Parson's Chicken & Fish The Humboldt Park eatery has operated like an idealized backyard BBQ since opening last May, serving up incredible fried chicken and fish and potent, potable Negroni slushies to the mobs jockeying for patio space. Photo by Clayton Hauck.

Parson's Chicken & Fish The relatively small, 1,500-square-foot restaurant boasts a handful of custom neon signs. Squint and you can see the El Camino around the corner. Photo by Clayton Hauck.

Parson's Chicken & Fish This flexible, seasonal spot boasts an interior sporting roadside-industrial chic and an outdoor Eden with plants from local gardening store Sprout. Photo by Clayton Hauck.

Parson's Chicken & Fish The relatively small, 1,500-square-foot restaurant, which feeds the packed patio on the bulk of the 10,000-foot lot, is augmented by a series of three shipping containers-turned-bars. Reusing that material—which also falls under the city's classification for 'temporary structures'—has significant environmental impact, saving material and money. Photo by Clayton Hauck.

Parson's Chicken & Fish Renovations, which started in October 2012, actually brought the space full circle; originally an outpost of the Chicken Unlimited fast food chain (“Tender as quail … tasty as pheasant”), the former restaurant at 2952 W. Armitage had been a bakery and even a muffler shop. For the local Land & Sea collective -- Pete Toalson, designer Cody Hudson (Struggle Inc.) and Jon Martin and Robert McAdams (design and fabrication company Mode Carpentry) -- bringing back the fryers was their second foray into the restaurant world, after the incredibly successful, Michelin-starred Longman & Eagle. Photo by Clayton Hauck.

Parson's Chicken & Fish Ryan Duggan, a local designer and rock poster artist, decorated a red El Camino parked in the front yard. Photo by Clayton Hauck.

Parson's Chicken & Fish The outdoor tables are hand-numbered. This is where many drinks will soon be consumed. Not pictured; the ping-pong table. Photo by Clayton Hauck.

Parson's Chicken & Fish The view of Armitage Avenue from the interior of Parson's. Photo by Clayton Hauck.

Parson's Chicken & Fish “Impact” items in the design include the tile mural at the bar, custom patterned wooden doors in the bathrooms, neon signs and the impressive design work. Lettering and graphic artists Matthew Tapia created the skull-and-crossbones style logo and Cody Hudson did the graphic design. Photo by Clayton Hauck.

Parson's Chicken & Fish The intricate bathroom stall designs were a collaborative project.

Aquaponics is up for funding on Kickstarter until December 15. If successfully funded, the tanks will reach consumers in February 2013. If you'd like to donate and be one of the first people to receive a tank, click here.

"I don't like traditional spatulas very much," Perelman says. "I always find them a little thick and cumbersome, but I love using what's called a flexible fish spatula and there's no reason just to use it for fish; I use it for everything. It's a thinner metal spatula that's a bit bendy. It's like razor thin so you can slide it under anything really easily. I use it to loosen cakes from pans and to get them off a springform base. I've gotten rid of pretty much every metal or bent spatula for this instead." Sur La Table sells stainless-steel versions for $9–$17.

"We went into this with no preconceptions of shape, size, or materials," Nikhil says. "We had just fallen in love with this concept of aquaponics at the largest scale—visiting big commercial farms—and had this passion for making that amazing technology and science accessible to more people."

Designing the tank brought about a few extra challenges, Arora says. "We explored various shapes—eventually landing on a pot shape icon to represent the innovation here. The geometry is more cubic than cylindrical, the most efficient use of space." The net pods on top can handle just about any small, leafy herb or spice—even flowers. Placed near a window with direct sunlight year-round, the plants can take care of themselves without the tank becoming too hot since the pods on top shelter it.

Ease of use is a driving force behind the design: not only do you not have to clean the tank, the only needed fertilizer comes directly from the fish's waste and the only water is pumped from the tank—everything about it is self-regulated. The tank comes in at roughly 10" wide, by 11" high, by 6" deep—smaller than your average toaster oven.

Five "net pods" float above the tank in a small pool of water. Fish create waste that the tank then siphons up into the planters to provide fertilizer. A classic form of "upcycling," this means you don't have to clean the fish tank.

The final product is small enough to sit on a kitchen counter without being an obstacle. At three gallons, the tank is ideal for one three-inch-long fish or a few smaller one-inch fish. The founders recommend goldfish, betas, and other easy to care for species.

Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez left their jobs in favor of starting a project to help people grow their own food. After successfully launching their mushroom kit for a scant $5,000, Arora and Velez hope to continue to get more people to grow their own herbs and spices—this time with a fully sustainable fish tank. Arora and Velez posted their project on Kickstarter with the goal to raise $100,000 to fund manufacturing.

Another perk is the connection it can have with children. It can teach them the importance of fresh food as well as taking care of the fish—feeding the fish is just about the only real responsibility here. "Our goal was to center around the idea of beauty through simplicity and ease of use. To make a system so intuitive even kids could understand it right away," Arora says.

Aside from being a great example of recycling materials, the design of the Aquaponics kit is remarkable. If funded, the plan is to make the final product out of a combination of plastic, acrylic, and glass. Arora and Velez worked with a designer to come up with the form, function, and shape of the tank, ultimately finishing with a compact design.

The office fish, as shot by Leah King.

2002 Carlo Contin designs Mediterraneo fish bowl

The playful Koi Fish Ornament will add personality to a Christmas tree. Additionally, the koi fish is emblematic of good fortune, prosperity, and courage.

The Fish Camp acts as the couple’s forest getaway, just a quarter mile from their main house.

jdryerart Chicago-based artist Jill Dryer used to work at Architectural Digest but now paints fantastical scenes of fish flying over Eames plywood lounge chairs and fiberglass Eames chairs floating on lakes.

Designed by London-based practice RUSSIAN FOR FISH, this remodeled Victorian home has an almost completely yellow kitchen. Being in this space feels like being immersed in bright sunlight.

The renovation revealed a 30-foot-deep well beneath the bedroom, which the team half-jokingly considered turning into a fish tank. Instead, they opted for a simple bedroom with plenty of built-in storage.

Architect Rocio Romero designs ADUs that are conceived as studios, backyard offices, guest cottages, and short-term getaways. She’s sold over 50 prefab units in 17 different states, and recently launched a series of more modestly sized, construct-it-yourself structures dubbed the Camp series. The 456-square-foot Base Camp and 312-square-foot Fish Camp will both be priced in the $20,000 range. At just over 300 square feet, the Fish Camp is the smaller of the two Camp styles, but the prototype illustrates its utility as guesthouse or office.

The creekside Fish Camp prototype rests on oversize flood-rated pylons, one of many foundation options the Camp units can accommodate.

“Visible from the living spaces, the crisscrossing structure of the roof echoes the name of the lake by recalling the skeleton of a fish—as does its immaculate color,” say the architects. Poisson Blanc translates to White Fish.

The Seaweed and Bath Salts Set from L:A Bruket is filled with natural materials harvested from Varberg, Sweden. Featuring dried serrated wrack seaweed that was hand-fished, this bath set is a relaxing treat for anyone on your list.

Handmade fish-scale tiles line the wall over the bath.

At left, Little Printer, a desktop printing device that generates personalized newspapers on receipt paper, and at right, Aquafarm. The countertop aquaponics system cleans out the fishbowl automatically and uses the waste to fertilize plants above.

The Fish Creek modular home is designed to be energy-efficient and sustainable inside and out.

The residence at 1111 Williams Boulevard in Springfield, Illinois, was designed by late architect and Illinois School of Architecture professor Jack Sherman Baker in 1968.

A fish pond creates a microclimate to help naturally cool the 3,326-square-foot house.