An indoor garden can improve air quality, make you more productive, and, of course, add a lovely touch of green to an otherwise drab office cubicle or apartment. Here’s a design for bringing nature inside of which I’m particularly fond: the Live Screen by Danielle Trofe, which is a hydroponics system inspired by vertical gardens.
Trofe’s creation works much like hydroponic systems, which grow plants using nutrients without soil. Electric pumps send water up the stands based on a timing system that can be customized for each pod. Excess water trickles back down the shaft and into the reservoir at the foot of the unit. Each pod has an LED light built into its underside to provide extra ‘sunlight’ for the plant below it…
The Live Screen is a modular design, so it can be adapted to fit any space of a minimum size. Because it is a standalone setup, it doesn’t depend on a wall, thus the “screen” in the name. I could see these being used in lieu of cubicle dividers in offices, providing a much needed dash of green along with some privacy- as long as you keep the plants alive. Plus, there’s the added benefit of growing herbs, vegetables and even fruit at your desk or in your city apartment.
Trofe’s design has been successful so far; it was among the winners of the A’Design Award and Competition last year in the Furniture, Decorative Items and Homeware category. My one criticism is that it could fit many more pods (and thus plants) than it does, making it more efficient and really capable of dividing a space.
