Five quirky indoor agriculture projects

Indoor agriculture has always been about finding the coolest, most tech-savvy way to get produce growing, whether it’s running your container farm from your iPhone or re-zoning your greenhouse to squeeze in a couple more rows. While Indoor Ag-Con is squarely focused on the commercial side of the industry, we’re always on the look-out for novel approaches. Here are the five most quirky projects we’ve come across of late. We’ve spent a lot of time saying “wow, would that really work?”, but we’re in awe of their ingenuity:

1. An Aquaponic Car
Unveiled in London last fall, Hyundai’s aquaponic car concept was designed to illustrate just how sustainable its new fuel cell car – ix35 – can be. The fuel cell system uses hydrogen and air to create the electricity that powers the car, and outputs heat and water vapor on the other end. The installation filtered this water vapor into a carp-filled aquaponic system. Can an aquaponic roof rack be far behind?

2. The Living Tower
Every smart eco-architect works urban gardens into their building designs, but the Living Tower goes a step further by integrating hydroponic growing systems into the structure of the building itself. Its designer, French SOA architects, argue that “if we cannot see the food production and interact with it, than we lose the opportunity to connect with the system and increase our awareness.”

3. A Pop-Up Urban Farm
Made in the Lower East Side (miLES) describes itself as “the airbnb for storefronts”; it creates temporary stores in vacant spaces in lower Manhattan. Its latest project is to install a pop-up urban farm behind the deli counter of a vacant diner at 399 Grand Street; CityHydroponics will be growing herbs and greens using a vertical hydroponic system. Starting tonight, Lower East Side Manhattan restaurateur, Alex Mitow, will cook up 4 nights of back-to-back dinner parties, incorporating produce grown in house. The farm is open to the public through April 28.

4. Botanic Hydroponic Furniture
Bringing a whole new meaning to ‘home grown’, French designer Clement Sarrodie’s botanic hydroponic furniture combines attractive modern furniture with a hydroponic growing system. The coffee table features a sliding tank covered by a glass tabletop. Just a concept right now, it’s certainly a novel way to maximize space for apartment dwelling indoor ag enthusiasts.

5. The Green Wheel
Green Wheel is a “revolutionary rotary hydroponic system” created by Milan-based product designer DesignLibero. Part indoor farm and part conversation piece, the team says that the product was designed by NASA to provide fresh veggies for astronauts during space missions. It uses coir as a starting media and a water reservoir and a pump for automatic plant irrigation, and can be remotely monitored through a SmartPhone.

Indoor Ag-Con would like to hear if there are more quirky projects, so if you have or know a project to add to the list, let them know.

For more information, visit www.indoor.ag