Be Open think tank

#BeOpenNEWS Competition! Design Your Climate Action! Speed up to submit your entry to BE OPEN's Design Your Climate Action global competition. DEADLINE is JANUARY 31, 2024. Win €5,000 as the First prize, €3,000 as the Second, and €2,000 as the Third prize. There will also be the BE OPEN's Choice prize of €3,000 and the Public Vote prize of €2,000. The competition aims to encourage creation of innovative solutions by students and recent graduates, for a more prosperous and sustainable future; the focus of the competition is the United Nations’ SDG13: Climate Action. See the rules and guidelines, and submit your projects online at designclimateaction.com

#BeOpenDESIGN The Naaaan Time clock by Japanese artist Yukiko Morita is inspired by The Persistence of Memory, famous painting by Salvador Dali, which depicts a surreal scene of melting clocks in a natural landscape. The artist makes the clock from the real naan bread using flour, salt, yeast and sugar. Since every unique piece is hand baked, it bears a different texture and expression. The resulting object is then covered with a layer of an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal sealant to protect the bread from decaying. A clock dial and batteries added to the surface of the bread turns the edible into a functional object. More pieces reimagining iconic artworks in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Developed by Beijing-based architectural firm TAO, In-between Pavilion in Nantou Ancient Town, Shenzhen, is an exhibition gallery built on a densely packed and compressed site sitting between two residences. Due to spatial limitations, the team attempted to maximize floor area, projecting volumes further outwards as floors ascend. Light and semi-translucent metal mesh covers the facade, like a hazy veil, blurring the boundary between indoors and outdoors.

#BeOpenART French artist Vincent Leroy has installed an XL version of his Floating Lenses optical mobile in an XL version on the waters of Canada's Lake Louise. Made up of 128 fresnel lenses mounted on carbon rods, the mobile reacts to the slightest breeze, swirling above the water and reflecting itself in its mirroring surface. Accrodingt o the artist, the enigmatic nebula of an installation transforms reality and shifts the viewer ‘into another temporality, another dimension, that of dreams and illusion.’

#BeOpenNEWS OPEN CALL: Imagine what various aspects of future may look like, and create relevant imagery. Share an image with us and win €300! Don't forget the hashtag #BEOPENFutureVision. BE OPEN invites you to join our new #BEOPENFutureVision open call and share the visuals that reveal your vision of the future to connect with open-minded people worldwide. This may range from creating your own futuristic art pieces to capturing glimpses of the future in the lights, reflections and architecture of modern cities, or to AI generated images - you can prove that your creativity is unlimited, and images of the future are all around us today. The open call will close February 29th, 2024. The winner will receive a €300 prize. Interested in taking part? Learn more at beopensocial.com

#BeOpenARCH Seeking to revitalize struggling fishing industry in the historic Angsila fishing village in Chonburi, Thailand, the Angsila Oyster Scaffolding Pavilion by Bangkok-based Chat Architects invites eco-tourism enthusiasts taste oysters pulled from the ocean below. The design draws on bamboo scaffolding traditionally used for oyster cultivation: local fishermen manually drive each bamboo column into the ocean floor. Rejected car seatbelts, acquired at a discount due to discoloration from local auto plants, are used to tie all of the bamboo members together. The finishing touch is added by vivid red light-filtering agricultural tarp, which is used to shade visitors from the ocean sun while letting the breeze in.

#BeOpenDESIGN Co-Habitable Object by Chinese practice Atelier Alter Architects invites humans and animals to connect on a physical level and share meaningful moments together within the abstract and organic form. The collection is comprised of adaptable modules that can extend horizontally and vertically, offering versatile configurations — from urban furniture to traversable walls — that can be used by humans. In the meantime, through a series of internal ellipsoidal subtractions, the team created interconnected cave-like units specifically tailored to the nesting habits of small animals.

#BeOpenARCH Originally conceived in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) as a low-cost, rapid-deployment housing solution to rebuild Ukraine, ReHome concept by studio Cutwork proposes structures that would be equally relevant for addressing the growing global housing crisis in times of stability. The modular 27 sqm units can be stacked like Lego bricks to complete a full residential block up to 6 stories in significantly less time (up to 40%) than conventional construction methods. The system is expandable by removing non-load bearing walls to easily combine multiple modules and create larger units according to a wide-range of conditions and contexts. More affordable housing with a great quality of living in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN Brazilian practice Estúdio Campana founded by the brothers Humberto and the late Fernando Campana has collaborated with æquo, India’s first collectible design gallery, to craft the Atuxuá cabinet, which pays homage to India's history, rich craft heritage, techniques, and raw materials, such as natural fibre and brass wires. According to Humberto Campana, the intricacy of the Sabai grass and the metalwork represents a parallel between the spirituality, rituals, and religious syncretism we can find both in India and Brazil.

#BeOpenDESIGN Commissioned to create outdoor lighting for the brand new Victoriapark in Eindhoven, Dutch duo VANTOT has introduced a design for a solar powered sustainable and interactive light-installation called Sunseeker. The smart solar harvesting modules are equipped with light sensors that inform each individual light fixture to spin on its axis or move along the light chain to find the sunniest spots, much like sunflowers spinning to catch sun rays. This allows the fixture to escape the shadows of the urban landscape and optimizes solar harvesting. Built with a modular design principle in mind, the lighting is environmentally and financially more friendly, as each of its parts can be replaced and mended separately.

#BeOpenDESIGN For his new Waste Screen Recycle project, designer Haneul Kim has collaborated with CGV, Korea’s biggest movie brand, to repurpose waste movie screens from theaters into portable lamps that utilize small perforations in the material to emit light. The designer has drawn inspiration from the iconic shogun lamp by Mario Botta, characterized by clean lines and geometric precision. According to Kim, discarded movie screens represent excellent materials capable of substituting cloth or leather, due to their exceptional functional and a visual resemblance to aluminum perforated plates commonly used in industrial projects.

#BeOpenDESIGN French design studio Atelier YokYok has installed a playful anamorphic bench in the city of Malicorne-sur-Sarthe that plays with perspective and creates an optical illusion making people seem bigger or smaller depending on where they sit. If viewed from the top of the rear, the bench looks like a giant chair with a miniature human sitting on it. However, when viewed form the side, it appears like a centipede-like street furniture with uneven irregularly shaped legs. The seat of the bench was crafted using Malicorne concrete, which is composed of low-carbon cement, 100 percent natural pigments from Apt to evoke Malicorne’s clay, and pieces of Malicorne earthenware instead of gravel.

#BeOpenDESIGN Instanbul-based OTTAN studio makes use of various organic waste such as fruit and vegetable peels, plant-based expired goods, nut shells, fallen leaves and cut grass to create boutique, high-quality handmade materials with different surface touch, technical performance and usage areas. The team applies these materials to create bespoke design objects, such as furniture, lighting, home decoration and wall panels. For example, this coffee table is made from a light-transmitting material upcycled from expired yellow lentils and beautifully coloured material made using cut grass.

#BeOpenDESIGN Argentinian artist based in Spain, Cynthia Nudel, proposes a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional ceramics, transforming eggshell waste and algae into a series of sculptural biodegradable designs. In a bid to minimize impact on the environment, the designer makes use of locally sourced organic waste, to craft Bioceramics, a series of sustainable vases and pots, where clay is substituted with powdered eggshells found in a local bakery combined with sodium alginate from brown algae.

#BeOpenART Swedish artist and craftsman Love Hultén has merged vintage aesthetics with modern technology to create the Tegel. This sound sculpture incorporates a miniature bonsai tree connected to probes and a small computer to create audio experiences. Using the plant as an adjustable resistor, the device detects minute fluctuations in electrical currents from the organic material. These signals are then translated into MIDI format, which is directed to a Korg NTS-1 synth for basic sound manipulation. The piece also features an analog VU-meter and a small MIDI keyboard for optional use. More sound sculptures highlighting a fusion of nature and technology in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN For his new Waste Screen Recycle project, designer Haneul Kim has collaborated with CGV, Korea’s biggest movie brand, to repurpose waste movie screens from theaters into portable lamps that utilize small perforations in the material to emit light. The designer has drawn inspiration from the iconic shogun lamp by Mario Botta, characterized by clean lines and geometric precision. According to Kim, discarded movie screens represent excellent materials capable of substituting cloth or leather, due to their exceptional functional and a visual resemblance to aluminum perforated plates commonly used in industrial projects.

#BeOpenDESIGN French design studio Atelier YokYok has installed a playful anamorphic bench in the city of Malicorne-sur-Sarthe that plays with perspective and creates an optical illusion making people seem bigger or smaller depending on where they sit. If viewed from the top of the rear, the bench looks like a giant chair with a miniature human sitting on it. However, when viewed form the side, it appears like a centipede-like street furniture with uneven irregularly shaped legs. The seat of the bench was crafted using Malicorne concrete, which is composed of low-carbon cement, 100 percent natural pigments from Apt to evoke Malicorne’s clay, and pieces of Malicorne earthenware instead of gravel.

#BeOpenDESIGN Chicago-based tech startup Ovie has developed LightTags, glowing light rings that signal if an expiry date is approaching through recognisable colour coding, which are easy to read once you open the fridge. Green indicates a recently tagged food, yellow a food that should be eaten as a priority, and red a food that is likely no longer safe to eat. The LighTags can be used literally on any type of product using a universal connector that can stick to any existing packaging. The gadget can be easily removed, reset and re-stuck to another food container to track food again. More smart alternatives to the standardised expiry date stickers in our blog

BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Jayeola Joshua, Nigeria, is our last Artist of the Month in the Year 2023. Every month we give platform to emerging talents from all over the globe and invite art enthusiasts to choose the best artist among those exhibited in our online gallery. In December 2023, Joshua was granted the majority of votes by the visitors of art.beopenfuture.com Jayeola Joshua (b. 2000) is a visual artist living and working in Lagos, Nigeria. He obtained his National Diploma (ND) from Polytechnic Ibadan in Fine Arts and graduated from Yaba College of Technology in Fine Arts with the Higher National Diploma (HND) in Painting in 2023. Congratulations to Joshua! Soon, BE OPEN Art community members and curators will choose the Artist of the Year 2023. We also take the opportunity to applaud all the featured artists and thank everyone who voted.

#BeOpenARCH Bjarke Ingels Group has collaborated with Arup and Cistri to envision the world's first carbon-neagtive community in the town of Gelephu, Southern Bhutan. Spanning over 1000 km2, the masterplan of the project known as the Mindfulness City includes initiatives in green technology, education, and infrastructure, such as an international airport, railway connections, a hydroelectric dam, and public spaces. The project encompasses an interconnected network of ecosystems and vibrant neighborhoods that are set to enhance the country's natural wealth, while respecting Bhutanese spiritual heritage.