Be Open think tank

#BeOpenDESIGN Georgia-based XYZ Integrated Architecture, founded by the award-winning designer Levan Lominashvili, has imagined eyewear that makes a fashion statement of the maximalist kind. The extraordinary Eclipse Eyewear features lightweight circular bright-colored plates that overlap into each other instead of conventional rigid frames and glasses.  The glasses are kept in a fixed position via a paracord that goes behind the ears. The accessory could be a great choice for those keen on being the center of attention for a high fashion photo shooting or an exclusive event.

#BeOpenDESIGN Designer duo from Belgium, Tobias Knockaert and Kika Merlin, has designed a floating pop-up hotel on a lake in Flanders that offers its guests an opportunity to relive their childhood dreams. Named Vlotkamp, which literally translates as ‘raft camping’, the project encompasses eight rafts made out of five floating modules with a durable Sibley tent on top, which can only be accessed by a canoe. Recycled blue barrels act as floating devices for the rafts, while discarded tires serve to protect the module against bumping. The hotel features a king-size double circular mattress and cozy decorative elements inside the tents. Outside, there are two outdoor seats and a small table, as well as an onboard emergency toilet, which works with wood snippets.

#BeOpenARCH Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has been announced as the winner of a competition to build ‘Tower C’ at Shenzhen Bay super headquarters base that will include clusters of corporate headquarters and serve the greater bay area of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. The design by ZHA comprises a ‘multi-dimensional vertical city’ that features two towers rising to a height of nearly 400 meters. The towers are joined together by sweeping bridges that accommodate cultural and leisure attractions and offer panoramic views of the city. The building accommodates column-free naturally-lit office space, shopping, entertainment, and dining amenities, a hotel, a convention center, and cultural facilities with exhibition galleries. The Tower’s terraced podium with integrated aquaponics gardens connects with the adjacent park and open plazas to create a new public space. More Shenzhen otherworldly architecture in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Local architecture firm Rama Estudio has extended Casa Mirador, a small holiday home in an Ecuadorian forest by adding a single-storey industrially prefabricated glazed box supported by a system of metal channels. Sitting at the edge of a hillside overlooking a valley, the structure is elevated above the sloped terrain to minimise disturbance to the soil, and it roof is covered with greenery, which makes it blend in with the lush surrounding vegetation. An underfloor heating system keeps indoor temperatures comfortable without sacrificing the transparency of the facades produced of tempered glass.

#BeOpenART #BeOpenNEWS BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Vivek Nimbolkar has been voted the Artist of the Month by the visitors of art.beopenfuture.com Aiming to provide emerging creatives around the globe with an opportunity to be seen by the art world community, every month we invite art enthusiasts to choose the best artist among those featured in our online gallery. This month, our congratulations go to Vivek Nimbolkar, a contemporary Indian painter. We also take the opportunity to applaud all the featured artists and thank everyone who voted. See more of Vivek’s works here

#BeOpenDESIGN Inspired by how Nature uses rain to clean the air, Singapore-based industrial designer Kevin Chiam has developed a small 3D-printed clip-on air purifier named Airtomo. The ingenuous device removes air pollutants using release dry, atomised water vapour through a process called aggregation. Ultra-fine mist of water droplets binds harmful particles to form large, heavy aggregates, which fall to the ground, and can subsequently be swept away with a mop. Airtomo is made from a combination of 3D-printed parts along with a bespoke circuit board, a battery and an ultrasonic transducer disc that atomises the water into fine droplets. Designed to be used on the go, it is charged with a micro-USB cable and can be replenished with water wherever necessary. Chiam has created a working prototype for Airtomo that can be attached to a bag, pocket or shoe and is currently developing concepts for purifiers in ankle and neckband form. More wearable technologies in our blog

#BeOpenNEWS Deadline for #BEOPENUrbanGreen Instagram open call is tomorrow! Get your applications in for a chance to win €300! Plants in the city boost one’s spirits, no matter if that is about lush green park, a modest potted plant on your balcony or the sight of a powerful grass-blade forcing its way through the cracks in the pavement. Share your visuals of happy green within an urban context via Instagram with the #BEOPENurbangreen hashtag. BE OPEN Community members will then select the winning post from a shortlist of submissions with the highest number of likes by Instagram users. The winner will receive a €300 prize. More details at beopensocial.com Photo courtesy of https://www.instagram.com/________roberta/

#BeOpenARCH Reykjavik-based Basalt Architects has created a geothermal pool nested in a rocky breakwater barrier that runs along Langisandur Beach in Iceland. The formal expression of the Guðlaug Baths is inspired by the naturally occurring pools of seawater that form around rocks sitting on the beach as the tide flows in and out. The project consists of a three-tiered irregularly shaped structure, with a viewing deck on the top, a warm geothermal pool in the middle, and a shallow cooler pool at the beach level. Each of the oval-shaped platforms is oriented differently, with a staircase wrapping around to connect all three levels. The baths are open to the public and play a supporting role, for example as a gathering point for ocean swimmers in dire need of warming up.

#BeOpenDESIGN South Korean fashion brand LEJE has created a collection of jeans that look glitchy thanks to creative construction and contrasting stitching. One pair features a single diagonal fracture at the knees, while another one appears pixelated with uneven edges down the entire length of the pants. The construction is ingenuously simple – cuts are made in the pants legs and the cut pieces are then slightly shifted – but the resulting items create mind bending optical illusions, which are sure to turn heads.

#BeOpenARCH Mumbai-based practice Nudes has envisioned Rain Water Catcher, an eye-catching rainwater harvesting tower in San Jose, California, that aims to celebrate the role and importance of water in our lives. The tower serves as a receptor designed to collect water and transport it into a safe, shallow rainwater harvesting pool connected to a larger tank. The 60m high central space within the tower's interior is aimed at hosting events and fostering interactions to address issues such as water conservation and climate change. The form of the Rain Water Catcher is algorithmically derived through fluid, flowing lines and geometries that create an interlaced pattern defining the tower as an extension of the landscape. The use of cutting edge digital design aims to streamline the process from ideation to reality, minimizing wastage and fostering respect for the environment through the use of sustainable materials. More rainwater harvesting architecture in our blog