Be Open think tank

#BeOpenARCH For the MARUHONmakiart Terrace in Miyagi, Japan, Sou Fujimoto Architects has created a complex cultural facility that would symbolize Ishinomaki city’s recovery from the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of 2011. The architectural plan encompasses a series of town-like spaces that feature various functional spaces for a diverse range of visitors, including a large hall, a small hall, an exhibition area, a public gallery, and a learning space.

#BeOpenNEWS BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Ammama Malik from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, has been voted the Artist of the Month by the visitors of art.beopenfuture.com Aiming to showcase emerging talents, every month we invite people passionate with art to choose the best artist among those exhibited in our online gallery. Ammama describes her work as “painting for the sake of painting”, taking inspiration from the paintings of the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Probably that’s what has gained her a majority of votes in May. Congratulations to Ammama! We also take the opportunity to applaud all the featured artists and thank everyone who voted.

#BeOpenARCH Bjarke Ingels Group's proposal for the National Museum of the U.S. Navy pays homage to the scale, detail, and material of Naval vessels. The design features five slender buildings with metallic roofs that will sit on top of the water. The open, airy interior terminates in different tunnels with large floor-to-ceiling windows that also show off the Navy’s macro artifacts, like a Corsair aircraft, a Swift Boat, and the sail of a submarine. "As a Dane and a resident of a houseboat – a Norwegian ferry I converted into my family home – to imagine a museum for the United States Navy is a true labor of love!" said BIG founder Bjarke Ingels. More finalists for the design competition in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Hovering above San Francisco, this home office by OPA provides a rarified atmosphere for observation and reflection. The vibrant work and study space is cantilevered over a four-story drop of an existing house, and a continuous glazing wraps across four facets of the structure. The direct visual connection with the expansive view heightens the feeling of immersion in mid-air, suspended above the world below.

#BeOpenNEWS BETTER ENERGY BY DESIGN is an international student competition, held by BE OPEN. Now that our amazing jury have selected the top 32 entries, it is time for you to decide which project deserves the Public Vote prize of €2,000! Throughout June, an online vote will be held at the competition website. Please make sure to familiarize yourselves with the selection of top entries, and give your ‘heart’ to the one that resonates with you most, and truly deserves your support. You can leave one vote for each of the projects you like. The online voting is officially on, and will last until midnight of June 30th.

#BeOpenDESIGN Did you know that the sex of sea turtles is determined by the warmth of the sand where they are hatched in? If it’s under 27.7°C, they will be born male but if they’re above 31°C, they will be females. Due to global warming, there has been a huge dip in the population of these highly endangered animals. Sunscreen brand Banana Boat has collaborated with creative agency Wunderman Thompson Colombia to develop a solution. Nest Domes provide a cooler shelter for the turtles allowing an equal ration of them to be born. The shell of the domes is made from Caribbean wood, while the inside is lined with 100% biodegradable locally-sourced cork hat serves as a natural cooling source.

#BeOpenNEWS BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Keyonne ‘Keeks’ Yarde, a Barbadian raised stippling artist, has been selected the Regional Artist of the month (May) by the highest number of votes of BE OPEN Art online gallery visitors. Keeks has become the second of the three candidates to the title of the Regional artist (Caribbean) and the 500 euros prize, alongside Kamlah Kew from Antigua & Barbuda. After one more monthly winner is defined in June, the BE OPEN Art expert team will select the one winner who best represents the artistic tradition of the Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

#BeOpenDESIGN Dubbed the Forest Lab for Observational Research and Analysis (FLORA), the observatory designed and built by a team of students and researchers from the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) is an innovative and unique scientific research facility suspended among the treetops of Barcelona‘s Collserola Natural Park. The observatory is designed by the IAAC team to house a researcher who will be studying the biodiversity of the park and utilizing FLORA’s new weather station for a certain period of time. The facility is the first building that allows for the observation of the forest canopy, inspired by the work of the American biologist Margaret D. Lowman and her hanging walkways. More extraordinary observatories in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN Stuttgart-based designer Stephan Henrich has conceptualized an out-of-this-world bicycle that would perfectly suitable for a sci-fi movie. The all-wheel-drive vehicle sets into motion with the help of a monotyre-clip chain system, which automatically forms a temporary rim in the wheel sections, as well as a dented belt drive in the interior groove. More eccentric bicycle designs in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Shanghai-based architecture company Wutopia Lab has transformed a former bicycle shed into a contemporary, multi-functional cultural space within the confines of a creative industry park east of the Huangpu River. Inspired by the look and feel of nautical machinery and ships, the design comprises an arched, bunker-like volume clad in copper plates, both inside and out. An enclosed stainless-steel gabled volume houses a café, a kitchen, and a bathroom, which makes the cavernous space a perfect site for any event or gathering.