Be Open think tank

#BeOpenNEWS BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Brian Connolly, an emerging artist from Sydney, Australia, has been voted the Artist of the Month by the visitors of art.beopenfuture.com Every month we invite art enthusiasts to choose the best artist among those featured in our online gallery. In March, our visitors granted a majority of votes to Brian Connolly, whose portfolio of mural projects spans a wide array of Australia’s most prestigious locations, including shopping malls, hotels and private residences. His artistic vision revolves around our deep-rooted connection with nature, a concept he elegantly portrays through his floral-inspired creations. We congratulate Brian and take the opportunity to applaud all the featured artists.

#BeOpenARCH Interior and product designer Kseniia Kolesnikova has envisioned Glass House, a remote getaway made of cargo containers and fronted almost entirely with glass panels. Renders show a long rectangular volume tucked between two mountain peaks and lifted on tilts above a serene lake. The designer clad the structure into a rusted metal skin to pay homage to weathered fishing houses and opted for a unified colour palette of sand and terracotta for both interior and exterior to visually blend the living spaces with the surreal-looking landscape outside.

#BeOpenDESIGN Designer Andu Masebo has utilized disassembled components of an Alfa Romeo Cloverleaf 145 to reconfigure them into domestic objects of furniture. Presented at last year's London Design Festival, his project Part Exchange tells the life story of a scrapped car through a series of objects inspired by the people whose lives it touched over the course of 25 years. For instance, the cube-like coffee table combines sections of the car's bodywork including one of the door handles, while matching shelving unit repurposes sections of the doors and window casings as well as one of the wing mirrors

#BeOpenNEWS In 2024, BE OPEN Art continues to run BE OPEN Regional Art, the regional competition for emerging artists, aimed to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities. Throughout the year, the BE OPEN expert community will continue selecting those of the artists who best represent the artistic tradition of a certain region to offer them greater visibility. The second stage of the second year of the programme run will cover the countries of Middle East: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It will last 3 months, with a winner named at the end of June. Vote for the Regional Artist of the Month – the winner will get a 500 euro cash prize from BE OPEN!

#BeOpenDESIGN +CLOCK by South Korean designer Ju Chan Ho is a digital clock that can automatically distribute pills at the time set by the user. The device has a disc that can be used to distribute 28 pills and four preset buttons to choose how many meds you take per day. The built-in LED display is used to show time, and an alarm can be set for the user to know when it is time to take medication. At the pre-set time, the distributed pills rotate along the disc, opening the hole and dropping onto the tray.

#BeOpenDESIGN Ownum Pod conceived by Argentinian practice Rume Studio is not just an app that sends the user reminders for medication, but a smart device with a space for a medicine bottle in the middle. A precision scale inside the device ensures the user takes the correct dosage. Those who take several different meds can interconnect multiple pods with just one power cable. It has a rubber base and is also modular so you can place double or multiple pods together. More design-minded and smart pill dispensers in our blog

#BeOpenART #BeOpenNEWS BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Yigitali Sattarov (Uzbekistan) has been selected the Regional Artist of the month (March 2024) as an artist who best represents the artistic tradition of Central Asia. In 2024, BE OPEN Art continues to run BE OPEN Regional Art, the regional competition for emerging artists, whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities. The first stage of the second year of the programme will cover the countries of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Yigitali Sattarov, Uzbek artist concerned about global issues, humanity and its future, has become the last of the three candidates to the Artist of the Region and the 500 euros prize, alongside Guzel Zakirova (Kazakhstan) and Zhyldyz Bekova (Kyrgyzstan). Stay tuned!

#BeOpenDESIGN Japanese company Ena Metal Manufacturing Co., Ltd. makes “ease of eating” the focus of the design of its beautiful pet bowl. Named Swelltone, the bowl can tilt up to an angle of 20 degrees, which makes it easier for a pet to eat every bit of the food without spilling it. The bowl that holds food is manufactured using stainless steel by the same craftsmen who create precision parts for automobiles and aircraft, while its base is crafted out of fine Japanese cypress wood. When not in use, the sophisticated design can serve as a piece of minimalist decor offering a visual delight to humans and pets alike. More design-minded pet bowls in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN Seattle-based designer Jay Sae Jung Oh creates chairs made from discarded household objects as a commentary on waste culture. For the Salvage Chair, the designer has combined thrown-away instruments – including a drum, drumsticks, a French horn and an electric guitar – into an armchair-like arrangement, before hand-wrapping the entire form in ribbons of thin brown leather. The designer sources various leftover or damaged objects from thrift store outlets, as well as from friends or neighbours. After meticulously designing the overall form, the collected pieces are assembled into a furniture-like structure and wrapped in leather cords in intricate patterns. More chairs from recycled materials in our blog

#BeOpenARCH London-based Heatherwick Studio has unveiled a new building for design school and makers’ space for Universidad Ean in Colombia, with the front façade made up of colourful, crafted columns and open terraces. The design pays homage to the local craft traditions including Werregue basketry, a form of weaving unique to Colombia’s Wounaan indigenous community.

#BeOpenDESIGN Power Hug is a concept designed by Taejeong Kim and Yeji Jeon as a comforting technology solution that offers enough warmth to bring a little comfort and ease the worries of the person. Constructed with a soft-sided finish, the robot can be used for stress relief in emergency shelters. It has a big power bank, a series of ports for accessing charging functions, as well as a built-in heater. via yankodesign

#BeOpenDESIGN XFT Medical and IDC has unveiled an advanced solution engineered to aid patients recovering from strokes or hand disabilities. Named Hand Rehabilitation Glove, this innovative robotic glove employs flexible air-activated muscles to facilitate movement, effectively targeting limb motor function and preventing muscle disuse atrophy. With six distinct training modes, including power-assisted movement and resistance training, it offers a versatile approach to muscle strengthening, from full hand movement to single finger exercises.

#BeOpenDESIGN Aiming to address the problem of the enormous volume of waste generated by the country's ceramics manufacturers, Chinese materials company Yi Design has developed a porous brick that could be used to prevent flooding in urban areas. The Permeable YiBrick is made from to 97 per cent recycled ceramic waste, which is ground and bound together using a specially developed non-organic chemical binder. The brick can harvest rainwater, redirecting it from the sewage system to the water table by permeating through the ground, which makes it perfect to be used for outdoor use in paving areas and gardens or as a base of water fountains. More innovative bricks made from waste in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN Japanese manufacturer Sumitomo Metal Mining Co has collaborated with consultant Droga5 Tokyo and fashion designer Kosuke Tsumura to create an extraordinary jacket as a way of demonstrating potential of its innovative heat-producing Solament material. Named the Down-Less Down Jacket, the coat has a typical puffer jacket silhouette, but instead of using feathers or a synthetic material for warmth, it uses infrared-retaining technology to warm the wearer, warming the body "instantly".

#BeOpenDESIGN XFT Medical and IDC has unveiled an advanced solution engineered to aid patients recovering from strokes or hand disabilities. Named Hand Rehabilitation Glove, this innovative robotic glove employs flexible air-activated muscles to facilitate movement, effectively targeting limb motor function and preventing muscle disuse atrophy. With six distinct training modes, including power-assisted movement and resistance training, it offers a versatile approach to muscle strengthening, from full hand movement to single finger exercises.

#BeOpenDESIGN Emy Bensdorp produces bricks from soils, heavily contaminated with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that are toxic and do not break down in the environment when they leak into our soils and groundwater. With her start-up Claybens, Bensdorp eliminate PFAS chemicals from contaminated clay soil by firing it into bricks. What is great about these chemicals is that they're actually great because they are water resistant, fireproof and last for a long time. More sustainable bricks in our blog

#BeOpenDESIGN Beverage company Keurig has addressed the persisting problem of millions of coffee pods thrown in the waste on a daily basis. It has introduced a compostable and plastic-free alternative to the pod, named K-Round, that manages to produce a great brew without leaving a throwaway plastic and metal coffee pod. The K-Round comprises a compressed disc or puck of coffee grounds, bound together with plant-based materials like cellulose.

#BeOpenDESIGN Designed by The Joy Of, a family venture by Ignas and Lina Survila, T-J-O Balance is an eye-catching handbag that features a case of Italian leather for elegance, a sturdy plastic shield for protection, and a carefully crafted handlebar made of birchwood for a touch of natural personalization. The experimental piece is nevertheless very practical, perfectly serving its direct purpose of carrying your everyday essentials.

#BeOpenDESIGN Skateboarder and designer Chris Luu has turned a city barrier into a purse. The Barrier Bag, playfully cast in resin, mirrors different barriers celebrating their distinctiveness, so no two bags are identical.

#BeOpenDESIGN As part of his Diploma Project during his student tenure at the L’école cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) Swiss product designer Robin Luginbühl has conceptualized The Disassembly Lab, modular sneakers with 3D-knitted parts that are repairable, restorable, replaceable, and recyclable. The TPU soles and upper parts can be tied using an elastic thread, or glued together with recycled rubber. Since the sneakers are modular, the upper parts can also be manufactured with disposable or thrown-out materials, including excess fabric from the fashion industry.