Press Release

BE OPEN Starts a New Experimental Phase for the Sound Portal With University of the Arts London

Ekaterina Vekova

Launching within the framework of BE OPEN: Inside the Academy, which is the educational platform set up by the think tank, the project is part of a broader aim to explore the five traditional senses with the goal of discovering how to trigger the elusive sixth sense, or intuition. The foundation is committed to developing this concept through innovative projects that create the ultimate synthesis of the sensory and technology.

Following its highly successful public unveiling in Trafalgar Square, as a landmark event at the 2012 London Design Festival, the BE OPEN Sound Portal will now be the focus for an inter-college project with University of the Arts London, running April to June 2013.

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Dawn Goldworm + BE OPEN Forum : the Final Branding Frontier Is a Scent Logo

Ekaterina Vekova



Scent director of olfactory branding firm 12.29, dawn goldworm spoke at the much attended BE OPEN forum in miami, on 8th of december 2012. Designboom attended the conference organized by the BE OPEN initiative that seeks to foster discourse on technology innovation with a compelling panel of designers that break the categories of design, art and problem solving.
Dawn goldworm has been responsible for designing global fragrances for clients including adidas, david and victoria beckham, kylie minogue, kate moss, lady gaga and playboy. her company 12.29 has been scenting design miami‘s exhibition spaces with a custom aroma called ‘belle ille’ for the past four years. When approached to create the fragrance, goldworm was given a brief that had to translate the vibrant,  colorful, and energetic feeling of miami with an avant garde twist that is characteristic of the arts and design scene. through the layering of several nodes she developed a watery, aromatic floral bouquet with an anise signature.
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BE OPEN Forum Makes Big Noise at Designboom

Ekaterina Vekova

from left to right: dawn goldworm, marije vogelzang, carter cleveland, marcelo coelho, tuur van balen, and jamie zigelbaum
image © designboom

BE OPEN is a creative think tank whose initiatives strive to promote the work and ideas of global creative minds particularly in the areas of arts,  business, design, education and media. their 2012 / 2013 program is running under the core theme of ‘design of the five senses’ and at design miami/ 2012, they hosted a forum which presented five speakers practicing within diverse fields of design from product, to utilizing food, scent, biochemistry and haptic technology, developing sensorial experiences which are heightened beyond the ones we experience on a daily basis. 

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From the Sensory to the Intuitive

Ekaterina Vekova

The BE OPEN forum explores human perception and how to design for it.

BE OPEN partners with Design Miami/ to launch the BE OPEN Forum, a portal to the future of design practice.

Each of the Forum participants practices outside the boundaries of traditional product design, utilizing food, scent, biochemistry and haptic technology to make research accessible to the global community and imagine the possibilities of design through sensory exploration.

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Designing for the Senses, Designing for the Future

Ekaterina Vekova

The BE OPEN Forum at Design Miami/ reveals the sensory visions of today’s most innovative designer.

Imagine if you could design a product that appealed to the sixth sense – something that felt intuitively ‘right’.  It would be a runaway success because everyone would want it, without questioning it.  This is the area that the BE OPEN Foundation has chosen to research over the next year. It launched the project at the 2012 London Design Festival with a series of events that focused on the sense of sound and how to design for that.

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The Winner for the Sound of the Future Is Back to the Planet

Ekaterina Vekova

The winner for the sound of the future is Back to the Planet

http://beopenfuture.com/poll

BE OPEN searched the world of today to find a series of diverse sounds that might represent the soundscape of the future.  No one quite knows what we will be listening to in the future, perhaps with advances in technology our planet will be a much quieter place, with the only sounds being bleeping computers, electric cars, giant wind turbines and spacecraft.  Or perhaps the soundscape will be even more chaotic than the world of today.  Either way you can catch a glimpse if you listen again to our collection of sounds.

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“Magic” Portal Lands in Trafalgar Square to Transport Us to the Next Frontier of Sound

Ekaterina Vekova
THE BE OPEN sound portal is open to the public 19-23 September

London, Wednesday 19 September:  The BE OPEN Sound Portal has arrived in London’s Trafalgar Square.  A mysterious, black, rubberised cube, it will host five soundscapes over the next five days so that the public can ‘switch on their hearing’ to appreciate the most advanced audio technology in the world.

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Sound and Sustainability Are the Winners at the BE OPEN Awards

Ekaterina Vekova

London, September 21, 2012 – Today the winners of the BE OPEN AWARDS, an international scheme for the promotion of young creative talent, were announced at 100% Design.

The winner in the CAST category is Alexandra Kharakoz from the UK, with Sonic Landscape, an interactive, real-time, sonic sculpture designed to heighten awareness about how sound is produced.

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BE OPEN Space at the Dock

BE OPEN Space at the Dock

Ekaterina Vekova

Tom Dixon’s west London canal-side HQ was the venue for BE OPEN’s first off-schedule event at the 2012 London Design Festival. Described by Dixon as a flash-market showcase of young design talent, BE OPEN SPACE consisted of eight site-specific raw-wood stands conceived by designer-engineers Pan Studio and JailMake. Their solid, practical construction made reference to pine art-transport containers while also echoing the old trade stalls of Florence’s Ponte Vecchio.

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