Jihyun Ryou’s project focuses on the present situation of food and how to preserve it. As quoted from her (and what I found particularly interesting), “I’ve learned that we hand over the responsibility of taking care of food to technology, the refrigerator. We don’t observe the food anymore and we don’t understand how to treat it”.
Basically, the cool thing about this is that the concept is actually very simple and quite basic. It is something we have easily overlooked in this modernized world full of technology. This is also my belated “Green” tribute to St. Paddy’s day. A very good example of Green Design, that addresses an aspect of the overuse of energy and food wastage. Enjoy!
Verticality of Root Vegetables
Keeping roots in a vertical position allows the organism to save energy and remain fresh for a longer time. This shelf gives a place for them to stand easily, using sand. At the same time, sand helps to keep the proper humidity.
Symbiosis of Potato+Apple
Apples emit a lot of ethylene gas. It has the effect of speeding up the ripening process of fruits and vegetables kept together with apples. When combined with potatoes, apples prevent them from sprouting.
Breathing of Eggs
An egg has millions of holes in its shell. It absorbs the odour and substance around itself very easily. This creates a bad taste if it’s kept in the fridge with other food ingredients. This shelf provides a place for eggs outside of the fridge. Also the freshness of eggs can be tested in the water. The fresher they are, the further they will sink.
Dryness of Spices
Rice absorbs humidity easily. The spice container with rice inside helps spices stay dry without forming into lumps.
Humidity of Fruit Vegetables
We tend to think zucchini, aubergine, cucumber, etc. as vegetables. But they are biologically fruits. This shelf gives them a space to be outside the fridge. Also through the ritual to water them everyday, they will stay fresh.
P.S. Really cool ideas that we can try to apply in our own kitchens and in how we store some of our goods. Doing our part in minimizing the use of energy will be a good thing to do for our environment. Cheers! 
P.P.S. In addition, you can check out a video about it below. Functional and absolutely brilliant design!
Hi Paula, These are uber-cool ideas. Reminds me now that in the days when we did not have a refrigerator, and our family was large (joint family living together with around 12-18 people at any time) – and we bought lots of vegetables – and they stayed fresh in a cool place. Maybe they knew how to combine and store them
Loved this post. Very interesting and some doable right away!
Thanks!
Hi Vidya!
Yup, they really are. Thanks for sharing about your experience, I find it really cool!
P.S. I’m glad you like this post. Have a good week.