Farmarium

九州大学とCarbon Xtract社が開発した大気中のCO₂回収技術、スパイスキューブ社の植物工場技術、JR西日本の鉄道駅という社会インフラを掛け合わせることで未来の都市型農業装置を開発する2025年大阪‧関西万博関連プロジェクトにおいて、コンセプト設計および装置のデザインをo-lab inc.が手がけました。

Vertical Farming（垂直農法）が少しずつ社会に広がり、その中でインテリア性の高い栽培装置も見かけるようになりました。ただ、どこか人間中心の考え方が色濃く、白黒の筐体の中で直線的に配列された、まるで生命維持装置に繋がれたような野菜たちはあまり幸せには見えない…というo-labの視点から、野菜たちが野菜らしく、生き生きと楽しそうに、という全く新しい装置コンセプトが導き出されました。しかしながら、超薄膜により大気中から集められたCO₂を光合成に活用するという核心的かつ独創的なアプローチ・技術をショーケースしつつ、一方で野菜が元
気に成長できる庫内環境を構築し、さらにその姿を行き交う人々が前後左右から楽しめる独立した装置の開発という世界で初めての試みの中では、複合的な無数の課題に直面しました。それでも、デザイナーとエンジニアがギリギリのせめぎ合いを繰り返すことで、水族館用アクリル水槽の製造技術を応用した外壁の中にアクリル二重筒が胃袋のように貫通した、類を見ない栽培装置が完成し、万博会期中にJR弁天町駅構内において展示されました。
人工的で機械的な印象を与えがちな液肥の配管等は徹底的に遮蔽されたデザインとし、今にも楽しげに回転しそうな印象の円形の植物棚の上で野菜は育ちます。また、中央部支柱部に強度を担保することで透明なアクリルのみの外壁を実現し、極めて高い開放感を実現しました。「宙に浮いた光るドット」によるモーショングラフィックスは装置のメカニズムを表現するだけでなく、観覧体験をさらに楽しく興味深いものにしています。観覧者たちからは「楽しい」という、従来の水耕栽培装置への主な賛辞「おしゃれ」とは異なる質のコメントを多数頂いています。

大気からのCO₂回収（DAC: Direct Air Capture）分野において主流を占める大規模施設ではなく、DAC型農業装置として圧倒的にコンパクトなFarmariumはCO₂の地産地消に寄与し、野菜たちの成長を人々が毎日の通学や通勤、お出かけの際に、いつもの駅で気軽に楽しむことができる、地域社会に提供する新しいCO₂循環モデルです。本実証実験機を多くの人々に体験して頂くことで課題を抽出し、さらに進化したFarmarium 2.0以降へと繋がることを期待しています。

Farmarium is a future-facing urban farming system created for an Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan-related project. o-lab inc. developed the concept and device design, bringing together atmospheric CO₂ capture technology from Kyushu University and Carbon Xtract, plant factory technology from Spice Cube, and JR West’s railway station infrastructure.

Vertical farming has gradually begun to enter wider society, and cultivation systems with a strong interior-design presence are becoming more familiar. Yet many of these systems still seem shaped by a deeply human-centered way of thinking. Vegetables arranged in straight lines inside black-and-white enclosures can look almost as if they are connected to life-support machines. From o-lab’s perspective, they do not look especially happy. This singular observation led to a completely new concept for the device: a cultivation system where vegetables could simply be themselves, growing in a way that feels lively, natural, and even joyful.

The project, however, presented countless complex challenges. The device needed to showcase the project’s core and highly original technology: the use of CO₂ collected directly from the atmosphere through an ultra-thin membrane, then supplied for photosynthesis. At the same time, it had to create an internal environment where vegetables could grow healthily, while also standing independently in a public station space so that people passing by could enjoy the

plants from every direction. This was something that had never been attempted before. Through an intense process of negotiation between design and engineering, a one-of-a-kind cultivation device was completed. Its outer shell applies acrylic tank manufacturing techniques originally developed for aquariums, while a double acrylic cylinder passes through the center like a stomach. During Expo 2025, the device was exhibited inside JR Bentencho Station. Elements that tend to give hydroponic systems an artificial or mechanical impression, such as liquid fertilizer piping, were carefully hidden from view. Instead, the vegetables grow on circular plant shelves whose animated form makes them seem almost ready to rotate. By placing the structural strength in the central column, o-lab was able to create an outer wall made only of transparent acrylic, giving the device an exceptionally open and airy presence. Motion graphics using floating points of light do more than explain the mechanism of the device. They also make the viewing experience more engaging, more accessible, and more enjoyable. Many visitors described the device as “fun,” a response different in quality from the usual praise given to hydroponic systems, which tends to focus on whether they look stylish.

Most direct air capture initiatives are associated with large-scale facilities. Farmarium takes a very different approach. As an overwhelmingly compact DAC-based farming device, it contributes to the local capture and local use of CO₂. It offers a new model of carbon circulation for the community, one in which people can casually enjoy watching vegetables grow at their everyday station, whether on the way to school, work, or an outing.

Through this demonstration model, the team hopes to gather insights from a wide range of visitors and carry those learnings forward into the further evolution of Farmarium 2.0 and beyond.