Be Open Creative Think Tank

Fostering creativity and innovation



About BE OPEN Inside the Academy   Installation

June 3, 2012

An Installation and Prize for Achievements in Design Education

BE OPEN a new platform to showcase and honor recent achievements in educational approaches that promote real-world problem solving through creative design thinking.

In collaboration with Design Miami/ Basel in Basel, this June, BE OPEN Inside the Academy Installation is inviting a selection of top European design schools to present innovative design projects by outstanding students currently or recently enrolled. 

The universities exhibiting at the BE OPEN booth at the Fair are:  Le Cambre, Belgium; Ecole cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL), Switzerland; Hochschule Basel, Switzerland; Konstfack, Stockholm, Sweden; Sandberg Institute Amsterdam, The Netherland and Glasgow Fine Art School, UK/

Each institution possesses its own, individual approach to design thinking, embodying a dif- ferent strategy for preparing the next generation of designers to succeed in an ever-evolving global environment. Some of the institutions focus on the future of product design, tapping into material and technological innovations to meet consumers’ changing needs. Others empha- size the need to extend design thinking beyond product development in order to obtain more systemic solutions to common problems. Still others encourage artistic or conceptual content to activate minds and bring about social or political change. 

A jury of international design luminaries will review the projects of the BE OPEN Inside the Academy Installation and select one institution to receive the BE OPEN Inside the Academy PRIZE. This prize grants the winning institution the opportunity to select and host a series of distinguished guest lecturers to further its curriculum development.

Prize for Achievements in Design Education

The Prize aims to spotlight how institutions are nurturing students today to use design thinking to make an impact on tomorrow. Each institution was asked to present three projects that best reflect its approach to design thinking and its educational mission. The jury will review the projects and select an institution to win this year’s Be Open Inside the Academy Prize.

This prize grants the winning institution the opportunity to select and host a series of distinguished guest lecturers to further its curriculum development.

Selection Criteria

  • Degree to which the projects attempts to solve real-world problems
  • Degree to which the projects break new ground and forge paths for design in the near future
  • Degree to which the projects are convincing in their goals
  • Level of innovation and creativity
  • Quality of finish

Jurors

June 11, 2012

A jury of international design luminaries reviews the projects of the BE OPEN Inside the Academy Installation. The jurors  select one institution to receive the BE OPEN Inside the Academy Prize. This prize grants the winning institution the opportunity to select and host a series of distinguished guest lecturers to further its curriculum development.

Curator

Wava Carpenter

 

Wava Carpenter is a curator and programming developer specializing in 20th-century and contemporary design.. At Design Miami, she curated numerous exhibitions and commissioned projects and was responsible for, among other things, orchestrating the show’s programming, including Design Talks, Design Performances and Design Awards.  Formerly, Wava held a Curatorial Fellowship at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, working on exhibitions such as Second Skin and New Design from Israel.  She has also taught Critical Theory at Parsons The New School for Design, where she earned an M.A. in the History of Design and Decorative Arts, focusing her thesis work on the emergence of Italian Design in Postwar America.


Date                                                                          

12 -17 June, 2012

Place

At Design Miami/ Basel

Hall 5, Mezzanine Level, Booth X03

Messe Basel