Tag Archives: city farming

This LEGO-inspired modular planter upgrades vertical farming for gardening in tiny living spaces!

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In recent years, more people have been trying out gardening and harvesting their own vegetables for cooking and eating. While plenty of planter designs have been created specifically for small living spaces, many of them keep a pretty small size, not allowing for too many plants to grow at the same time. Lorenzo Vega, a designer based in Chile, designed his own interpretation of a modular planter and it leans on a modular structure inspired by LEGO building blocks so the vertical farm can always increase in size if your space allows for it.

Vega’s modular planter was designed to be a solution for vertical farming in small living spaces. Starting with a single modular cube, seeds can be planted and harvested using traditional planting methods, then another module can be positioned on top of the first cube, forming a link for additional planters to be added. Each modular planter comes as a dish with an accompanying cubic case that grants room for the crops and plants to grow and reach their full height. Inspired by the look and durability of Japanese metabolism and Social modernism architecture, Lorenzo Vega conceptualized his vertical farm to be stripped-down and clean by design. The sleek, simple finish of Vega’s modular planter echoes its intuitive usability and modular customization.

Stackable and modular product designs are a Godsend for those of us living in tiny spaces. Taking full advantage of the height in any given room opens the space up to many more interior design possibilities and grants access to hard-to-reach areas of the apartment that would otherwise remain unused. Vega’s modular planter was designed for a small space and that’s where it feels right at home.

Designer: Lorenzo Vega

Identical modules can be stacked on top of one another for vertical farming in tiny living spaces.

A cubic case slides right over the dish planter to allow the crops and plants to reach their full heights.

Additional modules can easily be joined together to form links around preceding cubes.

Notches on the planter lock into place with the sockets on the planter’s frame case.

Vega’s modular planter can be positioned either outdoors or indoors.

Vega took to architecture for inspiration, specifically Japanese metabolic and Social modernist structures.

This smart indoor gardening system uses an automated irrigation system to take care of your plants!

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If we learned one thing during quarantine, it was to not underestimate the power of plants. Bedrooms and workspaces alike seem to open up once we incorporate some greenery into the mix. Due to tight corners and lack of natural sunlight, city apartments don’t tend to plants too well. To provide a modular, compact gardening system fit for city living, Elif Bulut created Loop, a smart plant pot that takes care of your greenery while you’re away.

Loop is a smart planting system that feeds and tends to your plants while you’re away through an automated irrigation system. The agriculture system is shaped like a plume, flowering from the top and the bottom, keeping the seed modules in a radial row to form a skirt. Each seed module is detachable and securely locks onto one another through junction sockets, forming a link. Along the underbridge of the system’s lid, LEDs disperse light over the plants, adjusting their levels according to the time of day.

Users simply add seeds to the modules, position the modules to match up with the irrigation system, lock the top water reservoir into place, then watch as the water drips and the plants grow. Loop’s top lid links the system’s base with its irrigation pool so that users can also adjust the amount of water that flows into each module, ranging from sparse or open flow to frequent irrigation. Once the irrigation measure is settled on, the system’s integrated smart technology tends to each plant and keeps track of their condition to achieve optimal indoor settings. Loop provides a way for those who live in the city to still have access to gardening and all of the perks that come with it.

Designer: Elif Bulut

Shaped like a double-sided trumpet, Loop takes the familiar shape of many modern-day home appliances.

Equipped with plant modules and an automated irrigation system, Loop is designed for easy operation.

Loop comes with an integrated LED light system that nourishes plants with energy.

The brightness of the LED lights change according to the time of day.

Loop’s irrigation system allows users to adjust the drip between sparse and frequent amounts.

The modules lock into place with the irrigation system’s faucets.

Each plant module forms the system’s skirt by linking up at junction points.

This vertical farming system was designed to build up community and accommodate the urban lifestyle!

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Urban farming takes different shapes in different cities. Some cities can accommodate thriving backyard gardens for produce, some take to hydroponics for growing plants, and then some might keep their gardens on rooftops. In Malmö, small-scale farming initiatives are growing in size and Jacob Alm Andersson has designed his own vertical farming system called Nivå, directly inspired by his community and the local narratives of Malmö’s urban farmers.

Through interviews, Andersson learned that most farmers in Malmö began farming after feeling inspired by their neighbors, who also grew their own produce. Noticing the cyclical nature of community farming, Andersson set out to create a more focused space where that cyclical inspiration could flourish and where younger generations could learn about city farming along with the importance of sustainability.

Speaking more to this, Andersson notes, “People need to feel able and motivated to grow food. A communal solution where neighbors can share ideas, inspire and help one another is one way to introduce spaces that will create long-lasting motivation to grow food.”

Since most cities have limited space available, Andersson had to get creative in designing his small-scale urban farming system in Malmö. He found that for an urban farm to be successful in Malmö, the design had to be adaptable and operable on a vertical plane– it all came down to the build of Nivå.

Inspired by the local architecture of Malmö, Andersson constructed each system by stacking steel beams together to create shelves and then reinforced those with wooden beams, providing plenty of stability. Deciding against the use of screws, Nivå’s deep, heat-treated pine planters latch onto the steel beams using a hook and latch method. Ultimately, Nivå’s final form is a type of urban farming workstation, even including a center workbench ideal for activities like chopping produce or pruning crops.

Designer: Jacob Alm Andersson

Following interviews with local residents, Andersson set out to create a farming system that works for the city’s green-thumb community.

Taking inspiration from community gardens and the local residents’ needs, Andersson found communal inspiration in Malmö.

Backyard and patio gardens are popular options for those living in cities who’d still like to have their very own gardening space.

Noticing the cyclical nature of community farms, Andersson knew that would be the crux of his design.

Following multiple ideations, Nivå ultimately assumes the form of a farming workstation.

Deep, voluminous soil pots provide plenty of room for growth and the high shelves allow vertical growing methods to persist.

Circling back to the community’s initial narrative, Nivå is a farming workstation solution that allows communities’ residents to farm together.

This conceptual Dyson ventilator reduces 95% fine dust in urban farms!

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Breathing is such an automated bodily function that it doesn’t even occur to us to think about what we are actually inhaling. Fine dust is not seen by the human eye but we very well know when that same speck of dust goes in our eye, it wreaks havoc. Similarly, for any living organism to be breathing in fine dust is harmful because at the moment we won’t see its effects and it will keep accumulating to cause big trouble later. Humans can still comprehend this and take precautions, but what about plants? With the growing trend of urban and city farming, fine dust can be a dampener on our sustainable efforts and overall health.

This conceptual Dyson air purifier, Ventila, is specifically designed to combat the fine dust problem in city farms. Ventila’s aim is to improve the ventilation system in these farms to create a healthier environment that results in a quality crop – pesticides are not the only toxins we consume and we must learn to be more aware of where we source our food from. Ventila has a simple but effective mechanism, it creates a barrier by merging vapor with fine dust. When both combine, the mere weight of the particle makes it drop to the ground with the water. Condensation but now it wears a cape!

The Ventila prototype was created to see how effective this method will be, to understand the results better, there has to be a number attached to the impact which the experiment provides. The water rises through a pipe in the ventilator and 12 pumps are used to convert it into water vapor. This water vapor is evenly dispersed using the basic working module of a humidifier. The prototype was tested and was found to keep 95% of fine dust particles at bay which instantly improves the quality of the plant’s health (and invariably ours) by A LOT. The build is made to be as transparent as possible so the farmers can see the health of the device too and maintain it well. We can wear masks but plants can’t, so let’s make design inclusive for all living organisms.

Designers: DeokYoun Kim, John Park, and Fountain Studio.