Be Open think tank

#BeOpenART British contemporary sculptor Martin Debenham creates stainless steel wire sculptures that look like three-dimensional line drawings. Each strand of wire is sculpted into intricate curves using twisting, bending and expert welding. Then the artworks are mounted on a wooden base and placed into a natural environment, where they appear to evoke mythical narratives.

#BeOpenART Finnish artist Kim Simonsson creates his life-sized sculptures combining hand-built stoneware that is painted and then flecked with nylon fiber, which makes them look like they are covered in moss. The technique gave the series its name – Moss People. The figures represent children in various personalities, their body language conveying mourning, determination, or even indignance. The works have been exhibited in different galleries and installations but perhaps the most impactful presentation is in the Finnish countryside where they look magically alive despite their stillness.

#BeOpenNEWS We are here to remind you that BE OPEN offers €15,000 for innovative projects that relate to one of the following submission categories: Powered by Renewables, Save More Energy, and Reducing Energy Gap! The deadline for the Better Energy by Design free-to-enter student competition is extended. Submission is open till March 15th at designbetterenergy.com

#BeOpenNEWS There is one week left to enter ‘The Better Energy by Design’, an international student competition by BEOPEN that closes for entries on Feb 28th. Committed to UN’s SDG7: Affordable and Clean Energy, we invite students and graduates to come up with innovative sustainable energy systems. Projects for the competition must relate to one of the following submission categories: Powered by Renewables, Save More Energy, and Reducing Energy Gap. Free entry and the prize money of €15,000. Find details and submit your entry before the deadline at designbetterenergy.com

#BeOpenARCH Initially conceived for children of the client’s family, the Treehouse by Sao Paolo Based studio MEMM in Monte Verde, Brazil, is a space where all family generations can turn to their playful inner self, regardless of age. The project is composed of two volumes positioned among the tree branches and connected by two walkways. The smaller pathway connects both modules while the second, larger one links the tree house to the main property. All façades of the house are clad in glass panels, encouraging a strong visual connection to the outdoors.

#BeOpenDESIGN International designer Jozeph Forakis has presented an 88m yacht with reflective solar wings, which is set to be the world’s first 3D-printed superyacht. Inspired to create a yacht as close to the sea and nature as possible, the designer developed Pegasus, a vessel that is invisible both in design and in her environmental impact. The team uses robotic 3D printing to create a mesh framework integrating both hull and superstructure, which results in an extraordinarily strong and lightweight structure. The exterior silvery metallic finish supports the superstructure with multi-tiered, ephemeral glass wings that reflect the clouds and the sky. In operation, the hydrogen hybrid yacht will produce zero emissions and function with an infinite range.

#BeOpenARCH Cliff Retreat is a conceptual project by Cambridge-based architectural visualizer Alex Hogrefe. Situated on the dramatic cliffs of Iceland, the project examines the insertion of architecture into a sensitive landscape giving its inhabitants an intimate and sublime experience with the site. A thick concrete retaining wall maintains a sort of intimacy with the surroundings and limits distraction from inside activities. In the meantime, the grand stair terminates just beyond the cliff edge, floating over the crashing waves below. Hogrefe designed the building to allow him to demonstrate some of the visualisation techniques he uses in his work he shares on his website.

#BeOpenDESIGN Joe Zander, founder of design consultancy agency Bureau3000, has used artificial intelligence tools Midjourney and DALL-E to envision a new furniture style direction for the 2020s for Studio Danucio. The renders show a collection of playful seats and sofas that fuse avant-garde with pop-art and new luxury in vibrant expressions. via designboom

BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Valeria Dardano, an artist based in Turin, Italy, 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. Valeria’s work is defined by continuous artistic research regarding the investigation of environmental dynamics. Probably that’s what has gained her a majority of votes in January. Congratulations to Valeria! We also take the opportunity to applaud all the featured artists and thank everyone who voted.

#BeOpenDESIGN Italian fashion start-up Cap_able addresses the issue of privacy, opening the discussion on the importance of protection from the misuse of biometric recognition cameras: a problem that has become increasingly present in our daily lives, involving citizens around the world. The company has launched Manifesto, a collection of knitted clothing with patterns – known as adversarial patches – that deceive facial recognition software in real-time. Tests with YOLO, the fastest real-time object detection system, have shown that wearers of Manifesto are either undetectable by the software or are identified as animals whose print is embedded into the adversarial patch.