Be Open think tank

#BeOpenART To pay homage to Nika Shakarami, another female victim of Iran’ regime, French artist and photographer JR set up an interactive installation at Four Freedoms Park in New York City. Hundreds of volunteers dressed in black animated the silhouette of the girl’s hair next to her giant portrait of the Iranian teenager who was killed in September 2022 after taking part in a protest against the death of Mahsa Jina Amini. Amini was detained and killed by the morality police in Tehran for breaking Iranian law by not wearing her hijab properly.

#BeOpenDESIGN Osaka-based artist Hiromi Hirasaka has created a series of matches and matchbooks that are so cute, it almost saves them from being used. Aptly named Kokeshi Matches, its namesake the wooden dolls originating from Tohoku, the matches are characterized by colorful heads and drawn faces. The design is a clever recognition of form inherent in the long, cylindrical bodies of kokeshi dolls and their spherical heads offering a perfect canvas for fun faces– from pig snouts, white-tipped pandas, or angry daruma faces.

#BeOpenNEWS Great news! Our new Instagram open call is on! The winner will receive a €300 prize. This time, again, we aim to promote the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular SDG7: Affordable and Clean Energy. One of the key sustainable energy sources is the Sun. For centuries, it has been an inspiration in our creation of paintings, poems, music, stories, and sculptures, to name a few. We invite you to join our new #BEOPENStaringAtTheSun open call and share visuals expressing what the Sun means for you personally, and our planet. Take notice of the shadows, put across the warmth of a sunbeam, or even gaze at the Sun safely through the filters of the telescope. Contribute your visuals to our #BEOPENStaringAtTheSun Instagram open call and be the next one to win €300. The entries will close December 30, 2022.

@BeOpenDESIGN Developed by a team from TU Delft, Somnox is a soft robotic pillow that uses controlled breathing to improve people’s sleep. By cuddling up to the pillow the user can physically feel the calm breathing rhythm and subconsciously adopt it, which means Somnox literally soothes them to sleep. Sensors embedded into the pillow collect data to determine whether the user is awake or asleep. The device then uses an algorithm to interpret the data and changes its own breathing in response, helping the user induce a slow, regular rhythm of breathing. According to the team, this allows the user to relax, so they can drift off to sleep faster and stay asleep for longer. More innovative pillows to combat sleepless nights in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Functioning as an observatory and local landmark, Yashima Mountain-top Park by Japanese architect Takashi Suo, founder of Kyoto-based studio SUO, is a partially elevated walkway that snakes through the verdant landscape of Yashima National Park. Designed to seamlessly blend into its natural setting, the structure mimicking the contours of the mountains accommodates a multi-purpose hall for holding exhibitions, events, or conferences.

#BeOpenART During his years in Japan, Danish graphic designer Anders Arhoj was struck by the natural, handmade textures and processes in Japanese ceramics. Having returned to Copenhagen, he launched his ceramic brand Studio Arhoj, which is now most known for its collection of ghosts, little figurines with a simple shape, expressive eyes and hundreds of colourful glazes that can be both a fun decoration and a watchful talisman. Ghosts were first made back in 2011, guided by the Japanese Shinto philosophy that everything in nature - even down to a lump of clay - has a soul.

#BeOpenDESIGN The B HOLD side table concept by New York based furniture and product designer Hyeonil Jeong is a minimalist combination of concrete and metal. The tabletop is made from two pieces of metal joined at an angle. One of these forms a flat horizontal surface on which one can confidently place a cup of coffee, while the other one is shaped like a magazine rack and helps showcase a favourite cover or just keep one’s reading clos at and without cluttering the tabletop.

#BeOpenDESIGN Japanese company Nikken Cutlery has made a literally rocking scissors design. Taking inspiration from one of the most iconic electric guitar designs in the world, the shears carefully mimic its shape. There is even a matching cap that not only serves as the guitar’s head when not in use, it also offers protection by blocking the sharp point and preventing the scissors from being opened when it’s in place.

#BeOpenART During this year’s Miami Art Week, visitors of the city’s Design District could enjoy a real-life metaverse experience that stitches together the physical and digital worlds. Named Ares House, the space was originally designed by New York based artist Daniel Arsham and brought to life by the Row. The installation seamlessly interlaces 3D projection mapping to showcase a digitally-enhanced IRL version of Arsham’s monumental digital structure with an aesthetic inspired by an ancient, otherworldly civilization. More on this year’s Miami Art Week in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN In Sweden, the ashes of the deceased are generally collected in a bag and delivered to the funeral home in a recycled cardboard box, which is then discarded after the ashes are transferred to an urn traditionally made from ceramic or wood, which is buried in the ground. Swedish architecture and design studio Claesson Koivisto Rune has designed a 100% biodegradable cremation urn made of wool, which is meant to fit around the cardboard box like a "kind of shroud" in order to prolong the packaging's useful life. More unconventional uses of wool in our blog