C-Ecology Concept Ecosytem will bring life to the urban rivers

C-Ecology Taiwan Green Concept Award 2022

More green concepts and projects that will hopefully save Mother Earth will be introduced. There is no guarantee that every idea will work or come to fruition but we believe every concept that is revealed to the public arena can inspire more people. Smarter and bigger ideas will be generated and shared until a proper system becomes a reality.

One of the numerous entries for the GREEN CONCEPT AWARD (Green Concepts 2022) is the C-Ecology concept from Taiwan. It’s designed as an ecosystem building for urban rivers. Designed by a group from Tunghai University, the system makes use of environmentally friendly ceramics that are 3d-printed.

Designer: Tunghai University

C-Ecology Taiwan Green Concept Award 2022

The 3D printing technology continues to win in different fields. This time, it will be greatly used in caring for the environment. The idea is that a modular structure will be set in place as a wetland system. The size and depth of the rivers vary but with the modular system, they can adapt.

The wetland system is then placed on the water surface’s resuscitation basket that will provide nutrients. The idea is for a coral reef structure to be available so shellfish, shrimp, and other organisms will be able to live and start a habited in the water. Having these living things will increase water circulation.

C-Ecology Taiwan Green Concept Award 2022

The more the water circulation improves, the more the urban river will be balanced in terms of environmental beautification, hydrophilicity, and ecosystem. Ecology in Taiwan has always been important and we’re glad to know there are more researchers looking for ways to improve on it. Building an ecosystem in the urban rivers will definitely have a long-term effect and we can’t wait for this to happen not only in Taiwan but in other countries as well.

A sustainable environment is always a good idea but we recognize not every idea will be a success. As for the C-Ecology, this project has been recognized as a nominee by the people behind the Green Product Award 2022. It’s been recently named as the Top 8 among the ten awardees of the Green Concept Audience Award 2022. The main Concept Winner has not yet been named but it will be announced this coming February 25.

C-Ecology Taiwan Green Concept Award 2022

This project from Taiwan has great potential when it’s implemented. Imagine urban rivers becoming a real habitat and environment for living sea creatures. Well, we don’t want to see big fishes and alligators roaming underwaters. We just want those little fishes and shrimp thriving and giving life to the water.

C-Ecology Taiwan Green Concept Award 2022

C-Ecology Taiwan Green Concept Award 2022

The post C-Ecology Concept Ecosytem will bring life to the urban rivers first appeared on Yanko Design.

This electric wheelchair is a smart ride sharing service designed for inclusive micro-mobility!





Mobility is a privilege we take for granted. Keeping in mind that there is a good portion of the demographic who can’t move about as freely as they wish, Italdesign created WheeM-i (Wheelchair Mobility Integration) – a proposal for the first-ever shared micro-mobility service for wheelchair users. It is a 100% electric, semi-autonomous carrier that brings the latest driving assistance technology and electric propulsion together for people with mobility restrictions who can now move around freely and easily because it makes otherwise unfriendly parts of the city more accessible!

WheeM-i is a collaboration between Italdesign and Etisalat and was displayed at the GITEX Technology Week in Dubai as the equivalent of a bike-sharing system for wheelchairs. Users will be able to book their WheeM-i ride through a smartphone app, reach the closest hub and then get on board the vehicle. Just like other Bird, Lime, and other bike-sharing services, the user will return the vehicle to the closest hub around their destination. It features an integrated system that helps users avoid collisions with any fixed or mobile obstacles. The vehicle is also engineered in a way that it easily overcomes architectural barriers. The app enables users to interact with the device, other wheelchair users, other means of transport as well as other transport applications so that they can map the best possible route to get from A to B.

“As a company providing development services to the worldwide mobility industry, we strongly believe that future mobility must have a positive impact on everyone’s life. WheeM-i is part of this vision which we really hope to bring to reality,” said Italdesign CEO Jörg Astalosch. Micro-mobility designs and services like WheeM-i are giving the people on wheelchairs a whole new layer of independence in their lives.

Designer: Italdesign

This sustainable lamp is designed using discarded banana fibers!

I will never stop being amazed by how designers are pushing the boundaries by creating sustainable products. Nuclée is a lamp created from discarded banana flesh and it is….truly bananas! The French designer duo came up with the concept and produced it during a six-month residency at the National Taiwan Craft Research Institute (N.T.C.R.I.) in Taiwan.

The minimal lamp puts the sustainable material front and center with a bamboo circle around it to highlight it. Banana fibers from the plantations are usually considered as waste after the traditional extraction process and cast aside. However, the designers were intrigued by this. material and found it fascinating when working with a lighting design concept. After empirical research, they succeeded in stabilizing the plant tissue using a particular refining technique and after applying different pressure as well as heat parameters. This new material is highlighted by shapes of bent bamboo, inspired by the internal structure of the banana tree stem and that is how the form of Nuclée mood lights came to be.

“Settled near Hualien, on the east coast of Taiwan, the Kavalan aboriginal tribe is expert in the use of banana fiber: they make it their traditional clothing. I had the chance to meet them, to share their way of life, and to learn from their elders the ancestral techniques to use this plant. This new material is sublimated here in curved bamboo shapes, inspired by the banana tree structure,” said Dorian as he elaborated on the inception of his idea. The stabilizing process also gives it a color range from white to dark brown while enhancing the natural texture of the banana flesh.

After learning about these ingenious age-old methods of working with this plant, the designers used the process of extraction using only the outer part of the stem and other techniques to develop this modern sustainable lamp. Their experiments had them checking the material’s reaction to heat, cold, humidity, pressure, combination with other materials, and more to make sure it was actually usable in a wide variety of conditions. This also helps to break the notion that sustainable designs aren’t strong or long-lasting. Nuclée is also a project winner of the “Best of Year” Grand Prize (New York, 2020) and of the Green Product Award (Berlin, 2021).

Designers: Cordélia Faure & Dorian Etienne of ENSCI Les Ateliers

This solar-powered tiny house has an integrated e-bike system to boost sustainable local tourism!

E-glamp is a product/service that has been designed to boost economic and tourist development in rural areas. Think of it as an Airbnb-style tiny house merged with a biking network like Bird or Lime. It is an integrated system of modern cabins that are all independently powered by solar panels. These tiny homes are also fitted with smart tech and are connected to the e-bike system which encourages carbon-neutral exploration of the landscape. Biking not only helps to maintain the pristine air quality of the rural area but also helps in getting an enjoyable workout in. All the E-glamp houses are modular, movable, and constructed with sustainable materials like timber. Along with solar panels, it will be interesting to see how the design is able to also repurpose and reuse rainwater for the guest’s needs.

The smart cabin system comes with its own app that lets you manage your experience right from booking the accommodation and checking in to discovering nearby trails as well as keeping your bikes charged. E-glamp was created to take advantage of experiential tourism and promote underrated local gems like vineries, farms, and hill stations that often go unnoticed because tourists only flock to famous big cities. As we all still wait for the pandemic to slowly fade and border restrictions to ease, this is a wonderful new way to boost local tourism and create travel bubbles while maintaining social distance. E-glamp gives sustainable tourism a smart upgrade and has also been nominated for the Green Concept Awards 2021!

Designer: E-glamp

This indoor vertical farm relies on hydroponics to grow crops anywhere during any season!

Since 2013, the Green Concept Award has functioned as a platform for networking and been awarded to designers who have made globally sustainable and innovative products. The awards recognize products already on the market or in their conceptual stages that stand out for their design, innovation, and commitment to sustainability. Each year, the Green Concept Award jury members finalize a pre-selection list before awarding the winning product with the year’s title. One of the products on 2021’s pre-selection list is Farmhouse, a hydroponic vertical farm conceptualized by designers at Kingston University’s School of Art.

Hydroponic vertical farming is a form of farming that ditches the need for soil, substituting in different root-supporting materials like peat moss or Rockwool, allowing plants to grow in nutrient-rich water. The five-tiered Farmhouse is stocked with trays that contain all the materials necessary for optimal hydro-plant growth, like filtered, nutrient-infused water, oxygen, and root support.

Additionally, the vertical farm comes equipped with bright lights, either LEDs or HIDs, to replace the natural sunlight outdoors so that each plant can receive special lighting according to its own Daily Light Integral (DLI). Hydroponics is a sustainable farming practice for many reasons, but a significant one might be that by tending to a hydroponic farm, like Farmhouse, crops can be grown anywhere, during any time of the year.

The food we eat on a day-to-day basis travels about 1,500 miles before reaching our plate. While picking produce up at the supermarket seems simple, a lot of pollution takes place behind the scenes, all before hitting the shelves. Delivering produce to grocery stores across the globe requires lots of plastic packaging and plenty more fuel for transportation, increasing levels of microplastic and air pollution in the process. The designers behind Farmhouse aim to cut those unsustainable practices by designing a hydroponic farming solution that can be used in any home, during any season.

Designer: Kingston University (Kingston School of Art)

The five shelves of the Farmhouse contain all the necessary materials required for hydroponic farming.

Outfitted with shelves, Farmhouse grows crops using metal trays that guide the plant’s direction of growth.

A water system, filter, and root-support material all work together to help produce crops through hydroponics.

Without the convenience of natural sunlight, hydroponic farming relies on LEDs and HIDs to feed crops with light.

Thanks to a ribbed glass pane and warm color scheme, Farmhouse can fit into any room.

Coming in denim blue, moss green, rose pink, scarlet red, and blonde yellow – the Farmhouse also comes with a simple frame and intuitive build.

A raised top shelf feeds the plants inside the Farmhouse with plenty of airflow and oxygen.