Be Open think tank

#BeOpenNEWS BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Aigerim Asanbekova, young aspiring painter from Kyrgyzstan, has been voted the Artist of the Month by the visitors of art.beopenfuture.com Every month we invite visitors of our online gallery to choose the best artist among the shortlisted 20. In May, artworks by Aigerim inspired by Kyrgyz traditional motifs have gained her a majority of votes. We also take the opportunity to applaud all the featured artists and thank everyone who voted.

#BeOpenART Estonian strategic design agency Velvet collaborated with local lighting designs studio Un-Like to help breathe new life into an old, rusted mast in the Noblnessner Port area, Tallinn. The team topped the mast with Nest, a light installation inspired by the blueprint of five-year-old Stina Onemar and crafted from re-purposed materials found from construction sites. The design of the nest incorporates the natural aging process caused by the weather. The metal components are painted to match the rusted mast, but over time, wear and patina will increasingly blend the installation with the mast. Just like stork nests gradually become intertwined with human-made objects, this art object weaves itself into the urban fabric.

#BeOpenARCH Designed by Swedish studio Inredningsgruppen as one of the unique rooms at the Treehotel in northern Sweden, the Bird's Nest comprises a circular structure supported by existing trees. It is entirely covered in twigs and can be accessed via a retractable staircase. With discreet small round windows almost hidden by the network of branches, from the outside the building appears as a big nest, only the scale separating it from other nests in the vicinity. More nest-shaped buildings in our blog.

#BeOpenARCH The design concept of the Wuduhus house, developed by Cambridge-based firm Mole Architects following the principles of Passivhaus, uses the inverted roof to enhance the building's energy efficiency. The longest side of the residence, whose energy use regularly hovers close to zero, is positioned facing south to take advantage of the solar gain, thus the choice of the butterfly roof is essential. More building with butterfly roofs in our blog.

#BeOpenART #BeOpenNEWS Anahita Zabehi, artist based in Tehran, Iran, has been selected the Regional Artist of the Month (May 2024) and has become the second of the three candidates to the Artist of the Region (Middle East), as an artist who best represents the artistic tradition of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. In 2024, BE OPEN Art continues to run BE OPEN Regional Art, the regional competition for emerging artists, whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities. The second stage of the second year of the programme run will cover the countries of Middle East and will last 3 months, with a winner named and awarded 500 euro at the end of June.

#BeOpenDESIGN As part of the project, called Aldgate Gold, students from London Metropolitan University worked with furniture manufacturer Benchmark to create a range of products using the furnituremaker's wood offcuts and objects gathered from the streets of London, which they felt had latent potential. The students were asked to really choose an object that they personally felt has latent potential and find a way for it to remain identifiable for what it was, but also be transformed into a new item.

#BeOpenDESIGN With his debut series, featuring a chair and a floor lamp, designer Do Hyun Ahn pays homage to the traditional Korean reed broom, a symbol of cultural significance, transcending its ordinary use as a tool for sweeping floors and functioning as a talisman against malevolent forces. Recreating the traditional craft of hand-weaving brooms from reeds and strings, the designer meticulously affixes multiple strands of yellow binder twine to a pre-existing furniture frame.

#BeOpenDESIGN Made exclusively from sawdust and potato scraps, the experimental Briket stool by Swiss product designer Renaud Defrancesco can be produced directly where wood waste is abundant: in sawmills, carpentry shops, and workshops dealing with large quantities of wood. All it takes is a press to manufacture the stools on-site, giving wood waste a second life before its third and final use as fuel.

#BeOpenARCH The idea of the extraordinary facade for Toy Storey Residence in Vadakara, India, came to Vinu Daniel, lead architect at Wallmakers, after stepping on a LEGO brick. The resulting home takes shape with a complex, latticework facade constructed from compressed stabilized earth blocks which integrate over 6,200 discarded toys. This innovative external skin has been designed to facilitate natural ventilation and enhance insulation.

#BeOpenARCH Polish architect Robert Konieczny of KWK Promes has enveloped a new residential project in Poznan, Poland, in a facade almost entirely covered in greenery. Emerging organically form the existing terrain, the building seems to be a seamless extension of the surrounding hillside. The architecture studio has wrapped the building in 140,000 plants, which will grow along a specially designed structure forming a vertical garden. Not only the plants minimize disruption to the existing ecosystem, they also offer residents easy access to fresh herbs and flowers. An automated irrigation system utilizing 90% rainwater collected on-site ensure the plants’ health, minimizing the need for manual maintenance. More buildings with extraordinary facades in our blog.

#BeOpenDESIGN The design of the Infinite bag by Tehran-based designer Maryam Hosseini pays homage to the geometry pattern of the dome of the music hall of Aali Qapu, an imperial palace in Iran, 1957 C.E. It also uses origami techniques to fold the pieces of the bag to different faces. Crafted from durable material, leather, the bag can turn into at least 40 different shapes, symmetrical and asymmetrical. The user can change one of the shapes listed in the manual or create new faces for the bag themselves. More origami-inspired designs in our blog.

#BeOpenDESIGN Just as its name suggests, the iconic feature that makes In Frame fireplace by YoungGyu Kwon stand out is an elegant frame that can be rotated. This feature allows the user to put the fireplace against a wall in a more conventional manner, hang it on the wall or have it freestanding in any place of the room. via yankodesign

#BeOpenDESIGN Reminiscent of a grandfather’s clock with its circular shape and swinging pendulum, One's has been developed by Seoul-based designer Ji Ye Hong as a wall-hung safe that preciously stores memories, both digital and physical. Using Bluetooth connectivity, the product’s 20-inch round digital frame shows photographs from the user's digital library. Behind the display panel hides a storage area with shelving intended for physical memories like childhood photographs and small memorable items.

#BeOpenDESIGN Inspired by the satisfying experience of popping up bubble wrap is Air Type, a concept keyboard by London-based design studio Running Guy that comes with inflated keycaps. Renders show a bespoke tactile keyboard with each individual key featuring a cushioning of air bubbles.

#BeOpenDESIGN Medium2 Studio has collaborated with Taiwanese design brand Unipapa to address the perennial problem of storing a bulky ironing board. Design team conducted extensive research to develop Flip, an ingenuous dual-function product that combines the functionality of a full-length mirror with that of an ironing board. The resulting design boasts sophisticated sleek aesthetic that seamlessly blends into any interior while offering unparalleled functionality and optimizing space usage. More multifunctional mirrors in our blog.

#BeOpenDESIGN Ombak lounge chair by Sungai Design is crafted using discarded plastic bags collected from Indonesia’s rivers by the non-profit Sungai Watch. Production of one low-slung armchair requires approximately 2,000 single-use bags, which are thoroughly washed and shredded before being heat-pressed to form solid sheets. Highly detailed CNC cutting then creates the pieces that are fixed together. The chairs are manufactured in Bali with a process that aims at minimal waste.

#BeOpenDESIGN Belgian designer Thomas Serruys creates his SPC outdoor furniture from hot-dipped galvanized steel. With its simple, sculptural shape and galvanised finish that patinates lovely over time, the furniture has everything to age gracefully.

#BeOpenDESIGN Made entirely out of aluminium, designer Kiki Goti's sculptural chair is an adaptive, multi-functional seating design that consists of two separate chairs that can fit into each other. Dubbed OO+II Nested Chair, the design contrasts a sharp angular back with a curved, rounded seat. The user can choose to have one compact chair, or two different chairs (a tall chair and a stool), or a chair with a side table, or a chair and a footrest. Each chair is offered in different finishes, creating a playful matrix of design options to choose from. More extraordinary aluminium chairs in our blog.

#BeOpenARCH Shanghai-based architecture practice HCCH Studio has created Twisted Brick Shell Library amidst the farmland nearby city of Quzhou, China, to arouse visitors' awareness of reading and its surroundings. The geometry of this multifunctional pavilion contradicts its dense agricultural background, while the brick materiality fits well with local red soil. The team employed a semi-fabricated, semi-handmade way of construction. The structure is formed of two brick hemispheres connected by a twisting section of wall, which is built from perforated steel plates and concrete cast on site.

#BeOpenDESIGN South Korea based chair designer Muddycap has envisioned a rocking chair whose jagged edges create the illusion of being in constant motion, even when it is standing still. Aptly named Fast Rocking Chair, the furniture is crafted from pieces of maple wood cut using a mechanical saw to match the unique shapes, and joined together using traditional joinery.