The Aquafarm Is A Self-Cleaning Fish Tank And Herb Garden In One.

Aquafarm is an Aquaponics Garden from Back to the Roots, a company founded by Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora during their last semester at UC Berkeley in 2009.


above: Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora of Back To The Roots.


The second product offered from Back To The Roots (the first was a grow-your-own mushroom kit), Aquafarm was successfully funded via Kickstarter in December of 2012.

So, What Is It?
The tabletop eco-system uses the fish waste to naturally fertilize the plants above. In turn, the plants clean the water for your pet fish.





The Aquafarm includes natural aquatic supplies from Home Grown Ponics and organic seeds from Seeds of Change.

What's Happening Inside?



The fish, they poo and they pee, and all that waste-water gets broken down by beneficial bacteria into nutrients.



The waste-water from the fish is then pumped up & upcycled as an awesome organic fertilizer for the plants. The plants take up the nutrients and, at the same time, clean the water which then falls back down for the fish.



There is no soil - the plants are growing just on rocks - all the nutrients coming from the fish (no need for any artificial fertilizers - it's all organic)

There is no need to clean the water because of the plants - it's a self-cleaning fish tank!

What Can I Grow?


Choose from a variety of fresh produce, including spinach, baby greens, oregano, beans, basil, mint, parsley & thyme.

What Kind of Fish?

above: various types of Betta Fish.

You can pick from a ton of different types of fish that will work great in the system - including the Betta fish pictured in their system in this post.

On June 7th of this year, they finally shipped the first one. Below is a video of Alejandro and Nikhil giving us a peek into the production:



Aquafarm, The Self-Cleaning Fish Tank that Grows Food


• Self-cleaning fish tank that grows food.
• Fish waste feeds the plants. Plants clean the water.
• Includes everything you need to get started as well as organic seeds and a discount     coupon for a Betta fish.
• Sleek and attractive design with 3-gallon capacity.
• Perfect for your kitchen or classroom. Also makes a great gift.
• Designed and manufactured in California

Where Can I Get One?
The Aquafarm retails for $59.99 and can be purchased here

The Graffiti Fishtank by Artist Dean Zeus Coleman

London Artist Dean Zeus Coleman (aka Zeus) is known for redefining traditional Graffiti with his three dimensional sculptures, paintings and typography. One of his unusual projects I simply had to share with you, given my fondness for aquariums, is this fabulous three dimensional graffiti typography fish tank.


detail:

From the back side as seen in an exhibit:


Zeus is incredibly talented and works in several different mediums. Here's a look at just a few of his sculptures, paintings and installations I find compelling:







all images courtesy of the artist

There's much more to see over at his blog. Go check it out.



Dean Zeus Coleman

Frank Gehry's Fish Obsession Swims Full Circle.

"The fish is a perfect form." —Frank Gehry

Architect and designer Frank Gehry has long been inspired by fish. He has created buildings, statues and even jewelry for Tiffany's using the form of a fish as the basis for his designs.


above: Gehry's fish, Standing Glass Fish Frank Gehry, 1986, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis, MN

above: Gehry's "Fishdance" sculpture for a restaurant in Kobe, Japan (1987).

above: Gehry's Fish structure at the Olympic Port in Barcelona

above: a necklace and earrings for Tiffany & Co by Gehry

Gehry has always experimented with sculpture and furniture in addition to his architectural pursuits, coaxing inventive forms out of unexpected materials, from the Easy Edges (1969–73) and Experimental Edges (1979–82)—chairs and tables carved from blocks of industrial corrugated cardboard—to the Knoll furniture series (1989–92), fashioned from bentwood. The Fish Lamps evolved from a 1983 commission by the Formica Corporation to create objects from the then-new plastic laminate ColorCore.


above: Various Gehry fish lamps from the past four decades

After accidentally shattering a piece of it while working, he was inspired by the shards, which reminded him of fish scales. The first Fish Lamps, which were fabricated between 1984 and 1986, employed wire armatures molded into fish shapes, onto which shards of ColorCore are individually glued, creating clear allusions to the morphic attributes of real fish.




above: Frank Gehry, Low White Fish Lamp, 1984, ColorCore, silicone, wood, Collection of Fred Hoffman and Frank Gehry, courtesy of Fred Hoffman Fine Art., Image credit: Christine McMonagle

Since the creation of the first lamp in 1984, the fish has become a recurrent motif in Gehry's work, as much for its "good design" as its iconographical and natural attributes. Its quicksilver appeal informs the undulating, curvilinear forms of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (1997); the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago (2004); and the Marqués de Riscal Vineyard Hotel in Elciego, Spain (2006) as well as the Fish Sculpture at Vila Olímpica in Barcelona (1989–92) and Standing Glass Fish for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (1986).


above: Architect Frank Gehry with the orange fish lamp, a trademark of his work in the 1980s. (©1991 Roger Ressmeyer; Fish Lamp © Frank Gehry & New City Editions/CORBIS)


above: an early fish lamp by Frank O. Gehry, cast glass, Courtesy of Joan and Jack Quinn, Beverly Hills, CA

Now, Gagosian Gallery is pleased to present Frank Gehry's Fish Lamps. The exhibition will be presented concurrently in Los Angeles and in Paris.



In 2012 Gehry decided to revisit his earlier ideas, and began working on an entirely new group of Fish Lamps. The resulting works, which will be divided between Gagosians Los Angeles and Paris, range in scale from life-size to out-size, and the use of ColorCore is bolder, incorporating larger and more jagged elements. In Los Angeles, Gehry is also designing the installation for the Fish Lamps, following his inspired design for the Ken Price exhibition at LACMA earlier this year.


above: Untitled (Los Angeles III), 2012–13, Metal wire, ColorCore formica and silicone, 44 x 16 x 55 inches (111.8 x 40.6 x 139.7 cm), courtesy of Gagosian Gallery

The softly glowing Fish Lamps are full of whimsy. As individuals or groupings of two and three, some are fixed to poles or wall sconces, while others can be placed on any existing horizontal surface. Curling and flexing in attitudes of simulated motion, these artificial creatures emit a warm, incandescent light. This intimation of life, underscored by the almost organic textures of the nuanced surfaces, presents a spirited symbiosis of material, form, and function.






"I kept drawing it [the fish] and it started to become for me like a symbol for a certain kind of perfection that I couldn't achieve with my buildings." —Frank Gehry

This 1984 fish lamp by Gehry has an estimated auction value of $90,000-$120,000:


above: Fish Lamp, New City Editions, Canada/USA/USA, 1984, Colorcore Formica, stained and lacquered plywood, glass, 40 w x 24 d x 37.5 h inches (image courtesy of Wright20)

The first Fish Lamps were shown in "Frank Gehry: Unique Lamps" in 1984 at the former Robertson Boulevard location of Gagosian Los Angeles.

Images of last week's opening exhibit at the Gagosian, with photos by Brad Elterman can be seen here.

Frank Gehry - Fish Lamps
January 11 - February 14, 2013
456 North Camden Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
T. 310.271.9400 F. 310.271.9420
losangeles@gagosian.com
Hours: Tue-Sat 10-6

About Frank O. Gehry:
One of the most celebrated architects living today (and a Prtiker Prize winner), Gehry's career spans five decades and three continents. Known for his imaginative designs and creative use of materials, he has forever altered the urban landscape with spectacular buildings that are conceived as dynamic structures rather than static vessels.

Frank Gehry was born in Toronto in 1929. He studied architecture at the University of Southern California and urban planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His drawings, models, designs, and sculpture have been exhibited in major museums throughout the world. Among his most celebrated buildings are the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany (1989); the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, (1997); and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles (2003). Awards include the Pritzker Architecture Prize (1989); the Wolf Foundation Prize in Arts (1992); the Praemium Imperiale in Architecture from Japan Art Association (1992); the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (1994); the National Medal of Arts (1998); the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (1999); the Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (2000); and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Americans for the Arts (2000). "Frank Gehry, Architect," the most comprehensive exhibition of his work to date, was presented at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2001. Gehry's latest building, the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation in the Bois du Boulogne, Paris, will be completed in 2013.

information courtesy of the Gagosian Gallery press release, images courtesy of The Jewish Museum, Wright20, Gagosian Gallery, Sotheby's, Christies

No Room For An Aquarium? Think Again. 20 Unusual Places In Your Home For Fish Tanks.

I've been obsessed with fish tanks and aquariums for quite awhile. I even record Tanked (which I highly recommend). But I never seem to have the space needed to put a saltwater or freshwater aquarium in my home. Then again, I hadn't considered all the following options.

What about turning the surround of your fireplace into a giant aquarium?



Or how about adding it to a wide doorway?

above: both fireplace and doorway aquariums by Seavisions

Build it into an existing shelving unit:


Or just putting a tank into that fireplace you never use?


That space under your stairs may just be the perfect spot:


Or replacing that wet bar with a bar/aquarium

above: Bespoke Aquarium Bar and Glass Staircase, both designed by Ali Musani

Here are a bunch of possibilities that may not have crossed your mind, in rooms you may have not considered.

The Kitchen

Building it into your backsplash is a great look:


Poggenpohl and Aquafront have teamed up to design a series of new kitchens which contain built in fish tanks or aquariums. In the backsplash or the cabinetry, the tanks can hold saltwater fish, freshwater fish or even jellyfish:




You can put an aquarium in a kitchen island, above a cooktop or into the built-in cabinetry:


above: custom kitchen island aquarium by Commercial Marine Displays



Or even punctuate a cooktop with a built -in aquarium like the one below by Phil Kean:


You could always turn your kitchen table into an aquarium like this custom one created for a Fridgidaire showroom:



The Bathroom
Adding an aquarium to your bathroom is an option in either the tub surround, the shower walls, or at the edge of the tub, like the one pictured in what used to be the home of Kanye West.


above: custom bathroom aquarium by City Aquarium


The Plano Acquario Shower offers a built in aquarium wall as an option:


The Hollywood Hills bathroom of Kanye West (no longer owned by him):


And of course, Moody makes both a sink and a bathtub with built in aquariums:


The Moody Acquario tub:



There's even a toilet that houses fish, if you must.
The Aquariass by Oliver Beckert or the Fish n' Flush from AquaOne:


The Bedroom
How about an aquarium headboard?

above: from the Furnitureland South bed display and below: for NFL star Chad Ochocinco.


or in a bedroom fireplace:


And lastly, the TV Tank from Picturehouse hides your screen within a fishtank:


Custom aquarium designs, builds and installations are available from the following companies:
Seavisions
Okeanos Group
Aquarium Design Group
Aqua Design Group
Aquatic Design Company
City Aquarium
Acrylic Tank Manufacturing
Just Add Water (Jaws Aquariums)

Looking for wall mounted, tabletop and other fish tanks? 
Check out my Pinterest board of hip Aquariums and fish tanks