The River Plant Aquarium

Designer Mathieu Lehanneur has given the concept of a locavore, the collaborative effort to build more locally based and self-reliant food economies, a beautiful new twist. His River Plant Aquarium takes inspiration from the natural ecosystem found within a river by using hydroponics and a refrigerated aquarium as a hatchery for freshwater fish.
All the while vegetables grow on top in glass pods.  These vegetables use the water from the fish tank for sustenance, thus filtering and purifying the water for the fish below.


Thus “Local River aims to replace the decorative ‘TV aquarium’ by an equally decorative but also functional ‘refrigerator-aquarium’. In this scenario, fish and greens cohabit for a short time in a home storage unit before being eaten by their keepers, the end-players in an exchange cycle within a controlled ecosystem.”

For those who don’t have the space to grow their own food outside, this may be an effective solution to cut the amount of miles food has to travel before it hits our plates. If you like this, check out Lehanneur’s Living Air Filter!