If you think Ikea has got the top modern décor, you should check out some of Dror Benshetrit’s designs for products, interiors, architecture, art installations.  The studio named after the innovator will be relocated to SoHo this month, spreading out in a 13,000-square-foot top-floor space intuitively named “WeCross.”

“We love to think at the intersection where art, design, and architecture meet,” they say. And what a crossroads it will be:  The Studio Dror team is intimate, with only about 10 people, but WeCross will bring 200 friends, clients, collaborators, and even competitors together to work side by side, under one roof.  Benshetrit has designed the studio himself.

Places in the office will yield somewhat of a VIP status, as individuals, despite their being “hand-picked,” must “pay for the privilege” of joining this exclusive club.

“When you have a lot people nearby who can help you with lots of different things at once, that’s not exactly a disadvantage,” Benshetrit says.

The notion of interdisciplinary professionals sharing the workspace designated for a single company is revolutionary.  Although it might strike us at first as random and inefficient, it will actually act as a breeding ground for new ideas and creativity – and serendipity.  Coworkers will inevitably become collaborators.

Benshetrit, Israeli-born but now fully engaged in the Big Apple, will be the god of this diverse mini-world, this professional “salad bowl” community.  The next time he needs to spearhead a new project for Target household items or Tumi luggage, he can get a variety of opinions and approaches without going too far.

Management is calling WeCross an “ecosystem.”  The almost all-white interior will aid Benshetrit’s wish for “a very clean, very simple environment that promotes…casual interactions between people.”

Benshetrit’s openmindedness and right-brained freedom will serve him well in this new environment.  “I start with a vague idea or a concept and see where it goes.  Sometimes a design idea can start as a light and evolve into a chair.  It depends on how the thought process progresses, so I never try to force an idea or give myself limits.”

So the idea is to reach for the stars – but it’s perfectly fine if something changes along the way and the objective becomes to shoot for the moon instead.

:: Co.DESIGN

The post Dror Benshetrit’s VIP Hub for Exclusive Cross-over Designers appeared first on Green Prophet.

In 1696, the Horsh Beirut Pine forest used to be as large as 1,250,000 square meters but the Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans, and World War II allies each took their turn plundering its timber in order to build ships and weapons. Further damage has been done since then to such an extent that today one of the only urban parks in this concrete jungle has shrunk to a mere 255,000 square meters. Although significantly smaller than it once was, Horsh Beirut could still offer residents of Beirut a retreat from the city smog – if the city hadn’t denied access to it for the last two decades. Activists are now speaking out against what they say is a denial of their inalienable rights. Public property

Ten years ago Beirut’s municipality rehabilitated the park (presumably using taxpayer money) but it still hasn’t been re-opened to the public and no decent explanation has been given.

Activists with Nahnoo, a leading organization that empowers Lebanese youth, have taken up the matter by demanding a democratic public forum.

Esteemed members of the public and academic experts will join municipality representatives to discuss opening access of the park to Beirut’s residents so that they have a space to escape from the endless drone of vehicles and concrete buildings.

A Facebook invitation for more than 2,600 citizens has been established to encourage participation in the forum that is to be held at the Maddina Theater in Hamra, Beirut on the 8th of February. The event next Wednesday is expected to last from 7pm to 10pm.

Organizers claim that “the largest green park in Beirut is a public property and a right for all. Yet, it has been closed for public for more than twenty years and only few people are granted the right to access it.”

The democratic process

But the reasoning behind the closure may not be so simple, which is why Nahnoo invites the public to explore the challenges surrounding Horsh Beirut – the most significant carbon sink in the city.

The event will be attended by Mr. Mohammad Ayoub’s, Nahnoo’s Executive Director, Mr. Eric Bouvard, the municipality of Ile De France in Beirut’s representative, and Mr. Nizar Saghie, the Beirut municipality’s lawyer.

Mr. Gilbert Doumit will moderate the forum, which will be followed by a  small cocktail party and an exhibition of a collection of photographs taken of the park over the years.

While Egyptians march against police brutality yet again, and al-Assad continues his terrible crack down in Syria, Lebanese residents are turning to a peaceful democratic process in order to achieve their goals. We are definitely rooting for them.

:: Nahnoo

image via Sarah Owermohle, Flickr

More on Lebanon’s Concrete Jungle and Green Space:

Beirut’s Rooftop Revolution (Interview)

Professor Urges Regulations to Prevent Further Fatal Building Collapses in Beirut

Beirut Activists Try to Green the Grey of Their Concrete Urban Environment

The post Lebanese Activists Democratically Demand Access to Horsh Beirut Urban Park appeared first on Green Prophet.