Be Open think tank

#BeOpenART In his Solar Power series, US-based photographer Tom Hegen explores the futuristic beauty of solar power plants across the United States, France, and Spain, shot from a helicopter. These man-made, constructed landscapes represent our efforts of building a more sustainable future in the most sophisticated ways. Beyond the advantages of the clean energy that they produce, these constructed fields of solar collection take on an artistic quality resembling shimmering constellations and making our imagination run wild.

#BeOpenDESIGN As part of her thesis project for Tama Art University in Tokyo, Japanese designer Rie Sakamoto has made a fashion collection of elastic garments by connecting the rubber bands together one by one, before knitting them in the same way as knitting yarn with needles. The Rubber Band collection comprises a dress and a jacket, which aim to showcase overlooked qualities of this stationery item, such as soft texture, "beautiful candy colour," and high elasticity. The latter lends itself to clothing, enabling the material to morph to different body shapes and sizes.

#BeOpenARCH International Büro Ole Scheeren Group has unveiled designs for Sanya Horizons, a tropical resort that comprises two hotels under IHG brands on the island of Hainan in southern China. Rather than creating a pair of separated towers, the hotels are stacked on top of one another, thereby occupying a smaller footprint and allowing the rest of the site to remain a natural landscape. The volumes are planimetrically curved to embrace the ocean and further enhance the abundant vistas, with every hotel room given its own private terrace and 100% unobstructed sea views. The façade consists of a deep hexagonal grid of balconies and walkways that provides complete protection from the sun and thereby dramatically further reduces the building’s energy consumption. The project will also feature one of the world's largest infinity pools and “hanging gardens” set 75 metres above the ground.

#BeOpenDESIGN Alondra Elizalde, Mexican industrial designer based in Seville, Spain, has developed a flatpack versatile stool that is specially designed for easy assembly and storage. Named That Stool, the piece is comprised of only a few parts: a seat rest, five legs, a couple of star-shaped spindles, and some connecting nuts and bolts, all contained within a flatpack cardboard box that comes with assembly instructions imprinted on the underside. The stool can be assembled in only four steps without any additional hardware needed. Legs are attached to the corresponding screws on the star-shaped spindles. After that, they are secured by connecting fasteners in place, providing a sturdy bolster for the seat rest to mount. More flatpack DIY furniture in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN The beautifully minimal toaster concept by Korean designer Yezin Shin challenges the traditional archetype of a vertical pop-up toaster. What she suggests is in fact an oversimplified oven for slices of bread that can be used sideways, enabling the user to cook toasts with butter, cheese, or a variety of toppings on it. Inspired by the shape of the ubiquitous white bread slice (and literally shaped like one), Shin’s toaster is intended to toast one slice of bread at a time, no matter vertically or horizontally. More ingenuous breakfast devices in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN Upon discovering that demand for furniture personalization is increasing among different age groups, Hangzhou-based Tells Studio has introduced Mass Sofa, an art object that comprises an eccentric sofa that is designed to be customized. The piece is made of transparent TPU and can be filled with whatever the user wishes to put inside to reflect their personality. Holding the sofa is a beautiful stainless-steel frame, offering an unobstructed view of what is inside.

#BeOpenDESIGN Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Laura Deschl has developed The Healing Imprint, a therapeutic garment that is made to help heal trauma. The garment includes a custom knit bodysuit, gloves, socks and a pillow, designed to explore the potential of integrative therapies combining acupressure, a non-invasive practice of traditional Chinese medicine with yoga-like movements to treatt psychological trauma. While small balls inserted into a grid stitched into the garments can be moved onto specific acupressure points on the body, feet, hands and head, thus helping the wearer access buried memories or emotions; the trauma-informed yoga movements would facilitate introspection around those recollections. With her project, the designer hopes to address symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as trauma-related anxiety and depression.

#BeOpenARCH Israel-based architecture practice Alon Alexandroni has developed A House in the Countryside, a barn-like residence in Ein Vered, next to Tel Aviv. Built in an agricultural area, the building is inspired by local wood and earth, orchards and agriculture. In addition, it references the Israeli concrete Brutalism period, thus combining multiple materials and textures with a variety of spaces in one simple shape. Inside, the house comprises two living units with two different façades. Transparent and lightweight, the rear façade overlooking the fruit grove is clad with a curtain wall. The front façade, on the contrary, embraces a more massive character. It leaves uncovered a small strip of glazing between two concrete walls, which opens towards the long field.

#BeOpenARCH Austrian-Finnish architects Berger+Parkkinen have wrapped a new office space for a film production company in Vienna’s neighbourhood into an intricate metal structure, which was designed to become overgrown with climbing plants over time. Named Terra Mater, the new addition comprises a two-story timber pavilion sited close to an existing tree and houses offices and meeting rooms. The team has selected specific plant species to blend the new intervention into the garden of the historic art nouveau villa that houses the existing offices and ensure a long-term cyclical change in the appearance of the pavilion in harmony with the changing seasons.

#BeOpenDESIGN Architect, designer and MIT professor Neri Oxman has created a bespoke chaise longue using 44 composite materials with different pre-set mechanical combinations varying in rigidity, opacity and color, which were 3D-printed inside a wooden frame. This inner skin was produced on Stratasys' new Objet500 3D printer, which allows materials and colours to be combined simultaneously. Named Gemini, the recliner forms a semi-enclosed space surrounding the user with a stimulation-free environment, “recapitulating the ultimate quiet of the womb as it echoes our most inner voices.” This is achieved through a combination of a solid wood milled shell housing and an intricate cellular skin made of sound absorbing material.