#BeOpenDESIGN
Convinced that conservation should be prioritized over recycling, Seoul-based mmmdesignstudio has developed the Dots Stool, a concept that allows to produce the maximum number of chairs using minimal materials. The design process makes it possible to produce approximately 4.5 times more units than a typical-sized stool, while using the same amount of material.
Convinced that conservation should be prioritized over recycling, Seoul-based mmmdesignstudio has developed the Dots Stool, a concept that allows to produce the maximum number of chairs using minimal materials. The design process makes it possible to produce approximately 4.5 times more units than a typical-sized stool, while using the same amount of material.
#BeOpenNEWS
Over two days of April 22-23, the Centre of Visual Arts and Research in Nicosia welcomed 160 schoolchildren from Cyprus public schools who took part in the educational sessions organized by BE OPEN Foundation. Each session consisted of a lecture on craft-related entrepreneurship and a master-class of traditional Cypriot weaving.
The lecture was prepared by a young entrepreneur Andreani Panayide, who shared her own journey. Elli Filokyprou, a weaver of over 20 years of experience taught the children master classes of actual weaving on small transportable looms, and helped them create their own pieces of fabric.
Founder of BE OPEN Elena Baturina welcomed the children, thanked the project supporters including the Deputy Minister of Culture Dr. Vasiliki Kassianidou, Permanent Secretary Dr. Marina Ioannou Hasapi, Mayor of Nicosia Constantinos Yiorkadjis, Anna Zavou Christoforou, the Internal Audit Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus, and CVAR Founder Dr. Rita C. Severis.
Over two days of April 22-23, the Centre of Visual Arts and Research in Nicosia welcomed 160 schoolchildren from Cyprus public schools who took part in the educational sessions organized by BE OPEN Foundation. Each session consisted of a lecture on craft-related entrepreneurship and a master-class of traditional Cypriot weaving.
The lecture was prepared by a young entrepreneur Andreani Panayide, who shared her own journey. Elli Filokyprou, a weaver of over 20 years of experience taught the children master classes of actual weaving on small transportable looms, and helped them create their own pieces of fabric.
Founder of BE OPEN Elena Baturina welcomed the children, thanked the project supporters including the Deputy Minister of Culture Dr. Vasiliki Kassianidou, Permanent Secretary Dr. Marina Ioannou Hasapi, Mayor of Nicosia Constantinos Yiorkadjis, Anna Zavou Christoforou, the Internal Audit Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus, and CVAR Founder Dr. Rita C. Severis.
#BeOpenDESIGN
Inspired by the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, which involves repairing the seams of broken pottery with lacquer and gold, Kawatsugi ( 'leather repair' in Japanese) technique by Israeli designer Roee Ben Yehuda employs the use of leather as a means of filling in the cracks and imperfections. The idea came to the designer after receiving broken ceramics from Japan in the mail. Each piece is transformed with leather interventions, their textures mending the cracks of the broken pieces as a contemporary nod to the traditional crafts.
Inspired by the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, which involves repairing the seams of broken pottery with lacquer and gold, Kawatsugi ( 'leather repair' in Japanese) technique by Israeli designer Roee Ben Yehuda employs the use of leather as a means of filling in the cracks and imperfections. The idea came to the designer after receiving broken ceramics from Japan in the mail. Each piece is transformed with leather interventions, their textures mending the cracks of the broken pieces as a contemporary nod to the traditional crafts.
#BeOpenDESIGN
As part of the "Walking Sticks & Canes" exhibition at Triennale Milano during Milan Design Week 2024 curated by industrial designer Kenji Takeuchi, Portuguese designer Hugo Passos has reimagined the titular object. He has developed Cestino, a beautifully crafted wooden stick that features a small integrated basket for picking fruit and gathering things in the garden.
More reimagined walking sticks in our blog
As part of the "Walking Sticks & Canes" exhibition at Triennale Milano during Milan Design Week 2024 curated by industrial designer Kenji Takeuchi, Portuguese designer Hugo Passos has reimagined the titular object. He has developed Cestino, a beautifully crafted wooden stick that features a small integrated basket for picking fruit and gathering things in the garden.
More reimagined walking sticks in our blog
#BeOpenDESIGN
With real living moss inside, desktop-sized humidifier and purifier by Mosslab turns dry air into moisture-rich environments. Named Moss Air, the device features a moss panel that serves a dual purpose: filtering out fine dust particles and converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. The moss not only cleans the air but also increases humidity levels. As a rootless plant, moss does not require soil maintenance and can last up to 6 months without a drop of moisture and still spring back to life when watered.
With real living moss inside, desktop-sized humidifier and purifier by Mosslab turns dry air into moisture-rich environments. Named Moss Air, the device features a moss panel that serves a dual purpose: filtering out fine dust particles and converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. The moss not only cleans the air but also increases humidity levels. As a rootless plant, moss does not require soil maintenance and can last up to 6 months without a drop of moisture and still spring back to life when watered.
#BeOpenDESIGN
Conceptualized by Yunshang Edu, Ii Jianfeng, and Szesam Oze, Modular Design desk accessories pay homage to the world-famous Lego building blocks. The various devices, including a wireless speaker, storage boxes, a night LED light, a card holder, and a small fan, can be used on their own to add some fun to the workspace or be assembled together in various combinations.
More "deskterior" accessories to bring more joy into your workspace in our blog
Conceptualized by Yunshang Edu, Ii Jianfeng, and Szesam Oze, Modular Design desk accessories pay homage to the world-famous Lego building blocks. The various devices, including a wireless speaker, storage boxes, a night LED light, a card holder, and a small fan, can be used on their own to add some fun to the workspace or be assembled together in various combinations.
More "deskterior" accessories to bring more joy into your workspace in our blog
#BeOpenDESIGN
Envisioned by NIFT New Delhi student Sonakshi Gupta, the minimalist Euclid chair, aptly named after the ancient Greek mathematician, draws its shape from a simple cube. To make the chair more environmentally friendly and promote sustainability, it is handcrafted from reclaimed wood. A mortise and tenon joinery is used to provide stability eliminating the nee for screws or glue. This makes it easy to later take the chair apart if some pieces need to be replaced.
Envisioned by NIFT New Delhi student Sonakshi Gupta, the minimalist Euclid chair, aptly named after the ancient Greek mathematician, draws its shape from a simple cube. To make the chair more environmentally friendly and promote sustainability, it is handcrafted from reclaimed wood. A mortise and tenon joinery is used to provide stability eliminating the nee for screws or glue. This makes it easy to later take the chair apart if some pieces need to be replaced.
#BeOpenDESIGN
Italian furniture brand Paola Lenti has teamed up with Japanese design firm Nendo to create Hanara-shi, a series of furnishings and complements inspired by Japanese culture. Crafted from 100% polypropylene waterproof fabric, the collection features suspended lamps, baskets, floor lamps, armchairs, and ottomans. The properties of the material, which is rigid, marbled in colour but textured, flexible, and malleable, enabled the team to fold and wrap these bespoke pieces of furniture.
Italian furniture brand Paola Lenti has teamed up with Japanese design firm Nendo to create Hanara-shi, a series of furnishings and complements inspired by Japanese culture. Crafted from 100% polypropylene waterproof fabric, the collection features suspended lamps, baskets, floor lamps, armchairs, and ottomans. The properties of the material, which is rigid, marbled in colour but textured, flexible, and malleable, enabled the team to fold and wrap these bespoke pieces of furniture.
#BeOpenDESIGN
Stretching across 600 square metres inside a redeveloped industrial building near Porta Venezia during this year's Milan Design Week, Making Sense of Color installation created by research studio Chromasonic for Google allows visitors to experience the colours through two different senses simultaneously, simulating the experience of having synesthesia, a perceptual phenomenon where people experience one sense through another. Changing patterns of coloured light are projected onto a maze of semi-transparent screens, accompanied by localised sound in frequencies equivalent to the real wavelengths of the various shades. As a result, participants get the experience approximating that of mindfulness meditation.
More stunning installations from Milan Design Week in our blog.
Stretching across 600 square metres inside a redeveloped industrial building near Porta Venezia during this year's Milan Design Week, Making Sense of Color installation created by research studio Chromasonic for Google allows visitors to experience the colours through two different senses simultaneously, simulating the experience of having synesthesia, a perceptual phenomenon where people experience one sense through another. Changing patterns of coloured light are projected onto a maze of semi-transparent screens, accompanied by localised sound in frequencies equivalent to the real wavelengths of the various shades. As a result, participants get the experience approximating that of mindfulness meditation.
More stunning installations from Milan Design Week in our blog.
#BeOpenNEWS #BeOpenART
Samar Alzaidy, young Iraqi painter, has been selected the Regional Artist of the Month (April 2024) and has become the first of the three candidates to the Artist of the Region (Middle East), as an artist who best represents the artistic tradition of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
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 second stage of the second year of the programme run will cover the countries of Middle East. The stage will last 3 months, with a winner named and awarded 500 euro at the end of June.
Samar Alzaidy studied at the Ceramics Institute in her native Iraq and participated in many exhibitions around the world. Experimenting with watercolors is an important thing in Samar's creative work.
Samar Alzaidy, young Iraqi painter, has been selected the Regional Artist of the Month (April 2024) and has become the first of the three candidates to the Artist of the Region (Middle East), as an artist who best represents the artistic tradition of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
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 second stage of the second year of the programme run will cover the countries of Middle East. The stage will last 3 months, with a winner named and awarded 500 euro at the end of June.
Samar Alzaidy studied at the Ceramics Institute in her native Iraq and participated in many exhibitions around the world. Experimenting with watercolors is an important thing in Samar's creative work.
#BeOpenDESIGN
At Milan Design Week, a group of researchers and students from the Swiss design school ÉCAL presented a new approach to flat-pack furniture. Dubbed Under Pressure Solutions, or UPS, the furniture collection is crafted from thin and compressed sheets of cellulose sponge, which when immersed in water blows up to around 10 times their original size in a few seconds to reach its final form. When hardened, the pieces form a sturdy and self-supporting form of furniture that can support the weight of a person. Some of the objects are compact enough to be pushed through a letterbox, facilitating more efficient shipping.
At Milan Design Week, a group of researchers and students from the Swiss design school ÉCAL presented a new approach to flat-pack furniture. Dubbed Under Pressure Solutions, or UPS, the furniture collection is crafted from thin and compressed sheets of cellulose sponge, which when immersed in water blows up to around 10 times their original size in a few seconds to reach its final form. When hardened, the pieces form a sturdy and self-supporting form of furniture that can support the weight of a person. Some of the objects are compact enough to be pushed through a letterbox, facilitating more efficient shipping.
#BeOpenARCH
Shreyas Patil Architects has built KLE Sanskruti Pre-primary School in Nipani, India, like a toy house. Entire forms of playful construction in projected cantilevers with recessed windows alongside triangles punctuating the facade make the elevation of the school block. A space designed by the drive of climate responsiveness is an essential criterion for learning spaces. Made possible with architecture responsive to stack
Shreyas Patil Architects has built KLE Sanskruti Pre-primary School in Nipani, India, like a toy house. Entire forms of playful construction in projected cantilevers with recessed windows alongside triangles punctuating the facade make the elevation of the school block. A space designed by the drive of climate responsiveness is an essential criterion for learning spaces. Made possible with architecture responsive to stack
#BeOpenARCH
Completed by Portuguese firm NOARQ in collaboration with AM2 Arquitectos and engineering firm Arenas Y Asociados, Halo is the winning project chosen unanimously among the proposals submitted for the contest for a connection between two streets in Vigo, Spain. The project encompasses a soaring urban elevator with a circular aerial passage offering sweeping panoramic views of the city. The architects divided the pedestrian access to the roof into two arches that form a ring, which gave the project its name.
Completed by Portuguese firm NOARQ in collaboration with AM2 Arquitectos and engineering firm Arenas Y Asociados, Halo is the winning project chosen unanimously among the proposals submitted for the contest for a connection between two streets in Vigo, Spain. The project encompasses a soaring urban elevator with a circular aerial passage offering sweeping panoramic views of the city. The architects divided the pedestrian access to the roof into two arches that form a ring, which gave the project its name.
#BeOpenDESIGN
Designed by Korean designers Hyeyoung Han and Hanyoung Lee, the Fortune Chair is really a mix between a bean bag, chair, and a pod. As its name suggests, the piece is inspired by a a fortune cookie. The signature feature of the chair is a wooden outer wall, which serves as a covering frame element that encloses the user creating a calm, comfortable and private space. When not in use, the chair can be closed, much like an unopened fortune cookie, which helps efficiently store away the chair.
More extraordinary office chairs in our blog.
Designed by Korean designers Hyeyoung Han and Hanyoung Lee, the Fortune Chair is really a mix between a bean bag, chair, and a pod. As its name suggests, the piece is inspired by a a fortune cookie. The signature feature of the chair is a wooden outer wall, which serves as a covering frame element that encloses the user creating a calm, comfortable and private space. When not in use, the chair can be closed, much like an unopened fortune cookie, which helps efficiently store away the chair.
More extraordinary office chairs in our blog.
#BeOpenNEWS
BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Imile Wepener, an artist and illustrator from Johannesburg, South Africa, 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 April, illustrations by Imile have gained him a majority of votes.
We also take the opportunity to applaud all the featured artists and thank everyone who voted.
BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Imile Wepener, an artist and illustrator from Johannesburg, South Africa, 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 April, illustrations by Imile have gained him a majority of votes.
We also take the opportunity to applaud all the featured artists and thank everyone who voted.
#BeOpenDESIGN
The Puffer lounge armchair is the result of a design exercise by Jeremy Volk of Talt to imagine a design resulting from the combination of two or more existing objects by hybridization. Inspired by the Eames EA335 management chair, the designer used a simple steel frame of Talt's Eros chair and covered it with a puffy Patagonia jacket to provide the same ribbed surface.
The Puffer lounge armchair is the result of a design exercise by Jeremy Volk of Talt to imagine a design resulting from the combination of two or more existing objects by hybridization. Inspired by the Eames EA335 management chair, the designer used a simple steel frame of Talt's Eros chair and covered it with a puffy Patagonia jacket to provide the same ribbed surface.