Elif Bulut | GIZMODO.cz

If we learned one thing during quarantine, it was to not underestimate the power of plants. Bedrooms and workspaces alike seem to open up once we incorporate some greenery into the mix. Due to tight corners and lack of natural sunlight, city apartments don’t tend to plants too well. To provide a modular, compact gardening system fit for city living, Elif Bulut created Loop, a smart plant pot that takes care of your greenery while you’re away.

Loop is a smart planting system that feeds and tends to your plants while you’re away through an automated irrigation system. The agriculture system is shaped like a plume, flowering from the top and the bottom, keeping the seed modules in a radial row to form a skirt. Each seed module is detachable and securely locks onto one another through junction sockets, forming a link. Along the underbridge of the system’s lid, LEDs disperse light over the plants, adjusting their levels according to the time of day.

Users simply add seeds to the modules, position the modules to match up with the irrigation system, lock the top water reservoir into place, then watch as the water drips and the plants grow. Loop’s top lid links the system’s base with its irrigation pool so that users can also adjust the amount of water that flows into each module, ranging from sparse or open flow to frequent irrigation. Once the irrigation measure is settled on, the system’s integrated smart technology tends to each plant and keeps track of their condition to achieve optimal indoor settings. Loop provides a way for those who live in the city to still have access to gardening and all of the perks that come with it.

Designer: Elif Bulut

Shaped like a double-sided trumpet, Loop takes the familiar shape of many modern-day home appliances.

Equipped with plant modules and an automated irrigation system, Loop is designed for easy operation.

Loop comes with an integrated LED light system that nourishes plants with energy.

The brightness of the LED lights change according to the time of day.

Loop’s irrigation system allows users to adjust the drip between sparse and frequent amounts.

The modules lock into place with the irrigation system’s faucets.

Each plant module forms the system’s skirt by linking up at junction points.

Looking for something that can protect your precious shoe collection but not create more waste? Meet Standbox – a shoebox, that can protect, carry, and present shoes! It has a small compact form which already gives it an edge over its counterparts and the storage also works as a display which makes it unique. The idea was to create a product that provides energy while saving space space not only to the user but also to its manufacturer and seller during production, distribution, and storage stages.

Standbox reduces the carbon footprint right at the manufacturing stage because it lets the manufacturer can distribute more products at once. Because of the material choice, the seller and user do not need those big plastic organizers to store and present the shoes. A big advantage of this design is that it can be carried on its own without the need for a plastic or paper bag unlike others of its kind in the market.

“It is a clever packaging design that aims to use energy resources more efficiently, take up less space than its counterparts, to minimize the need for extra plastic and cardboard,” says Bulut. The packaging itself doubles up as storage and display which creates minimal waste while saving space. Designed to be long-lasting, it can create a new life cycle after serving its purpose of packaging/shoebox. Standbox adds value to the existing packaging by simple tweaks that keep in mind the needs of the user, manufacturer, seller as well as the impact of the entire cycle, from production to waste, on the environment.

Desginer: Elif Bulut