Be Open think tank

Tokyo-based product designer Chaozhi Lin has created Kagura, a device that combines a self-sustaining indoor garden with a miniature composter making gardening into a fun experience for the family. Its low maintenance process makes it as easy as possible to grow herbs or small vegetables by simply dumping compostable scraps into the plant incubator to fertilize the soil and adding seeds and worms. The appliance is comprised of a container for food, three soil pots and an elevated light fixture situated directly above them providing the mini garden with nourishing light-energy. More design-minded indoor gardening systems in our blog.beopenfuture.com

To celebrate the season of the fall, Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) based in Stockholm, Sweden, has created enclosures where the leaves can be collected, creating a series of leaf pools for the visitors to immerse into and take the enjoyment of this temporary gift from nature. The small structures have been built using either timber battens or metal mesh. The wooden enclosure gives a sturdy feeling to the pool, making it possible to also sit on the edge, while the metal mesh on the other hand exposes the leaves better and can be installed much faster. According to the architects, collecting leaves lets the top layers of the leaves stay intact for a longer period of time, unlike the ones that lie directly on the ground. Credits: www.u-m-a.se

Italian architect Stefano Boeri known for his vertical forests has developed modular street furniture that incorporates trees and vegetation. Named Superverde, the project consists in planters that come with an energy-efficient autonomous maintenance system. The greenery is framed by a metal edge to which metal benches can be fixed, so that passersby can sit and rest amongst the foliage. Thanks to a system of modules, edges and hidden side structures, Superverde allows for composing landscapes of different shapes and sizes. Boeri claims that the furniture also improves an immediate climate decreasing the ‘urban heat island' effect and reducing the air temperature by casting shade and through evapotranspiration. Credits: stefanoboeriarchitetti.net If you, too, have ideas of how to improve lives of city dwellers, do not miss the Design for Sustainable Cities student competition held by BEOPEN and Cumulus. Find details at citydesign2020.com

Sasso Nero (Italian for ‘black stone’) is an impressive six-story mountain refuge in South Tyrol, northern Italy, by local architecture practice Stifter + Bachmann. The hut’s unusual form has been shaped to withstand severe wind gusts common in the area. With six floors housing service rooms, guest rooms for up to 50 hikers and a panoramic restaurant stacked upon one another, the architectural footprint in the landscape is kept to a minimum. Outside, the building is clad in copper that has been chosen by the architects for its color and for how it changes over time. Credit: stifter-bachmann.com

As part of his Craft-Techmen Project, Japanese designer and Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Kodai Shimizu has prototyped a series of home appliances relying on hand-sewn threads that are conductive and function a simple dimmer switch. In response to the unsustainable trend of mass consumption, the implemented technology makes the devices easy to disassemble and repair when they are broken. By rotating a certain part, the sewed conductive threads are adjusted to different levels of contact and this caused voltage variation. The system can be adapted to different functions by reprogramming the microcomputer, for instance, changing volume on a speaker, temperature for a hairdryer, or channels on a radio. More home appliances produced using craft techniques in our blog.beopenfuture.com

Los Angeles based landscape architecture studio Atelier Scale has created The Folds, a small community playground in Changzhou, China, as a place for children to explore in a more tactile and instinctive way that usual, not bound by function or program. As the studio was only given one month to construct the playground, they chose a design strategy of creating a repetitive pattern of folding gesture. To encourage children to perceive the space with their hands and feet and play with the folding landform, the studio minimized the use of playground equipment. This allows children to explore the space with their own sense and motivation. The same neutral shape can be observed as a cave, a valley, a slide, and a house, by different children. More outstanding playgrounds in our blog.beopenfuture.com

To stop ‘checking behavior’, when people feel the urge to check their, even if they are not expecting a specific message or call, Vienna-based designer Klemens Schillinger has created Substitute Phones, a series of therapeutic phone-like objects, which use stone beads to imitate different motions used for smart devices, such as scrolling, zooming, and swiping. Made from a relatively heavy polyoxymethylene (POM) plastic, also known as acetal, the Substitute Phones also replicate the weight of an ordinary smartphone to make the imitation more convincing. The sets of marble-like beads that are integrated into the case are crafted from the natural stone Howlith. More devices to alleviate your phone addiction in our blog.beopenfuture.com

Enrico Rapella, a graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands, is concerned with phone dependency during meals. His Amy tableware confronts the habits of the users who prefer mindless scrolling to keeping up a conversation at the table. To emphasise phone dependency and write a new etiquette on how to behave, Amy suggests placing the smartphone into a slightly taller case in the middle of the plate. The user can get the trapped device back by turning the plate upside down only after the meal is finished. More devices to alleviate your phone addiction in our blog.beopenfuture.com

Turkish artist and illustrator Murat Yildirim creates digital compositions that use furs as a creative tool to reproduce the world’s most famous paintings, from Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa go Munch’s The Scream. By combining the colors of the classical pictures in an innovative and vibrant way, the artists has turned them into his favourite media - 3D artwork. All artworks maintain the masterpieces’ essence allowing viewers to recognize the paintings. Credit: behance.net/muratyildirim

#BeOpenNEWS It is a great day to celebrate people’s ability to creatively interpret the reality around them. We thank everyone who took part in our #BEOPENBetterWay Instagram challenge and applause Liliana Nicolae, a Frankfurt-based engineer and photographer, who has won €300 for her entry dedicated to ingenuous repurposing. You can be our next winner!