Find out more about the innovative music system by Bang & Olufsen, the BeoSound Shape
By Home & Decor Team -
When looking at pictures of the BeoSound Shape set in interior spaces, it is not an uncommon response to start squinting at it and ask, “Wait, so where is the speaker?”
The subtly designed music system is composed of three-dimensional, upholstered hexagonal tiles that each house a specific component, that are pieced together to form a coherent system. Modular and customisable, the chic tiles end up looking like part of a space’s interior design, instead of looking like a conventional audio system.
We speak to Anders Buchmann, chief intrapreneur at Bang & Olufsen, to find out more about this novel audio invention.
1. There is nothing out there quite like the BeoSound Shape – why was it created?
The designer, Oivind Alexander Slaatto, discovered a problem when he used our BeoPlay A9 speaker, which he also designed, in his studio. Because of the space's bad acoustics, a dampener was needed to absorb noise to improve the sound quality. The BeoSound Shape addresses that problem with its built-in dampeners.
2. Why the hexagonal shape?
The hexagon is a naturally occurring shape. The designer's vision was to achieve a level of customisation that has never been experienced before with our products. The tiles' shape allows infinite variations you can replicate.
3. Who was the BeoSound Shape conceived for?
Our initial target group was those who fall between our younger market for BeoPlay, and the older, well-heeled market for B&O. But after launching the product, we’ve learned that the BeoSound Shape has a lot of potential in the business-to-business market, like in offices and hotels. More companies are responding to studies that show that having background music in office spaces improves productivity, as it evens out interruptive noises from phones, chatter and movement.
4. What does the BeoSound Shape represent to the Bang & Olufsen brand?
The BeoSound Shape is set apart from other products by the brand, because it belongs to a category that didn’t even exist before it was created, which is "sound as interior design".
Considering how it seamlessly marries design and engineering in such a unique way, it belongs among the ranks of distinguished Bang & Olufsen products that we call "DNA products", which include our 1980s' record player, the Beogram 4000. Each of these DNA products were progressive in that they are novel products which people would move towards, featuring technology they would want to live with.
Find out more about the BeoSound Play at their Grand Hyatt showroom at #01-05 10 Scotts Road, or visit www.bang-olufsen.com.