Be Open think tank

Imagine a secluded personal office space without a need of a home expansion. In our work-from-home era, Hungary-based studio Hello Wood has developed ‘Workstation Cabin’, a tiny prefabricated timber-clad home office that provides a space for work and meetings. Externally, the design transcends the conventional geometry of the cube, its faceted volume recalling a natural rocky landform and expressing a unique profile from every angle. The interior is finished in natural pine wood, with large windows for full immersion in Nature. Presenting a hybrid of design and architecture, the cabin is highly functional and has low energy consumption. An insulated interior and an integrated cooling system help it adapt to the change of seasons. The building is prefabricated utilizing CNC methods and delivered as a single unit, which reduces installation time to a couple of days. hellowood.eu

Italian company Avio Interiors has developed a solution to minimize contact and the chances of passing on coronavirus when travelling by plane. Aptly named ‘Janus’ referencing the two-faced Ancient Roman god with two faces, it involves reverse position of the middle seat, while passengers seated next to the aisle and to the window are oriented in the direction of the flight. Each seat is surrounded on three sides by a partition system that shields the passengers in a row from each other as well as from flight attendants using the aisle. The ‘Janus’ configuration is available in two materials: transparent providing an airy cabin or opaque for more privacy. More solutions ensuring safe travelling by air in our blog.beopenfuture.com

Aakash Nihalani is a unique New York-based artist known for his 3D geometric illusions made with fluorescent tape. Nihalani places his graphics around New York City in a selective way, intending them to highlight aspects of the city itself: he uses buildings, sideways, and doorways among other objects as a vehicle to deliver his art’s message. Using simple geometric shapes on two-dimensional surfaces, Nihalani shows the viewer how depth, perspective and color can transform an ordinary space into a living canvas. The repetition of isometric squares and rectangles conveys such complexities as movement and space by something so simple as the placement of a line. More unconventional street art in our blog.beopenfuture.com

The ‘Glass House’ initiative will restore a historic building in the US state of Virginia dating back to 1769 and known as the home of Francis Lightfoot Lee, a signer of the declaration of independence. The architectural design is developed by Boston-based firm Machado Silvetti. According to the concept, the remaining portions of the original building will be preserved, while the missing walls, floors and sections of the roof will be replaced with glass, which will serve as a protective cover for the existing structure and blend with the 18th century stone, brick and timber to bring the historic building of Menokin back to life. This interplay of the historic and modern-day design allows a more complex look not only at the house, but also the people who lived on the site over the centuries — the native American Rappahannock tribe, the English settlers, the Lee family, and the people who were enslaved at Menokin. The restored house will be open to the public in 2023. www.machado-silvetti.com

This year NASA celebrates the 50th anniversary of the safe landing of the Appolo 13 lunar module, which made us recall some recent examples of space-inspired fashion items. Among others is a backpack from the collection streetwear clothing launched by fashion designer Heron Preston in collaboration with NASA back in 2018. The square backpack is reminiscent of the portable life systems worn by astronauts. It is designed to be multi-convertible, multi-functional into three parts - a tote bag, the fanny pack and a backpack — all in one. Other pieces of the collection include a range of jackets, hoodies, t-shirts and caps as well as socks and belts. Apart from the logo used as prescribed by the strict guidelines established by NASA, the pieces also features the American flag and a printed statement by President Eisenhower in 1958, describing the purpose of NASA as an organisation for aeronautical research and the civilian space program. More space-related collections in our blog.beopenfuture.com

An online vote has defined the winner of the Public Vote Award in the “Second Life of Things in Design”, an international competition held by BE OPEN and Cumulus to support the UN’s SDG programme. Students of arts, design and architecture-related courses submitted works that demonstrate a design-oriented take on the problems of sustainability, wiser production and consumption called for in one of the SDGs. The project accumulated a total of 683 submissions from 44 countries. Out of the 50 honorable mentions, the public have selected the winner of the Public Vote Award, who will now receive a €2,000 prize and a paid trip to the awards ceremony, where all the winners will have a chance to present their ideas to a wide panel of academics, design professionals, sustainability experts, etc. BE OPEN and Cumulus are happy to announce that the award goes to Fernanda Ordorica Bechelany, a student of National School of Architecture, Art and Design at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico, for her Agave Bioplastic project, “a thin but resistant bioplastic made from the agave plant fiber, the main waste of the Tequila producing industry.” The public voting did not only bring another young talent a prize, but helped thousands of people see the remarkable creativity, awareness and responsibility of the younger generation. The winner of the Founder’s Choice Award will shortly be announced by Elena Baturina, the Founder of BE OPEN. Stay tuned! sltd2019.com

Traditional garden gnomes might look too playful and kitsch but they are an intrinsic part of a traditional garden. New York based studio New Affiliates, led by Ivi Diamantopoulou and Jaffer Kolb, has designed a line of minimalist garden gnomes that are abstracted into simplified shapes. The colourful free-standing ornaments are made from two powder-coated sheets of steel that slot together to create a self-supporting structure and are available in pink, yellow, white or blue. They come in three playful variations that retain recognizable elements of traditional gnomes, such as their distinctive cone-shaped hats, blurred into abstract shapes of Gnome Without Hat, Gnome With Hole, and Gnome Sleeping. All of the gnomes can be flat-packed and stacked for easy transportation. www.new-affiliates.us

Designed by the Thailand-based design firm Enter Projects, the 450 sqm headquarters of a Bangkok-based yoga brand Vikasa consists of a series of free-form yoga pods. To create the rattan pods with their signature geometry, the team has combined 3D technology with local craft. Enter Projects have been working with rattan for some time supporting local people and giving them a chance to showcase their unique craftsmanship with the use of an entirely renewable material. Floor-to-ceiling windows on the front façade fill the space with natural light, while ensuring that the yoga pods remain private. The concept feels like an oasis of tranquility amongst the chaos of Bangkok and serves as a manifestation of the company’s principles regarding health and wellness. More bespoke yoga studios in our blog.beopenfuture.com

The winning project for a cultural complex in Shenzhen’s Loggang district by Beijing-based architecture practice URBANUS takes full advantage of the site’s topography and landscape. The brief outlined by the local authorities called for a new art centre to be built in Banxuegang Science and Technology city. URBANUS responded with a concept of the new art centre fully integrated with a city park that will allow its visitors to enjoy various entertainments and cultural activities. The main buildings accommodate a theatre complex and a science and art museum that become an extension of the park’s public path and form the daily system of active public space for the residents. The 1,600-seat grand theater, a black box theater and a public art center appear as separate volumes on the roof canopy connected by an inner street, open 24 hours a day. The multi-purpose art gallery is also oriented towards the park, its exhibition hall on the upper level offering views across the undulating landscape. More public spaces incorporating natural ecosystems in our blog.beopenfuture.com

Kawahara and Niiyama laboratories of the University of Tokyo and Mercari R4D have collaborated to develop Poimo, a bespoke take on portable last mile mobility. The project encompasses an inflatable personal scooter that is lightweight (5.5 kg) and is compact enough to be folded into an average-sized backpack. The soft body is made from thermoplastic polyurethane, the material used in airbeds that is both light to be carried easily and strong enough to support a person’s weight. On top of that, the inflatable body enables safer user interactions with pedestrians and drivers. In order to reduce the overall weight, a wireless/batteryless powering system has been developed. The team claims that the process of inflating the scooter and attaching wheels, handlebars, electric motor and wireless controller should not take more than five minutes. With Poimo, the team aims to redefine electric personal mobility by combining it with soft robotics. https://poimo.akg.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/