A perennial topic on CFile is ceramic speakers. The newest addition to that trend is “Caruso” by Verona-based designer Paolo Cappello. His speaker (a bell-shaped horn) sits inside a wooden cabinet. The shapes compliment each other, with the colorful speaker swelling beyond the borders of its cabinet. The speaker works with Bluetooth sources such as smartphones or tablets. The setup costs about $3,000, though there is a pricier gold version of the horn.
Cappello designed the sound system for Miniforms last year. You can order one here.
Gold plate version.
The designer told Lost at E Minor that the idea for the work was born of his desire to give music a shape.
“I wanted to design something that gives music back its shape, even now in the digital age. Something with a strong iconic and recognizable appeal. A product that everybody immediately can understand as a cabinet that plays music without even listening to music.”
Cappello is thinking in reference to digital music. Once upon a time, music was something that required a physical object to be set in a player. I can put days and days of music on my phone, but I lose things like album art, liner notes, and the tactile feel of setting a record on a turntable, all things music fans love to obsess over. In addition to digital music, most conventional speakers are more function than they are form. They usually take the shapes of soulless black boxes and are not that pleasing aesthetically (unless you take size into account, but even then that’s really more of an arms race than an aesthetic). Designers like Cappello are trying to give us a holistic experience surrounding music. Perhaps they understand it better than the more recognizable names in speakers.
Bill Rodgers is the Managing Editor of cfile.daily.
What do you think of Cappello’s speaker rendered in contemporary ceramics? Let us know in the comments.
“Caruso” by Paolo Cappello. Photographs courtesy of the designer.
Add your valued opinion to this post.