Be Open think tank

#BeOpenDESIGN EmotionCube®Microgreen by Italy-based design studio Oberhauser is the first complete solution for microgreen gardening in the gastronomy and hospitality industry manufactured as a serial product out of 100% recyclable materials. The project comprises the first walk-in climate greenhouse with liquid crystal glazing (PDLC), automatic doors and integrated infrared lighting that provides microgreens with an optimal growing climate. In addition, the climate-regulating tuff stone floor provides the perfect humidity in the interior. We encourage you to share your vision of how we can grow our own food in our own unique ways with the global community by joining our #BEOPENGrowFood Instagram open call. The winner will receive a €300 prize. Find details at beopensocial.com

#BeOpenDESIGN Designed by British firm Stanton Williams for Goodwoof’s Brakitecture competition, The Nook is a multi-functional dog kennel for the contemporary city dweller. The piece doubles as an armchair and a side table, and it also includes a secret window that window provides a direct physical link between the pet and its parent for affection and treats. The piece consists of a series of simple repeated components made out of sustainably sourced Latvian plywood, which ensures it is durable and environmentally sound. For the furniture to be easily dismantled and re-assembled, the elements are clamped together with countersunk bolts fixed at either end of threaded rods slotted within. More extraordinary dog kennels shortlisted for the Barkitecture competition in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN These sneakers by Cullan Kerner were made entirely in Gravity Sketch, a free VR software, specially for 3D printing. The model gets imported into a 3D printing software, and the printer meticulously builds the design layer by layer using a single flexible elastomeric material. Although they shoes are currently not in production, the 3D files are available as NFTs on Exchange Art for people who want to 3D print their own pair of wildly futuristic shoes. The great advantage of the approach is that the user does not need to work with pre-set sizes, the shoes are made to order. More 3D printed shoes in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN Aiming to deliver awareness and change through its designs, Space Available, a furniture and art studio based in Bali, Indonesia, has introduced the environment-friendly Meditation Chair, which is made from 100% recycled plastic waste stretched over a rattan frame. Designed and handmade by master weaver and Balinese craftsman Nano Uhero, the sculptural chair resembles a low sofa and comes with a hand-stitched indigo-dyed cushion.

#BeOpenDESIGN Berlin-based furniture designer Roi B has developed the T-Cord Chair, which is based on the hyperbolic paraboloid principle and has the shape of a saddle. Technically speaking, the shape combines parabolas (vertical) and hyperbolas (horizontal) cross-sections. The chair has been created using 60mm steel pipes and 56 tension chords that are enough to offer durable seating. The tension cords are weaved to allow strength and airflow, which makes the chair ideal for lounging and outdoor use.

#BeOpenDESIGN Korean design practice Ulrim has created an indoor algae farm titled ‘The Coral’. The project comprises an indoor micro-algae growing system providing a sustainable source of micro-algae for personal consumption. The studio head Hyunseok argues that we underestimate algae’s benefits, it being an outstanding food resource which is a sustainable alternative for nutritional diets. The wall-mounted bioreactor proposes a daily ritual for algae consumption through home algae farming activities. When a culture cell turns dark means, it means it contains around 2 grams of algae, which is the recommended daily intake amount. The 16 cells in the four-by-four grid wall frame enable users to grow and eat algae every day because one cell has a biweekly cycle to replenish after harvesting. We encourage you to share your vision of how we can grow our own food in our own unique ways with the global community by joining our #BEOPENGrowFood Instagram open call. The winner will receive a €300 prize. Find details at beopensocial.com

#BeOpenARCH Golong Wormhole by Beijing-based firm PINES ARCH is an experimental space for events and exhibitions in Hangzhou, China, formed by sinuous white layers emerging from the flooring and swinging to the very top. The design team sought to create a continuous formation to fade away the definitions of the room, thus creating a feeling of endless. As its name suggests, the focal point of the space resembles a wormhole that ties three interdependent and interconnected gallery areas together and can accommodate around 60 people on the steps during events. The Wormhole expresses itself as a dynamic sculpture encircling the bystander, creating a sensory experience provoked by light, form, and scale, enhancing their awareness.

#BeOpenARCH Architecture office CUN has transformed an existing19th-century dome-shaped building on Gulangyu Island, China, into a café-bar with a simplified veranda that mimics the surrounding natural landscape and integrates local aesthetics. Named 1/2 Coffee & Bar, the project takes cues from the small-leaf ficus commonly seen on the island and features a tree-shaped canopy that dominates the space. Layers of leaves on the canopy form dim lights under the illumination of the sun rays projected on the ground, so the structure as a shelter from sun and rain in the humid, hot, and rainy subtropical region. It also forms an unseen space for ventilation and heat dissipation.

#BeOpenDESIGN After many years of trying to fully soak pigment into timber, London-based design and research practice Raw Edges found the right combination of dye and wood types to create colourful three-dimensional patterns across the Engrain furniture collection, which consists of a bench, an armchair and a console table. The idea behind the series is to harness the grain of the wood in order to carry dye right the way through sections of timber. Blocks dyed with different pigments are glued together with the grains facing vertically to create three-dimensional patterns prior to being shaped with a CNC machine. More furniture with embellished wood grain in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Aiming to conserve more than 50 per cent of the land on the plot in Veracruz, Mexico, local architect Rafael Pardo has completed a towering apartment block, using concrete pigmented with minerals from the site. The topography of the land enabled this structural solution, which minimized the impact on the land and allowed all the apartments to have views of the surrounding landscape. Named Apartamentos Zoncuantla, the six-storey 470 sqm building comprises two-level apartments of slightly different configuration that has floor-to-ceiling windows looking out. Alongside the apartments, the project included the planting of 31 trees and roughly eight plants per square metre.