Be Open think tank

#BeOpenDESIGN Royal College of Art graduate Marie Tricaud has designed a set of wearable modules that let live music be performed as "vibration loops and temperature melodies" on your skin. Named Touché, the product consists of small plastic hexagonal pods that attach anywhere on the body, in any combination, and a console that performers can use to build loops. Each wearable pad contains its own vibration motor, which offers varying levels of intensity as well as a temperature element. Rather than translate audio frequencies into physical vibrations, Touché offers a creative tool for performers and listeners to artistically explore the long-neglected sense of touch. More wearable musical instruments in our blog

#BeOpenARCH As its name suggests, Monolithus holiday home built in Santorini, Greece, by local architecture firm Kapsimalis Architects resembles a natural stone that was gradually worn away by the air and the water. Conceived based on the idea of natural erosion, architecture of the four-bedroom dwelling comprises a combination of solid masses and voids. Inside, living rooms, dining areas, and spaces for relaxation and sanitation are housed under the main unit and two guesthouses. Pieces of primitive, handmade furniture, made from various materials like concrete, black stone, marble, wood, iron, clay, and glass, are placed throughout the residence, both in the interior and exterior spaces.

#BeOpenARCH The long-anticipated Taipei Performing Arts Center designed by international architecture practice OMA is complete and will officially open to the public in August. The monumental design is made up of three theaters plugged into a central cube. The central cube consolidates the stages, back stages, support spaces of the three theaters, and the public spaces for spectators into a single and efficient whole. The spherical 800-seat Globe Playhouse consists of an inner and an outer shell, between which is the circulation space that brings visitors to the auditorium. The Grand Theater, slightly asymmetrical in shape, is a 1500-seat theater space for different performing arts genres. Opposite to it is the 800-seat Blue Box for the most experimental performances. The theaters can be coupled for new performing possibilities.

#BeOpenDESIGN Reykjavík-based designer Tobia Zambotti addresses the dramatic environmental issue of sea level rise acceleration caused by global warming and climate change in a humorous way. He has developed a playful chair design made of a discarded kid-size lifebuoy ring. Named Sea Level Rise Chair, the statement-design chair serves as a symbolic element referencing the sea level and seeks to lead the design community toward a more sustainable future, while celebrating the process of upcycling. In addition, the bright orange color of the lifebuoys emphasizes the urgency of the situation.

#BeOpenART Young Japanese artisan Shinri Tezuka has revived the ancient Japanese candy art of Amezaiku in a series of hyper-realistic sculptural edibles. One of a few remaining Amezaiku practitioners in Japan, Tezuka uses colorful food-based paints and tweezers to shape sugar base into miniature hyper-realistic sculptures, typically an animal or insect with intricate characteristics. To create a candy sculpture, starchy syrup is kneaded, pulled by hand, and formed into a large ball, which is then reheated to make it pliable again. The artist then puts his hand into the hot mass to pinch and sculpt the necessary material, then quickly rolls and mounts it on a stick. Finally, the mass is pulled, twisted and clipped into form. It is essential to go through all the stages quickly, since the sculpture must be completed before the candy cools and hardens again. More candy art in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Shanghai-based architecture practice Behive Design has developed a data centre solution that is both efficient and sustainable for Naver, the largest internet enterprise in Korea. Titled Cloud Ring, the project literally consists of an outer and an inner ring. While the outer ring housing the server rooms and their mechanical space hovers above the valley, the inner one is formed by a village-like cluster of amenity buildings. The difference between the two rings is enhanced through the materiality. The inner ring is finished in tinted concrete, which makes it blend harmoniously within the landscape. Contrastingly, the outer ring features a delicate elegantly patterned perforated screen that generates a signature exterior appearance and doubles as a purification mechanism. More on architecture of data centres in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Polish architects Michał Spólnik and Marcin Kitala have proposed a skyscraper that follows the principles of agroecology. Named New Spring, the timber tower is envisioned as an aggregation of modules – each one holding the seeds of future gardens, fields, or farmlands that can be dispatched to specific regions to help restore their natural landscape. According to the architects duo, the modules can be added, removed, or replaced freely. Hidden behind the modules and supporting structure is the core filled with hardware functions: seed and plant tissue banks, laboratories, lecture spaces, data centers, warehouses, and high-tech composters. Credits: evolo.us

#BeOpenDESIGN UV-Zhu, product designer based in Xiamen, China, transforms mini-floaters into designer soles for his conceptual shoes and fills them with candies to turn them into works of art. The chunky shoes have “a soft, puffy size” and resemble “mutated creatures” through their spikes and jelly-like tentacles, as the designer puts it. Finished in vibrant neon colours, the inflated soles add inches to the wearer’s height, making them appear floating off the ground.

#BeOpenNEWS Time to transform the everyday life with your own unique vision! Our first open call #BEOPENGrowFood in 2022 is dedicated to promoting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular focuses on SDG2: Zero Hunger. Under the umbrella of zero hunger, SDG2 is not only about ending hunger, but also achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture all over the globe. Sustainable agriculture may sound intimidating to non-farmers, but it is achievable in every household, even urban ones. Not everyone has space for a garden, some of us have to work with a window box, a flowerbed or fire escape, but we all have our possibilities for growing food, and doing so in the most sustainable way available to us. 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 entries will close May 31, 2022. The winner will receive a €300 prize. Find details at beopensocial.com

#BeOpenART One the most representative Brazilian artists of his generation Jonathas de Andrade has translated popular Brazilian idioms referring to the human body parts into a playful installation for Brazil Pavilion representing the country at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition includes photographic prints, sculptures, some of which are interactive, and a video. Visitors step inside the Brazilian Pavilion through a gigantic ear and exit through the other, as a visual reference of an expression ‘in one ear and out the other.’ Among other pieces are sculptural representations of an eye on the floor, a bitten, severed tongue, hands in the fire, and a warm back, among other parts of the human body, all of which translate popular idioms related to parts of the body that describe feelings and situations.