Be Open think tank

#BeOpenART Arcade by Belgian architecture duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh is a permanent work of art outside the city of Antwerp, situated along a historic road, which is abruptly cut by a new flood embankment. While the new dike provides protection against flooding, it forms an obstruction that disrupts an age-old link between the village of Basel and the polder. Aiming to symbolically connect two sides of the dike, the duo has placed the sculpture in the exact place where the original road turns into the new staircase on the dike. The artwork is comprised of five monumental arches cut out of steel plates and aligned at the same height. As the legs of each component become elongated as the work descends the slope, it heightens the suggestion of the artwork as an artifact, which existed before the flood dike was built. More bespoke contemporary arcades in our blog

#BeOpenARCH Futuristic Water Discus Underwater Hotel set to be built in Dubai by Poland-based Deep Ocean Technology (DOT) would be an oasis of active leisure and extreme marine adventure offering a chance to explore the depths of the ocean surrounding the coral reef and to make the most of the warm climate and magnificent views of the vast ocean. The patent-protected concept consists of two units – an underwater residential disc with an adjacent dive center (water disc) and an above-water leisure disc (air disc), comprised of a restaurant, spa, a special recreation area and a multifunctional lobby that is built inside an enormous swimming pool. The two discs are connected by three or five solid legs and a shaft with lifts and stairways used to move between them. The configuration of each Water Discus can be adjusted to suit local conditions and provide maximum safety and effect.

#BeOpenDESIGN IKEA’s research and design lab Space10 has teamed up with London-based creative studio Oio @oio.studio to envision hybrid furniture, which would use AI to tell owners how it can be updated in order to give it longer life. Aptly named Updatables, the conceptual furniture would come with an app that would use "an evolutionary algorithm – a piece of machine learning code inspired by biological evolution" and an AR technology to visualise how the furniture could be adapted using extra parts from other pieces of IKEA furniture. The conceptual idea would reduce waste and let furniture evolve together with other members of the household, creating emotional connections with objects, instead of easily disposing of them.

#BeOpenDESIGN In an effort to encourage urban farming and bring healthy food to the table of urban dwellers, Earth Starter co-founders Phil Weiner and John Gorby have developed Nourishmat, a “garden blanket” that allows people to grow vegetables and herbs in less time and without gardening experience. The portable and reusable 4×7 foot mat features a grid of cutout holes where the seeds should be placed. Printed on the fabric surface are labeled rectangles bearing the name of different vegetables and herbs, which are fitted between rows of self-supporting irrigation channels. The mats are compatible with Seedballs — compacted mixtures of clay, compost, chili powder and GMO-free seedlings that do not require any digging or tilling of soil, which makes them a highly-efficient and easy-to-use planting tool. via kickstarter.com

#BeOpenDESIGN Local studio Schemata Architects began developing the concept of this Blue Bottle Coffee Pop Up Cafe Shibuya in Tokyo in response to the fact that the face-to-face customer service was becoming increasingly difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and measures for indirect customer service were needed. The coffee shop focuses entirely on a contactless experience, which starts off by having the customer place their order via a dedicated drink ordering terminal. The order is then made available to the person through a “locker-style sales fixture", inspired by the image of a beehive - the corresponding cubicle lights up when their order is ready for pickup.

#BeOpenARCH To obtain impressive views of the urban scenery and connect with trivial moments of the city life, Japanese n o t architects, a studio behind Scoop Landscape House, has sliced this dwelling in suburban Tokyo with a curved staircase core with windows facing two directions. The overhead rooflight brings natural light deep into the floor plan, while small square windows on the first and second floor allow residents to interact with one another. In this residence, even a bathtub has a view.

#BeOpenARCH International team MASS Design Group has developed a campus for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda, named after the TV star Ellen DeGeneres. The campus is organized between three main buildings across a twelve-acre swath of land. Local labor and materials were used throughout design and construction to minimize the campus footprint, develop an immersive reforested landscape, creating a modern facility for public use and education. The campus design took inspiration from the original tent of Dian Fossey, the conservationist who single-handedly worked to save the mountain gorillas from extinction. The buildings’ footprints integrate seamlessly into the landscape topography, encouraging a natural flow from interior spaces to the exterior through a series of covered patios and connected path networks, all taking advantage of the surrounding volcanoes.

#BeOpenDESIGN Brooklyn-based Ringo Studio has created the first retail space for fitness brand Bala in New York City, which includes scaled-up versions of its products. The brand sells visually compelling weights, bands and other fitness equipment in a range of candy colours. Aiming to introduce customers to the innovative products and encourage them to test and experiment, the studio founder Madelynn Ringo has chosen to replicate their soft, rounded shapes in features around the store. The pastel colour palette and finishes matches the distinct matte sheen and exact colours of the Bala products.

#BeOpenDESIGN Designed in Australia, the Shader is a collapsible product that serves as a pillow, sun-shade, drink-holder, and solar charger that lets the beach-goer to charge a smartphone or an adjustable USB fan. The pillow that comes with a chill-pack cushions the head of the user and doubles as a holder for as many as 6 bottles when lifted up. The kit is literally everything you’d need for a day on the beach.