An experiment between the French designer Mathieu Lehanneur and David Edwards was initiated by Le Laboratoire in October 2006. Drawing on experimental observations of NASA scientists, Mathieu Lehanneur and David Edwards have created a new form of air filter which passes dirty air past absorptive surfaces of plants, thereby improving the capacity of plants to absorb noxious gases and particles, and, in a sense, render plants 'more intelligent.' Bel-Air is conceived for domestic use, a kind of living filter that absorbs and metabolizes noxious chemicals and particles from the air that circulates in our homes. Bel-Air is designed to integrate various plants with natural absorptive properties, such as spider plants. The final design optimizes the filtration capacity of leaves, roots, soil and plant water to achieve a first Laboratoire artscience innovation. Bel-Air was produced in five unique and original prototypes signed by the Artist, and first exhibited at Le Laboratoire in 2007. In 2008, Bel-Air was exposed at MoMA in New York and won a prestigious Innovation of the Year Award from Popular Science magazine. Bel-Air prototypes have been developed for the Laboratoire exhibition. Bel Air was awarded Best innovation of the year by Popular Science in 2008.