Interesting projects by Philips on sustainability and  forward thinking.

“This is exploring the integration of electronics and bio chemical functionalities into the inert material of the built environment. The design of the concept fundamentally changes the current approach to buildings and habitat.  This future habitat shifts from the current state where the  building surfaces are benign inert ‘dumb’ materials only used for construction and shielding purposes to sensitive functional skins that are ‘alive’ and act as membranes to harness energy. A membrane creates a strong link between the exterior and interior of the habitat and used as a transporter collecting and channeling the elements of air water and light – from the outside feeding into the inside space. This will supply the habitat with all necessary sources to be able to live off the grid.”

I especially liked their Biosphere Home Farm.

“kitchen skyscraper’s concept development is to explore the possibility of growing at least part of one’s daily calorific requirement at home, as explained by Philips. Using the synergies between fish, plants, vegetables and algae, the Biosphere home farm has been designed to stand up right, to minimize the amount of floor space required (great for small apartments or tiny kitchens) but to also enable the stacking of the various mini eco-systems to ease the flow of nutrients from one level to the next. Not only will this mini-at-home-farming system produce natural foods such as lettuce, cucumbers, spices and shellfish, the ability for it to operate without electricity using only water, organic waste and the sun’s energy to power up should also bring much appeal.”

via Vidafine