Dezeen promotion: creative foundation Be Open is launching an exhibition of student work exploring the effect of sound on cities, as well as a programme to assist young creatives, at the Chelsea College of Art and Design on 6 June.
In collaboration with University of the Arts, London, the Sounding Space Symposium continues Be Open's research into technology and the five senses begun during last year's London Design Festival.
Students from Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, London College of Communication and Chelsea College of Art and Design were asked to respond to an experimental sound space called the Sound Portal, devised by Be Open, Arup and London Design Festival.
The symposium will showcase each of the college's projects from 6 to 7 June at the Chelsea College of Art and Design.
Be Open will also use the symposium to launch a programme at focussing on the education of young designers, curated by Domus deputy editor Roberto Zancan.
"I intend to start this new part of the programme connected to the idea of academy," he told Dezeen. "The aim is to create a bridge between education and real design, considering what could be the future of education, and help students and new designers to find their way."
The first of three parts to the programme is a ranking system designed to help students find the best course and institution to continue their education.
"[The guide] should give you a list of the best universities and an understanding of their courses," said Zancan.
Once the top ranking design schools are selected, a master's program will be set up with these universities.
Finally, an annual €24,000 prize will be awarded to an emerging industrial designer chosen by a jury of young and established designers, plus entrepreneurs and journalists.
"It gives young designers an opportunity to not be part of an insitution or company but a chance to come up with their own ideas and develop their own research," Zancan said.
He will announce the Inside the Academy programme during a press briefing at the Chelsea College of Art & Design on 6 June - contact theresa@theresasimon.com for more information.
For further details about the Sounding Space Symposium and Inside the Academy programme visit the Be Open website.
Images show work on display at last year's Be Open Inside the Academy installation in Basel.
Read on for the full press release:
Be Open launches the Sounding Space Symposium with University of the Arts, London (UAL) and announces the Inside the Academy program for 2013-2014.
Be Open, the social and cultural initiative committed to creativity and innovation, is continuing its research into the senses via a collaboration with UAL on the Sounding Space Symposium in London from 6 to 7 June.
The foundation sets a theme each year which is developed through different events and projects and is disseminated via the Be Open website and social media channels. The current theme is design for the five senses, involving innovative projects that reach out to the sixth sense, or intuition. Be Open has been developing this concept, combining human perception with the infinite possibilities of contemporary technology to overcome the limitations we currently experience in design. Research into the five senses began at the September 2012 London Design Festival, with a series of events conceived around the Be Open Sound Portal.
Sounding Space marks the conclusion of the Be Open Sound Portal’s residency at Chelsea College of Art and Design. This state-of-the-art experimental sound space, devised by Be Open, Arup and the London Design Festival, was transported to Chelsea College of Art and Design after its residency in Trafalgar Square as one of the London Design Festival 2012 landmark events. Students from Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, London College of Communication and Chelsea College of Art and Design have had an opportunity to explore this unique ambisonic sound space in three quite different ways.
‘Sound as Measure’ led by Chelsea College of Art and Design, has seen students experimenting with sound as an integral element of interior and spatial design. The Portal has become the focus of a spectacular external light and soundscape, designed as a counterpoint to the sound world inside the Portal.
Central Saint Martins ‘Nomad Lab’ has been looking at the creative potential of working, ‘nomadically’ across different artistic disciplines. Here the Portal has become a conceptual, as well as a physical space. A mixed-discipline postgraduate group has created trans-disciplinary sound works and participated in practical sessions that deal with data-sonification, audio programming, multi-channel sound and physical computing. The project involves two student-based commissions and one artist commission.
‘Sound, Place, Memory’, led by London College of Communication, involved workshops and themed talks with contributors drawn from the worlds of acoustic archaeology, sensory geography and anthropology, generating three student compositions and two artist compositions.
Sounding Space will showcase each of the college projects, with a focus on urbanism and sound. Keynote speeches will be made by celebrated sound artist Bill Fontana and by Dr John Drever, Head of the Unit for Sound Practice Research, at Goldsmiths, University of London. He promotes ’sound-conscious’ design and management of the urban soundscape, as proposed in The Sounder City: The Mayor’s Ambient Noise Strategy (2004).
Be Open Founder Elena Baturina says, “We wanted to work with UAL’s world-renowned colleges to underline our commitment to supporting both practical study and innovative thinking. Our aim is to help brilliant young creatives to shape the future and to do that, they have to be exposed to inspiring ideas today, ideas they can evolve to improve on our tomorrow.”
Researching sound and its effect on our cities is a theme that will underpin discussion throughout the symposium. Be Open’s ongoing mission is to research the key issues affecting our lives today, working with innovative thinkers who can come up with creative solutions. A crucial function of the Sound Portal has been to look at the problem of noise in our cities and to find ways of mitigating its impact.
Be Open Inside the Academy
From single projects to an integrated system. During Sounding Space, Be Open will also reveal a series of initiatives for its Inside the Academy program. So far, the Foundation has created a series of independent projects linked to education and awards. The new, extended programme offers three ways of supporting young creatives, schools and universities through an awards scheme, a master class program and a ranking system. The ranking system will help students choose the best design course for their ongoing studies; the master class will enrich educational programmes with new content and research; and the Young Talent Award is to give crucial financial support to creatives as they develop their practice.
Open calls for entries will be via Be Open’s website and social networks and a close working relationship with schools and universities will help the Foundation identify designers and design solutions for tomorrow’s world.
Elena Baturina says “Schools are an essential part of what we become as people and as citizens. Choosing the right way to develop your creative talent is crucial and too often young people are left with no support to develop their capabilities. Be Open’s aim is to become a partner for students and institutions to give much needed support and to accompany talented young individuals on their journey towards a bright future.”
Roberto Zancan, will curate the Inside the Academy program in collaboration with Be Open. Zancan has a cosmopolitan eye on design and architecture. He graduated in Venice and was professor at UQAM University and Ecole de Paysage de la Faculté d'Aménagement at the University of Montreal. He is a an academic as well as a journalist and the deputy editor of Domus. He has been researching design, architecture and graphics and has an unconventional and nomadic approach to creativity.
The Be Open Inside the Academy program will be announced at a special press briefing at Chelsea College of Art & Design on 6 June where the three key elements will be introduced:
Be Open Inside the Academy: Design Institute Ranking System
A unique design education ranking system to compare offerings at the key design schools and universities worldwide. The report will become an essential tool for design students.
Be Open's ranking aims to scout out new institutions, looking for the best of the new universities and courses that are currently often overlooked. The report will focus on the quality and excellence of individual courses, rather than the institution’s overall offering and thus will become a tool for discovering the most dynamic aspects of a college and its strengths in terms of creativity, architecture and design.
Be Open Inside the Academy: Master’s Program
This will be an innovative trans-disciplinary master’s program for the world’s top-ranking design institutes. The idea is to create a bridge between design academies and scientific programs, research laboratories, high-tech and innovative companies. The program will be financed so that institutions can offer students the right environment to further develop their abilities and vision.
Be Open Inside the Academy: Young Talent Award
This new prize for the design world will be dedicated to young, emerging designers who have just begun to express their ideas and visions for the future. A world-class jury will select an annual winner who will receive from a 24,000 Euro allowance for the year, crucial funding so that they can continue to develop their work and explore their potential. The jury will feature younger designers, such as Raw Edges and established names such as Barber&Osgerby, entrepreneurs such as Giorgio Galli (Worldwide Artistic Director Timex Group) and selected journalists.
The jury will feature younger designers, such as Raw Edges and established names such as Barber&Osgerby and Giulio Cappellini, entrepreneurs such as Giorgio Galli (Worldwide Artistic Director Timex Group), and selected journalists.
The press briefing will also host a panel discussion on creativity today, led by Zancan with Shay Alkalay of Raw Edges and Jay Osgerby of Barber&Osgerby. They will discuss the challenges and opportunities of becoming part of the design world today.
The Foundation is also introducing Be Open Business Development, a unique opportunity for young creatives to propose their start-up ideas so that they can be evaluated and ultimately progressed. The business development program includes both spontaneous submissions through the Foundation’s website and calls for proposals through Be Open’s social networks. The latter will be on specific themes and facilitate research and development of innovative ideas through partnerships with leading academic institutions.
The Be Open Sound Portal program and Sound Symposium at UAL bring the Foundation’s sensory year to a close and a new theme will be launched for 2013. This will be the interaction between the North, South, East and West in terms of culture and the different, creative approaches to dealing with critical urban issues of our time.