throughout this education, I have gained experience in the fields of research, project development and methodology, marketing and branding, as well as concept ideation and prototyping on both small and large scales, among others.In the realm of design, I enjoy approaching each project from both creative and technical perspectives. I am passionate about research and the cross-disciplinary insights it provides. The methodology I follow involves an initial study followed by the decontextualization of each concept obtained, resulting in creative and practical proposals.

Mayko: the mycorrhizal robot

The origin of the concept of Mayko comes from extensive research around the subsoil. During this investigation, a connection was made between the existence of a type of fungi called mycorrhizal and their ability to synthesize key substances for plant growth, such as carbon, nitrogen, and potassium. Thanks to this ability, a symbiotic relationship develops between the plant and the fungus, wherein the fungi receive sucrose and, in return, the plants obtain C + N + K, the substances found in fertilizers. Thus, Mayko aims to introduce the concept of the mycorrhizal robot, a robot whose main objective is to replace the excessive use of synthetic fertilizers in intensive agriculture models. Mayko's operation revolves around an internal central deposit that contains a substance based on a type of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus. The robot inoculates this substance near the roots of crops using a retractable injection system. As a final impact, Mayko intends to change the way we currently work the land and cultivate crops since, without the fungi, the world as we know it would not exist.