Tag Archives: urban

Find Tranquillity in City Life with this 3-in-1 Smartphone Friendly Mini Garden

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In today’s fast-paced urban lifestyle, our homes and offices often lack the connection to nature that our ancestors once enjoyed. As our cities expand and green spaces diminish, we find ourselves yearning for a breath of fresh air and a touch of tranquility. Fortunately, a revolutionary product is here to transform your indoor environment and infuse it with the essence of a moonlit garden. Meet the ingenious creation that combines an air purifier, mood light, and wireless charger, designed with the inspiration of nature: the Mini Moonlit Desk Garden.

Designer: Seunghyuk Shin

Imagine having a miniature moonlit garden right on your desk. The mini desk garden does just that by encapsulating the serene beauty of the moon and forest in a single device. This innovative product is not just a functional accessory but a work of art that enhances your living or workspace.

One of the standout features of this extraordinary product is the magnetic levitation mood light in the depiction of the moon rising over a mountain. This enchanting element adds a touch of magic to your surroundings. As you place the mood lamp on the device, it levitates mid-air, lighting up like a mystical moonrise. The mini desk garden captivates your senses, creating an ambiance that mimics the calming effect of the moon gracing the night sky.

Embedded within this masterpiece is Scandia Moss, a natural moss material reminiscent of a lush forest. This moss is not just for aesthetics; it boasts many functions that transform your indoor space. Scandia Moss serves as a natural air purifier, regulating humidity, removing toxic substances, and neutralizing unpleasant odors. It brings the fresh, invigorating scent of the forest into your personal sanctuary, turning your desk into a haven of tranquility.

The moonlit garden desk companion isn’t just a product; it’s a lifestyle choice. It introduces a novel approach to indoor-outdoor living, allowing you to reconnect with nature even within the confines of your urban dwelling. In today’s world, where hot and humid climates often limit the joy of outdoor living, this product bridges the gap between indoors and outdoors. It provides a slice of the natural world in the heart of the city, transforming your environment into a refreshing oasis.

For those residing in cities with sweltering, muggy climates that restrict the pleasures of modern indoor-outdoor living, the mini desk garden is a game-changer. It offers a respite from the heat and a retreat from the concrete jungle, allowing you to bask in the soothing aura of the moonlit garden without stepping outside.

In addition to its enchanting features, the desk garden offers practical functionality. Placing your smartphone on the top of the product activates its wireless charging capabilities, ensuring that your devices stay powered up effortlessly. Furthermore, the product features a convenient C-type USB port on the side, allowing you to charge and use various devices simultaneously. This versatility enhances your productivity and connectivity while maintaining the elegance of your moonlit garden-inspired desk.

The mini desk garden is more than just a product; it’s a transformative experience. With its mesmerizing levitating mood light, natural air-purifying properties, and the essence of a moonlit forest, it brings a touch of magic and tranquility into your life. Say goodbye to the confines of city living and welcome the enchantment of the moon and forest into your home or workspace with this remarkable creation. It’s time to rediscover the joy of nature, one levitating moonlight at a time.

The post Find Tranquillity in City Life with this 3-in-1 Smartphone Friendly Mini Garden first appeared on Yanko Design.

Channel Your Farmer Instincts and Grow 3 Meals in just 4 Days with this Microwave Look-Alike Farmland

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The field of agriculture has been experiencing remarkable technological advancements, transforming the way we produce and consume food. Innovations like Hydroponic farming technology have already shown the potential to enhance crop growth and quality. Building upon this trend, Square Greens presents a groundbreaking solution that reimagines food production and consumption, combining cutting-edge technology and minimalist design to offer fresh, nutritious meals in just four days.

Designers: Eugenio Costa, Edoardo Graci, Valeria Cattoni, and Simone Centonze

In a world where convenience and health-consciousness go hand in hand, Square Greens emerges as a game-changer. Square Greens introduces a novel approach to cultivating food that is both technologically advanced and environmentally friendly. Unlike traditional farming methods that require ample land and time, Square Greens thrives within a minimalistic, compact greenhouse resembling a microwave.

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The driving force behind Square Greens was to create a tool that marries simplicity and efficiency. At its core, Square Greens is a compact, A5 paper-sized pod that houses an entire ecosystem for rapid plant growth. The green pod design is ingeniously crafted to facilitate optimal water absorption, ensuring the plants receive the nutrients they need to flourish. The incorporation of a needle-like mechanism acts as a water stopper, releasing water into the pod’s cotton medium once inserted.

One of the standout features of Square Greens is its user-friendly design. The green pods are designed to accommodate seeds and can be easily removed, simplifying the process of planting and harvesting. Notably, the creators have taken innovation a step further by incorporating a status bar that changes color as the plants receive water. This intuitive feature acts as a visual indicator of the pod’s hydration status, ensuring optimal growth conditions.

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The meticulous attention to detail is evident in every aspect of Square Greens’ design. The rear of the greenhouse showcases a harmonious arrangement of the logo, legal information, and energy plug, all encapsulated within a single square. This blend of aesthetics and practicality is a testament to the creators’ commitment to offering a seamless user experience.

The journey from concept to reality was a series of careful iterations and innovative problem-solving. The initial prototype consisted of nylon components, including two frames split in half, a water pump, and a water-resistant LED strip. Through rigorous testing, the Square Greens team fine-tuned the system to achieve optimal growth conditions. The result was a “secret” system that dramatically accelerated growth, enabling a complete meal’s worth of greens to flourish in just four days.

The initiative to enhance user convenience in agricultural processes is truly commendable. Establishing a continual connection between users and their crops fosters a sense of engagement, thereby contributing to the potential success of the device among producers. However, the realm of food production is a delicate domain to experiment with. The apparent artificiality of the process may raise apprehensions among users regarding the adoption and consumption of the resultant produce.

Nonetheless, it is crucial not to disregard the significant market acceptance that hydroponic technology has experienced. It is a technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil. This innovative technology found graceful approval among both consumers and the market at large. Notably, even a prominent grocery chain, Carrefour, has embraced this method, incorporating it into the production of its own range of fresh food items. This instance underscores the feasibility of integrating advanced techniques into the food industry.

The key to success lies in skillful marketing. Presenting the technology in a strategic and appealing manner holds the potential to overcome initial hesitations and pave the way for widespread adoption. While challenges exist, the precedent set by hydroponic farming exemplifies the transformative power of innovation, providing optimism for the long-term prospects of this novel product.

Square Greens represents a quantum leap in the agricultural industry, ushering in an era of rapid growth and efficient food production. By combining advanced technology with elegant design, Square Greens has created a solution that not only addresses the demands of modern consumers but also promotes sustainable practices. As we continue to witness the fusion of innovation and agriculture, Square Greens stands as a testament to the endless possibilities that await us in the realm of food production and consumption.

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The post Channel Your Farmer Instincts and Grow 3 Meals in just 4 Days with this Microwave Look-Alike Farmland first appeared on Yanko Design.

A weather-based indoor farming system to help your plant parenting dreams

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We all have heard the importance of farming, planting trees, and going green. But we also are in the race to have the best urban lives. Finding a balance between urban living and incorporating green elements into our daily lives is essential for a holistic and sustainable lifestyle. While urban environments cater to our aspirations and societal needs, the importance of nature and its benefits cannot be overlooked. Weatheseed offers a unique solution to bridge the gap between these contrasting lifestyles, allowing us to enjoy the tranquility of rural living within the city through water and plants.

Designer: Naeun Kim and Nakyung Kang of W ID

Rendered on KeyShot: Click Here to Download Your Free Trial Now!

In our fast-paced urban lives, there is a growing desire to reconnect with nature and embrace the comfort and serenity of the countryside. Many individuals opt for a lifestyle that combines urban living during the workweek with rural getaways on weekends. Additionally, cultivating plants in the city has become a popular way to experience the indirect benefits of rural living. However, keeping track of weather conditions and dedicating time to plant management can be challenging amidst busy city schedules.

Weatheseed addresses the challenges faced by urban dwellers by providing a system that enables individuals to predict and cope with the conditions of their farmland, making plant cultivation easier and more efficient. With Weatheseed, the visual representation of weather conditions in the countryside becomes accessible in the city, facilitating informed decisions regarding plant care and providing comfort to those living in modern society.

“Weatheseed” is derived from the fusion of three words: weather, supersede, and seed. The product incorporates a weather forecasting feature, allowing users to gauge and display weather conditions. Weatheseed provides the necessary resources for plant growth by utilizing water and LED lights. Water, after providing moisture, is collected back into the water bottle through a pipe, ensuring efficient use.

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A visual representation of weather and humidity in the countryside is made possible through the movement of water on the “weather notification board” and heating caused by the water pipe. By installing a unit with a hook-shaped crown in the field, the humidity can be monitored, and weather information can be shared. This feature aids in effectively managing crops effectively.

The flowerpot design includes a tray that can be adjusted in three sizes to accommodate plant growth rates. A multipurpose tray stores supplies such as nutritional supplements and pruning shears. The product also incorporates a charging socket at the bottom for aesthetics and convenience, offering a clean cable management solution. Wheels are provided for easy movement, and a pedal controls the wheels, allowing for stability when lifted.

The unit head can be separated from the main body and installed on cultivated land. This feature enables the measurement of soil moisture, providing valuable insights for both city and rural farming. The higher the number, the more humid the soil, ensuring that crops receive appropriate water for healthy growth.

Weatheseed comes in two earthy colors: Monstera Khaki and Kalonji Blue. These color choices have been thoughtfully selected to blend seamlessly with various interior design styles, enhancing the overall aesthetics of any space.

Weatheseed presents an innovative solution that harmonizes urban living with green elements, enabling individuals to experience the benefits of rural living within the city. By providing weather information, efficient plant growth systems, and soil moisture measurement, Weatheseed simplifies the process of plant cultivation and encourages a balanced and sustainable lifestyle. With its functionality, aesthetics, and customization options, Weatheseed offers a valuable tool for embracing nature in our modern urban lives.

The post A weather-based indoor farming system to help your plant parenting dreams first appeared on Yanko Design.

A new airborne gondola line will connect Paris to its residential suburbs as soon as 2025

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The city of Paris announces an approved proposal for a new aerial gondola line that would transport 11,000 passengers from the city’s suburbs to Paris’s main metro line.

Every city has its woes with public transportation. With its debut in the United States going back as far as 1895, the underground subway system has defined rapid transit for decades. As increasing rates of densification and urbanization morph the face of our cities, our public transportation must accommodate the larger crowds and higher demands.

Designer: Atelier Schall, Doppelmayr France, Île-de-France Mobilités, Spie Batignolles, and Egis Rail.

Moving from the underground to the high heavens, the city of Paris finds promise in an airborne mode of transit. Aimed for completion by 2025, the new transit system is called the Cable A Gondola, an electric-powered gondola line that will connect the suburb of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges with the Créteil Pointe du Lac station on Paris’ Metro line 8.

As cities find new ways to provide sufficient public transportation to larger crowds, the issue of sustainability arises. As gondolas prove to be inexpensive and eco-conscious players in the public transportation game, more and more cities are integrating them into their urban fabric. Following their proposal for a new 4.5km gondola line, the French city will pay $149 million to connect 11,000 passengers to Paris’s metro system and Créteil on a daily basis.

Connecting the hilly residential avenues of Créteil to Paris’s cityscape, gondolas are able to connect hard-to-reach areas that previous modes of transit could not. Since many are electric, gondolas are also quiet by design and do not produce much pollution during operation.

Gondolas also indicate an inexpensive alternative to other urban infrastructures like bridges, railways, and tunnels. Considering the gondola’s many advantages, the new Paris proposal would function primarily as a transportation filler. Parisian suburbs will have a direct line to the city’s metro system in a way that was previously unprecedented.

In a city like Paris, the approval of the gondola proposal signals a new dawn for public transportation. As Brent Toderian, chief city planner of Vancouver from 2006 to 2012, describes, “In recent years, the conversation has moved from gondolas being a kind of novelty to a conversation where they’re being considered as a logical and viable transit technology.”

The post A new airborne gondola line will connect Paris to its residential suburbs as soon as 2025 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Serbian scientists install an urban photo-bioreactor to capture CO2 and produce O2 just like trees

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LIQUID3 is an outdoor, urban photo-bioreactor that uses microalgae to perform photosynthesis and remove the same amount of CO2 as two ten-year-old trees.

Sustainable design that confronts the effects of climate change comes in many forms. From bio-receptive concrete that grows moss on its own to vertical urban forests that redefine what organic architecture could look like, sustainable design is all around us and provides varying degrees of mitigation against the threat of climate change.

Designer: University of Belgrade

Designers find a unique challenge in creating sustainable infrastructure in urban areas, where green spaces are few and far between. Taking an atypical approach to climate change design, researchers at the University of Belgrade developed LIQUID3, an urban photo-bioreactor that’s used for CO2 fixation and O2 production.

Located in the capital city of Serbia, a photo-bioreactor is essentially a vessel that uses a light source, such as natural sunlight, to cultivate phototrophic microorganisms that produce biomass. Created and designed by the University of Belgrade’s Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, LIQUID3 is a photo-bioreactor teeming with microalgae to sequester carbon and perform photosynthesis to produce oxygen.

Each LIQUID3 vessel carries a total of 600 liters of water, allowing the photo-bioreactor to remove analogous amounts of carbon dioxide as two 10-year-old trees or 200 square meters of green space. Operable even during the cold months of Belgrade’s winters, LIQUID3 only requires a light source for the naturally photosynthesizing microalgae to execute the same carbon-capturing role as trees in urban spaces that typically lack green spaces.

Awarded with Green Product Award’s Green Concept Award for 2022, LIQUID3 has been recognized for its innovative approach to green, bio-reactive design. Besides its appeal to sustainable design, LIQUID3 also suggests an efficient use of public land, while creating space for interactive ads and a high-value fertilizer. Its location in such a dense area of Belgrade also encourages city residents to become more aware of climate change’s threat to urban areas.

Configured like small urban meeting spaces, the LIQUID3 stations could be outfitted with outlets for city residents to charge their devices.

Come dark, LIQUID3 transforms into a neon-green light to guide residents through the streets.

An integrated bench space turns LIQUID3 into a social hub for city residents to gather and feel encouraged to keep fighting climate change.

The post Serbian scientists install an urban photo-bioreactor to capture CO2 and produce O2 just like trees first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Garden City shaped like a crescent moon will bring sustainable living to the suburbs of Paris

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Titled the ‘Garden City of the Crescent Moon’, this eco-urban project by architecture studio Rescubika locates itself on the eastern fringes of Paris within the Bois de Vincennes, the city’s largest public park. Although conceptual for now, the hypothetical project explores how new health, ecological, energy, climate, and sociological challenges will help redefine architecture and urban environments.

The self-sustaining mini-city is built around the Lac des Minimes, a naturally occurring lake, following its crescent shape and embracing the surrounding islands. Rescubika’s lead architect Benoit Patterlini describes the city as addressing two main themes: Proximity and Instantaneity.

The theme of proximity focuses on self-reliance by putting all aspects needed for sustenance within the boundaries of the city. This meant embracing urban agriculture on a massive scale. “First of all, urban agriculture allows us to produce food within the city”, says Benoit. “Whether it is yards, roofs, or even public spaces, they can be used to produce basic commodities such as corn, beans as well as herbs and spices, etc., and make cattle breeding directly in town, such as dairy production activities.” This would then foster the rise of local shops and markets, bringing citizens closer to their local markets and communities, and allowing all necessary resources to be within ‘proximal distance’ of the residents. On a side note, urban agriculture would also help improve soil quality and reduce air pollution, promoting healthier living.

The idea of instantaneity is ‘purely related to being able to enjoy urban facilities’. A direct result of the proximity built into the city’s design, Rescubika hopes the Garden City’s dwellers will rediscover the notion of time, given that all of the city’s hallmarks, from its offices to houses, recreational spaces, sports complexes, and cultural facilities, are just a heartbeat away from each other.

The fact that the Garden City was envisioned on the outskirts of Paris is very telling. It isn’t just about creating a model city where there’s ample space for construction, it’s also emblematic of a revival, a redefinition of the city as we know it… designed to exist outside of the ‘old city’ area of Paris, both literally and figuratively.

Designer: Benoit Patterlini, Rescubika

The Mini CarSharing concept shows how transportation must evolve along with ever-changing cities

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The Mini Cooper is ostensibly a proud, Brit-made car designed for the cities… but as cities grow larger, and a growing population adds more pressure on resources, roads, and other infrastructure, transportation needs to evolve. Daniel Pokorný’s Mini City CarSharing concept shows how the tiny humble hatchback can evolve to become an icon of urban commuting.

The goal was to create a fully electric vehicle ideal for car-sharing fleets that could be easily cleaned after every use. The design integrates Mini’s values, combining a minimalist and practical interior with an exterior that highlights contemporary automotive design. Outwardly, it’s unmistakably a Mini. Aside from the fact that the Mini logo is emblazoned across the front, the car boasts of Mini-esque proportions, the signature round headlights, and a design that’s both comfortable yet compact.

The compact car sports large windows to make up for its small size, these quirky proportions lend to the car’s ‘cute’ demeanor, while also providing a nice view to the passengers on the inside. The CarSharing concept comes with an incredibly short bonnet, characterized further by a large air-intake beneath it. Daniel calls this a cognitive element that communicates the electrified nature of the car. With a minimal front overhang, the car’s front is finally made complete with two ring-shaped headlights divided by thin LED stripes, and the Mini logo.

The two-seater hatchback comes with ample boot space for luggage, making it perfect for long commutes or even journeys to and from the airport/station. The rear hatch opens up in two parts, quite like the Mini Rocketman Concept from a decade ago, giving you easy access to the back to add or remove heavy bags. The top even comes with a fin that reads ShareNow, making the car instantly identifiable from a distance… and the roof boasts a transparent design, supported by pillars that resemble the Union Jack, once again hinting at the car’s British origins.

The car’s dashboard is incredibly minimal, with a two-spoke steering wheel, a small digital instrument cluster, and a smartphone dock attached to it. The car immediately recognizes the user based on the smartphone, working almost like an authentication device that then allows the car to customize its settings according to your preferences. Additionally, since the vehicle’s more suited for constant use (given its ride-sharing nature), it features a removable/replaceable battery, so the car doesn’t need any off-time for charging.

Designer: Daniel Pokorný

IKEA is working on robotic furniture for small apartments

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IKEA wants to "empower people to have big dreams for small homes." To do so, it's creating a line of robotic furniture. Today, the company announced that it's partnering with Ori, an American startup that develops robotic furniture meant to address t...

Microsoft says FCC data on improved broadband coverage is misleading

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It's a well-known fact that large swathes of the US remain without broadband connectivity -- indeed, some $22 billion has been poured into closing this gap over the past five years. However, exactly how many Americans are going without is up for deba...