Designed by Emilia Lucht and Arne Sebrantke of Nui Studio in Germany, the Mygdal Plantlight houses plants, allowing them to grow healthily and photosynthesise in totally windowless spaces, devoid of natural light. It comes as a lamp or a pendant, and the LED light and hand-finished glass lamp replaces sunlight. Electricity also travels through the lamp’s electrically conductive glass coating.

Translated into English, Mygdal means ‘fertile soil’: the exact kind you need to spawn herbage in such unlikely environments. And why wouldn’t you? Joan D. Chittister said, “darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.” These little suspended ecosystems deliver us this beautiful and necessary metaphor. Here’s to botanical life flourishing in the unlikely urban environments where they are needed most.