Primitives

09/22/2026

Oceanographic Magazine recently published a feature on the race to save California’s kelp forests. Purple sea urchins are the main culprit behind kelp loss in California. Divers, robotics teams, and marine labs are all racing to bring populations back into balance.

„The Bay Foundation CEO Tom Ford set out in 2013 with an army of staff, paid divers, and volunteers to right their local systems, which he deemed “gonzo out of whack,” by eliminating excess purple urchins. Over time, as the population size approached a more ecologically sustainable level, the kelp came back, and in short order, so did the fish. To date, the effort has converted some 80 acres of barrens into lush forest, and it was a section of that forest that I got to visit alongside Tom”

We’re proud to be part of this story along with Sunflower Star Laboratory The Bay Foundation Marauder Robotics MARBLIS . Working with conservation partners like The Nature Conservancy in CA and others, we process urchins collected from kelp restoration efforts and turn them into countertops and hard surfaces. Every urchin removed helps kelp regrow.

Read the full piece (link in bio)

Photo & story: The Bay Foundation , Mark Schrope Schmidt Marine

09/20/2026

Dive into the future of the blue economy with us at the Restore America’s Estuaries Conference 🌊 We’re joining Ocean Front OceanFront , After Nature afterNATURE , and Port of San Francisco Port of San Francisco in a panel talk to discuss the latest approaches to coastal recovery.

Free and open to the public (registration required) — link in bio to save your spot, then stick around for the discussion and reception.

📍Port of San Francisco, Pier 1 The Embarcadero
📆 Monday, September 21 • 5:30PM-7.30PM

09/19/2026

Come w**e, dine, and learn about the purple sea urchins that are decimating our underwater kelp forest.
Our team MARBLIS will bringing biomaterials samples made from purple urchin,
• Bite uni by Geronimo Ramos &
friends courtesy of Wild Blue Aquaculture & sip local w**e by Hammerling W**es Terah W**e Co. & BROC CELLARS
* urchin-dye a wool bandana with Seelie Studio. Learn about foraging purple sea urchins with coastal restoration diver Ricardo Romero Monk Dadi Lola. Meet the folks behind the Caspar Cove Project, Watermen’s Alliance, Reef Check to learn about what’s happening on the front lines of the Pacific Coast and how you can get involved in purple sea urchin removal efforts.
Live DJ setting the vibe on the decks. Hosted by Purple Uni Club and LOUD SPRING

📆September 19
📍O2 Artisans Aggregate 2311 Magnolia St, West Oakland
🕓4 to 8pm

Get tix on Evenbrite (link in bio) - $5 (all proceeds go towards purple sea urchin removal efforts), no one gets turned down for lack of fund and pre-order your Purple
Sea Urchin dye activity on Seelie Studio’s website (spots are limited).

09/19/2026

Come w**e, dine, and learn about the purple sea urchins that are decimating our underwater kelp forest.

Our team MARBLIS will bringing biomaterials samples made from purple urchin, 🍣 Bite uni by Ramos & friends courtesy of Wild Blue Aquaculture 🍷 sip local w**e by Hammerling W**es Terah W**e Co. & BROC CELLARS 👾 urchin-dye a wool bandana with Seelie Studio. Learn about foraging purple sea urchins with coastal restoration diver Ricardo Romero Monk Dadi Lola. Meet the folks behind the Caspar Cove Project, Watermen’s Alliance, Reef Check to learn about what’s happening on the front lines of the Pacific Coast and how you can get involved in purple sea urchin removal efforts.

Live DJ setting the vibe on the decks. Hosted by Purple Uni Club and LOUD SPRING

🗓️ September 19
📍 O2 Artisans Aggregate 2311 Magnolia St, West Oakland
⏰ 4 to 8pm

Get tix on Evenbrite (link in bio) - $5 (all proceeds go towards purple sea urchin removal efforts), no one gets turned down for lack of fund 🎟️ and pre-order your Purple Sea Urchin dye activity on Seelie Studio’s website (spots are limited).

09/12/2026

We're in Oceanographic Magazine's latest feature on the race to save California's kelp forests, which highlights how Marblis turns urchins from restoration efforts into architectural surfaces. Read the full story here:

Mark Schrope dives into a restored Santa Monica kelp forest and explores the innovations helping scale kelp restoration efforts globally.

07/03/2026

We're excited to share that Primitives will be participating in the Future of Us Festival at SFMOMA!

Join us on Thursday, July 9, from 4–7 PM at SFMOMA to explore our Urchinite samples, learn about our materials, and experience the craftsmanship behind what we do.

We hope to see you there!

More than a festival, Future of Us is a living exploration of what our civic culture could be when we create space to connect, imagine, and act together.

05/30/2026

For SF Design Week , we’ve organized a panel talk on ECOLOGICAL FUTURES IN DESIGN for Wednesday June 3rd. This isn’t a talk about swapping one material for another. It’s about rethinking our relationship to matter itself — building interdependency with ecosystems, communities, and non-human life.

We’ll be in conversation with an incredible lineup:
🌊 Virj Kan (Marblis by Primitives) ocean ecosystem regeneration with sea urchin architectural surfaces .is
🌿 Teresa Jan (Perkins & Will) regenerative architecture
🧵 Stella Harry Lee (WithRawMaterials) fashion, biodegradables & the paradox of making
🍄 Jerome Tavé (10th Floor Studio) fungi, narrative, and ecological futures .studio
🔬 Katia Vega (UC Davis) growable interfaces & biosensing cosmetics

📅 Wednesday, June 3 · 5:30–6:30 PM
🎟 Tickets at sfdesignweek.org & link in bio — grab your spot before it sells out

   

05/20/2026

Snowcap Brine. A neutral grey featuring swells of speckled grey clouds for a subtle yet dramatic finish.

Urchinite™ is made from purple sea urchins harvested from Big River, Mendocino— at The Nature Conservancy’s active kelp restoration site. Every square foot removes up to 70 sqft of urchins from the ocean floor, directly enabling kelp forest recovery.

Explore the new 2026 Urchinite™ Collection on our website.

04/20/2026

SF Climate Week is here! We’ll be at four events exploring what it actually looks like to protect, restore, and invest in our ocean. 🌊🐋 Join us!

🌊 Tue Apr 21, 3–6pm
Why Oceans? 70% of the Planet You Could Be Investing In — A panel discussion with startups working at the ocean–climate nexus, including Primitives, Hohonu, Calwave, and DisperseBio - hosted by . Learn about the emerging blue economy investment landscape, and scalable solutions in ocean data, restoration, food systems, carbon, and coastal resilience.

🌟 Tue Apr 21, 7–9:30pm
Life and Death on the California Coast: a Resurrection Story (with Sea Stars. And PhD’s!) — Panel discussion on the collapse of California’s kelp forest ecosystem and the recovery efforts currently underway from Marblis by Primitives, Reefcheck, Sunflower Star Lab, CFSB - moderated by Int’l Ocean Film Foundation

🪨 Wed Apr 22, 1:30–6pm
Regenerative Materials for the Built Environment — hosted by . Launch party for the Urchinite™ 2026 Collection, featuring conversations on the future of regenerative design and a Marblis materials showcase, served with fresh uni, tea, and snacks.

🌍 Thu Apr 30, 4:00–7:00pm
Planetary Health & Innovation Panel — Join us for an interactive conversation featuring visionary entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem experts at the forefront of global sustainability. This panel explores the intersection of environmental stewardship and cutting-edge solutions to drive meaningful impact.

🔗 Register via link in bio.

11/15/2025

Scientists and divers are slowly reviving the underwater forests along California’s northern coast by planting kelp seedlings and removing purple sea urchins before they can overgraze the reefs. As a result, kelp cover this year is 10× higher than it was at its low point in 2023.

Read more about the restoration efforts at the link in our bio.

Video by
is is partnering with local divers to remove those same purple urchins from restoration sites and transform them into Urchinite™, our marine-born biomarble used for countertops, furniture, and architectural surfaces.