This Magical Plant Lamp Thrives Even in Windowless Rooms

It’s always a thrill to discover nature thriving in improbable places, like the surprise of cave-dwelling plants or the unexpectedly lush vertical gardens that French botanist Patrick Blanc has installed in a few lucky underground parking structures around the world.

Now Emilia Lucht and Arne Sebrantke of Halle, Germany–based Nui Studio have found a way to offer a touch of nature and luminosity to those who dwell in windowless rooms, basement apartments, or other light-starved dungeons—no green thumb required.

Their magical Lamp Mygdal is a low maintenance LED-lit pendant or freestanding light that includes “a completely self-sustaining ecosystem where the plants can grow without the need of sunlight or watering,” the designers wrote in an email. The lamp has “an electrically conductive glass coating rendering an invisible connection between the power source and the LED.”

The Lamp Mygdal comes in two sizes, and it is made from aluminum; cork; and mouth-blown, hand-finished glass. The designers chose the name Mygdal as a nod to glassmaker Peter Kuchinke’s village in northern Denmark, adding that Mygdal is “freely translated [as] fertile soil.” At this point the Lamp Mygdal is just a prototype, but Sebrantke said in an email that the designers are actively looking for partners to put it into production. Let’s hope they succeed.