Be Open think tank

#BeOpenNEWS #BeOpenART BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Giuliano Amedeo Tosi, a self-taught artist based in Bern, Switzerland, 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. Congratulations to Giuliano, whose mesmerizing paintings have gained her a majority of votes in August! We also take the opportunity to applaud all the featured artists and thank everyone who voted.

#BeOpenDESIGN London-based designer Joe Slatter have creatively approached the plastic waste caused by billions of disposable masks being discarded in the streets during the Coronavirus pandemic. His Veil Stool is made from over 4,000 blue and white facemasks reclaimed from the streets of the British capital. On collection, the masks were disinfected them with ozone spray and quarantined in sunlight for four weeks. After a series of experiments, he discovered that three-ply facemasks can be spun into a soft yarn as well as being melted into a dense polypropylene structure. The recycled stool features a threaded cushioned seat made from the facemasks yarn mounted on top of three short stool legs hardened from melted face masks. According to the designer, the name ‘Veil’ implies that it is possible to see beauty in an object that is often disregarded, such as a facemask.

#BeOpenARCH Local architect Amelia Tavella has renovated and extended the Convent Saint-François, a historical monument dating back to 1480, located in Santa-Lucia di Tallano, Corsica. This partially ruined building, which sits on an elevated site overlooking the village below, was abandoned for a very long time and vegetation had taken over it structure, growing in between cracks in the stone. The architect decided to treat it as an ‘essential component of the historic monument’ that had protected the building from collapse while it lay empty. She preserved the existing stone ruins and added a copper-clad extension that mimics the silhouette of the pre-existing rooflines and arched openings. The perforated copper transforms the place into an experience, as it diffuses the light, thus creating an impression as if it were passing through the stained glass window of a church.

#BeOpenARCH Malan Vorster Architecture Interior Design, architecture practice based in Cape Town, has developed a cabin-like one-bedroom hideaway resembling a treehouse. The structure has the pure geometry of a square, with each side divided into three modules. Two of these determine the diameter of a circle on each of the four sides of the square, resulting in a pin-wheel plan layout. The structural columns within the house branch into arms at the top, creating large rings that support the consecutive floor above it. The building becomes a vertically arranged “clearing in the forest”, with living space on level one, a bedroom on level two and a roof deck on the third. It lightly touches the ground, and is accessed by a suspended timber and Corten steel ramp. the cabin was built using red cedar wood and Corten steel. All materials used for construction – red cedar wood, Corten and hand-turned brass components – are left completely untreated so that they will weather naturally over time with the surrounding trees.

#BeOpenDESIGN Revolve Air wheelchair by Andrea Mocellin is designed to revolutionize travel for people of restricted mobility. A key feature of the design is its innovative 24-inch foldable wheels. When folded, the product saves up to 60% more space, making it ideal for airplane trips and similar journeys. Revolve Air can fold down to fit the standard cabin baggage dimensions universally used by airlines, which would allow users to travel freely and efficiently without having to check in their own wheelchair hours before the flight and rely on airport assistance. There is also no need to store the wheelchair in a large car trunk, which gives the wheelchair owners the freedom to drive small cars or take any taxis available. More innovative wheelchair designs in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Dutch designer Caspar Schols has developed a versatile flatpack cabin that extends using sliding support rails to adapt to changing weather and types of activities. Starting as a backyard Garden House for his mother, Cabin Anna features an exterior constructed from two separate wooden ‘shells,’ as outer walls, which can retract from the cabin’s glass frame to create a transparent living space in the center of the dwelling or on its right-hand side, functioning as a sort of glass-enclosed sunroom. As temperatures rise, the cabin’s innermost glass frame can slide away to create an entirely exposed center room for sunbathing, outdoor sleeping, and general relaxation. The cabin features a shower room, toilet, complete kitchen, and space for a couple of beds.

#BeOpenARCH Muraka hotel that has recently opened on the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is the world’s first-ever underwater hotel residence. Designed by Tokyo design firm Yuji Yamazaki Architecture, the two-story villa sits both above and below the Indian Ocean. The very name “muraka” means in the Maldives’ local language Dhivehi. The villa sits perched out in the ocean, accommodating a private gym, a bar, an infinity pool, butler’s quarters, an ocean-facing bathtub and a private jetty, as well as “relaxation decks” facing the sunrise and the sunset. The underwater level, located five meters below the waves, houses a king-size bedroom, living area, and a bathroom. The all-glass underwater suite offering 180-degree panoramic views of the ocean’s marine life can accessed via a spiral staircase or an elevator. More hospitality architecture in the Maldives in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN During the months of lockdown, artist and designer Nikolas Bentel reimagined a mundane box of pasta into a trendy mini fashion bag. The item is manufactured from leather, which has been printed on its surface using UV printing technology, and is adorned with a handle and gold chain shoulder strap. Although the purse is not affiliated with the Barilla brand, the purse features all of the details of the original box, including its nutrition information panel and cooking instructions. According to Bentel, the project aims to inspire a bit of thought and reflection on being able to create something unique and impressive from ordinary everyday items. Created as a limited-edition product, the Pasta Bag was immediately sold out after being launched this August.

#BeOpenARCH Macau-based Studio Avoid has drawn inspiration from the network of vernacular cave dwellings in the village of Xiyaotou in China's Hebei province to develop a series of interconnected vertical brick-clad pods forming the Grotto Retreat Xiyaotou. Connected by a raised walkway, the pods are arranged in seemingly irregular pattern, which together with their organic forms complement the natural properties of the surroundings. Each of the seven-metres-high units is topped with large skylights that allow sunlight in to warm the interiors. The hostel was developed as part of a programme aimed at redevelopment of China’s abandoned villages by transforming them into hubs providing accommodation, local cuisine and activities for visitors.

#BeOpenDESIGN Design trio from India, Aakash Dolas, Shruthi Iyer and Tanay Dhongade, has developed a writing aid for left-handed people. As we normally write from left to right, left-handed people cannot see what they write, which leads to uncomfortable and non-ergonomic hand positions. Felef is an ergonomic pen attachment that can be fastened to any writing instrument using a tightening screw. It helps offset a pen/pencil, maintaining a safe distance between the hand and the nib. By putting the palm below the nib rather than beside it, the extension makes sure the palm is always resting against the blank paper, preventing any accidental smudges.